NOMADS
HEALTH & SAFETY
CULTURE

We Focus on fun, But
Always prepared!

Sometimes our clients have been unlucky, they fell of their horse, had a stroke, got severely dehydrated. All of those experiences made us better in responding to crisis and helping appropriately. Nomads is anything but a lean business. We have plenty equipment and capability that seems under-utilized at times but comes helpful in time of crisis. 

We managed many evacuations in that way, overland as well as by helicopter from various parts of the country. Clients that experienced rescue missions did always appreciate our responsiveness. Starting from having a First Aid Kit and actually knowing what to do with it, over having medically trained personnel, satellite telephones, a standing relationship to rescue helicopters, a functioning office that can communicate with insurance companies abroad, trucks that can access remote places even when the weather is bad, have winches and recovery equipment, all that lies idle most of the time but becomes alive when needed.

Over the years Nomads has utilized many different vehicles for its service to tourist groups. Starting point was the lack of infrastructure in the areas that we wanted to show to our guests. And though over the years more and more tourist camps have opened, that process went hand in hand with signs of over-use, forcing us to move further into wilderness.  As to enable our guests to travel ‘back and beyond’ we felt that the commonly available vehicles are not suitable for the purpose, the then common Russian technology was based on low grade petrol engines, developed in the 1940 and though very capable and strong, used a lot of fuel. We therefor bought and brought overland from Germany, various cold war relicts, trucks that, once adapted to Mongolian conditions, still roam across all Mongolia today.

Bigger carrying capacity and better fuel efficiency was what we were aiming for: providing food and accommodation for our clients in a way that they are protected from quickly changing weather, the burning sun or cold winds, sit comfortable around a table. The box on the trucks is a spacy kitchen for the cook to make proper meals and stores food, water, tents, tables and chairs. Outside boxes can be used for transporting a toilet as well as all the garbage that our travel unfortunately produces. So we can factually manage to leave nothing behind except tire prints and some mark where the turf had been temporarily removed to give way for the toilet.

The very first truck that was brought to Mongolia by Helge in May 1995 was an IFA Robur, the vehicle was originally produced for the GDR Volksarmee, but there never used and somehow ended up at a scrap metal place in Hamburg. Helge painted it dark blue and drove it overland through Eastern Europe and Russia to Mongolia. The car had an 3,3 liter air-cooled carburetor engine  with 55kw.  It run across Mongolia and supported Nomads first riding trips in the Tsambagarav Mountains. As it originally was intended for military usage, some of the engine components where built in a way that they do not interfere with radio communication. When they needed maintenance in one of the steep valleys up Tsambagarav, that turned against the poor driver and trek leader Batlaaach, who from then on named the truck ‘Adolf’.

Two years later in spring 1997 Nomads acquired 4 trucks in East Germany, all IFA W50 four wheel drive trucks, two people carrier, originally used in agriculture, and two ex-army trucks. The W50 truck was a great export success of Eastern Germany, models of that truck could be found all over Eastern Europe, Siberia and even in Mongolia. After the German reunification many of the ex-army trucks where send all over the world including to Iraq and Vietnam. Within Nomads they are a great fit. Over the years their 128hp 4 cylinder Diesel engine showed to be the weakness so we replaced it successively with a very commonly used West German 6 cylinder air cooled engine from Deutz that produces 170hp. Some suspension components and tires where replaced by stronger parts from Russia. Now over 40 years of age, those vehicles are still reliably used for our catering and camping service and Nomads still has 5 of them in their fleet.

The second most common truck that Nomads operates since 2018 are the 4 Saurer 6DM, flatbed trucks, that were originally made exclusively for the Swiss Army, followed by 3 Magirus Deutz 170D11 trucks with Double cabin, so they can take many passengers, either for clients and crew to travel together or for us to take along many helping hands to bigger logistic challenges. As well we have some trucks from Russia, one 6×6 URAL 4320, and two of the most classic Mongolian countryside vehicle from the 80 and 90, the GAZ66 but for us operated with MAN diesel engine. Another quite prominent vehicle that we use is the UNIMOG 1300, fitted with a people carrier box. That truck has the same engine as another truck of ours, a Mercedes NG 1417 4×4, fitted with a kitchen box. Some smaller vehicles are also in use, two Mercedes Vario 815 or a Mercedes Sprinter 4×4, additionally a number of busses for city transport, two Ford Transit, three Mercedes Sprinter, two Hyundai County. To utilize those vehicles and our drivers’ time better, we are supplying children’s transport to school for over a decade now.

When Nomads started to have its own vehicles, in Mongolia there was only very few vehicles around and the knowledge and infrastructure for their maintenance was scars und not accessible for private companies. Therefor Nomads developed that capability. Later when companies started to provide such services, again and again we were encouraged to rather stick to fixing things ourselves. The fact that most of our vehicles are older than the drivers that drive them, reaffirms that we have that capability.

Having the capability, sometimes even the fitting spare parts and tires, brought up the thought that we might be able to help some of the globetrotters that come along with their vehicles and need help. Trucks like Mercedes NG 1117 4×4, Magirus Deutz 170D11, Unimog 1300 or the Mercedes Sprinter 4×4 are common vehicles for mobile homes. As we operate them for our trips and maintain them under Mongolian conditions over many years, we are able to help others that have problems with them. Those trucks use 14.00R20 or 14.5R20 tires that we usually have on stock and are sometimes ok to sell on, if that helps a traveler to be back on his way.

Over the many years of our work we optimized the equipment that we are using. And as we have workshops and storage facilities, as well as staff all year round, we can clean, fix and store our equipment well. 

The heart-piece of our services in areas away from civilization is the kitchen truck. We have a number of those vehicles. They are usually former army or public services vehicles with a big box on the back in which a person can stand upright. The box has windows for ventilation, a simple kitchen that works with bottled gas, water containers and cooling boxes. This vehicle carries as well all tables, chairs, tents, saddles and other equipment that is needed for the expedition. 

Our vehicles can manage off road conditions. That is important, not so much as we would take the trucks away from any roads, but rather to make sure they can use local unsurfaced roads even if weather conditions turn very bad. In areas where usually vehicles do not go, we would not want to drive either, but rather use pack animals. Quite often our itineraries use some of the nights the kitchen truck but then leave it behind for some days and meet it again towards the end of the expedition, in between crossing a mountain pass or some forested area with many rivers and streams that would either not be able to be crossed by truck or get damaged driving through.

Many years back we started experimenting with different saddles, as the Mongolian and Russian saddles, commonly used with travelers in Mongolia seemed to us not suitable. Eventually we choose the Australian stock saddle and since have it manufactured specifically for Mongolian horses that have a narrower wrist then horses in Australia, America or Europe. We additionally pay attention to properly pack, transport and maintain them. Mr. Naranbataar is our storage person that is in charge of that, as well as all the other equipment, he works all year round with that.