The villagers of Tsengel, in westernmost corner of Mongolia, queue for water of a communal pipe. This is the daily routine in most rural areas of Mongolia, where water system is unavailable. Tsengel is the last village in western Mongolia, neighboring China and very close to Kazakhstan. The village is inhabited by predominantly Muslim Kazakhs. The village has seen a major migration of ethnic Kazakh to Kazakhstan, but the trend has slowed down in recent years as they found it is difficult to really fit in Kazakhstan society. Many of these Mongol Kazakh migrants even decided to come back to Tsengel. Despite the hardship in the isolated corner of Mongolia, they regarded that this is their home.
Tsengel, Bayan Olgii, Mongolia, 2009