Episode 2: The Morin Khuur

October 15, 2024 

The Morin Khuur

The  2,000 Year Old Mongolian National Instrument

📍 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

His Facebook Page

Thoughts and Reflections

At the end of June, my friend and I went to travel Mongolia together. We organized a tour around the country, not with a tour agency or a tour guide, but with some random lady who said she can give us a tour (for a cheaper price from the others). The guide, Anu, very much like the beginning of this video project, was taking a loss, in order to gain experience and credibility, so she can be a legit tour guide some day. She was very kind to us, but also her lack of experience showed though made the trip more spontaneous. The visit to this Morin Khuur maker, Davaajav was an example.

Before we embarked on our trip, I asked Anu to find me a Morin Khuur maker to interview. She found this guy basically on the top of the Google searches. As Anu transported us to his workshop, I knew nothing about who the person was, where he worked, or what his whole vibe was. We bumbled through dirt roads in the suburbs of Ulaanbaatar (after being stuck in traffic), and arrived at a house.

Although the visit went well, the experience was a bit dicey and some of it regrettable. Firstly, I had presumed that Anu had told Davaajav who we were and I what I wanted to do. But she hadn't, and I had waltzed in there ready to rumble, and he was a bit taken a back and annoyed, which he didn't shy away from telling me. And secondly, while I was setting up my gear, he shared that he was expected a more sophisticated set up, and he briefly shared his backgrouund as a former movie director and cinematographer. I was immediately embarassed by my crappy phone camera set up. 

After the visit, I began to investigate proper cameras to buy. I settled on the Sony ZF-1, and upgrading my phone to a Google Pixel 7 Pro for other shots.