Mongolia (click here for the video)

You have 48hrs to learn the ancient singing technique of traditional throat singers, plus enough Mongolian to sing "I'm a little teapot", no sweat!

Throat singers are able to produce several sounds at the same time. A deep bass noise from their diaphram, plus high pitched whistling sounds through their nasal passages all whilst singing. My contact took me to see a concert of all traditional styles of music, singing and dancing. It happened to be the 800th year anniversary of Chengis Khan's empire, who we all know as Ghengis Khan, the most famous warrior of all time.

Chengis is still a National hero and you can see his image everywhere. His face adorns over 20 types of vodka (vodka drinking seems to be a National hobby), lots of cigarette packets, foods and hotels. It seems there has been a bit of a gap, since he, and his Grands sons, in famous Mongolian warriors, or anyone famous for that matter.

After the concert I had the opportunity to meet with the singers, and the throat singer in particular. He didn't seem quite so scary in normal clothes, his singing outfit and hat gave him a remarkable likeness to the face I had seen plastered on vodka bottles ever since I arrived. His Father was a throat singer, and was now teaching this technique at the Ulan Baatoor university. He said when I explained through my translator that I'd better go visit his Father, it takes years to master the technique. He gave me a very sceptical look when I told him that I had 24hrs, and that I also needed to learn Mongolian (he was convinced I was taking the p**s, I think).

My translator explained why I wanted to do it, and he kindly agreed to put on a little show for me. He arranged some musicians, and then belted out some amazing songs, it really is quite beautiful to listen to, amazing control. The more I listened the more I realised my own rendition of "I'm a little teapot" was going to be painful for me and anyone listening.

He tried his best to teach me a few basic sounds, but told me it could take month's of practice to get them in tune, and I certainly believed him. So off I went to find a quiet spot to spend the evening practicing. The video starts of with him singing so you can hear what it should sound like.