WE STARED AT a tiny dot, slowly and steadily crossing the immense plain of the Gobi towards our encampment. In early summer, the desert - a million square kilometres of emptiness in the heart of Asia - is beautiful, a delicate palette of pastel colours. Behind gentle shades of purple, mauve, beige and powder blue, distant flocks of sheep, camel, goats and gazelle graze the scrub grasses amid the ground-down outcrops of ancient rocks and waterless river beds.
Finally, the dot materialised into a horseman and a herd of cashmere goats. When he reached the two gers (the Mongolian term for felt tents) the man dismounted impatiently. He walked over, a little stiff and bowlegged in his black riding boots, took off his Trilby hat, and narrowed his eyes to tiny slits in a tanned face: 'Hullo, so who won the final of Euro 2000?' he demanded after cursory greetings. 'I couldn't get it on the Star TV Sports,' he complained.
Tur is the youngest son of Tumer, the one-eyed patriarch of a family of nomadic herdsmen in the South Gobi, who have prospered from raising cashmere goats. 'We only get the ASIASAT 1 Channels on our satellite receiver,' he continued, pained by the limitations of the unfolding global communications revolution.
In a region that remained uncharted until the 1930s, his family now watch the same 13 channels available to Hong Kongers, received on a dish propped against the ger and powered by solar panels hooked up to a car battery.
Tur said he liked to catch a good film when he came back late after a day out minding the herds. To get the right reception, he has to push the dish around, but otherwise it works well, allowing the family a window into life in India, Japan and the sunny Californian beaches of Baywatch.
'A lot of weird stuff goes on around the world. It is fun to watch,' said Tur's elder brother, Khorloo. Favourites are Formula One motor racing and the Hong Kong horse racing. 'But the horses are too big - they always look like they are about to collapse at the end. Ours are smaller but can last longer,' judged Khorloo, summarising the conclusions of a family debate around the hearth.