Reindeer games

No, we did not visit Santa, but we did take a one-and-a-half hour boat ride across the lake (the largest lake in the country by volume, it holds about 70% of the country's fresh water)

to visit a nomadic reindeer-herding family who traditionally lives in a tipi almost identical to that of the Native Americans of our Great Plains!  

This time the milk tea that welcomed us was made with reindeer milk.  

The reindeer eat lichen, and there are only about 50 families (~500 people) who still herd reindeer.  To support this vanishing culture, the government now financially subsidizes each adult and child who continues to live this particular nomadic lifestyle.  As we talked with the family, it developed that they had only relocated to this particular "summer spot" for tourism reasons, and they had only brought three reindeer because the climate is too warm in the summer at our elevation of 5000 feet and all wrong for the reindeer which typically live at 9000 feet.  

The mother reindeer was panting in the heat, and the area was thick with flies, covering the poor reindeer.  I don't like to see animals suffering outside their natural habitat, but it is fascinating how similar this group of people is to some of our Native Americans. 

Yakety yak

We met a yak-herding family today,

and I got to milk a yak!

Students, I'm still eagerly awaiting your guesses!  Put the clues together, and make a hypothesis about where in the world we are.

In the belly

of the beast

Boodog is a traditional dish in this country in which a goat is cooked by placing hot rocks inside the stomach of the animal.  This cooks the meat from the inside while a flame is used on the outside to burn off the fur.  This cooking process must be done very carefully as the carcass is sealed closed and steam can build up pressure inside the goat, possibly resulting in an explosion!  If done properly, a stew of tender meat and juices is cooked inside the goat.  The greasy hot stones are removed and passed from person.  It is said that holding the hot stones and rubbing them between the palms is good for the health.

Tonight, rather than risk a goat explosion, we enjoyed khorkhog, a lamb dish that is prepared by placing alternating layers of hot rocks, chunks of meat, and vegetables and seasonings inside a metal container (typically a metal milk container).

Tongs are used to remove hot rocks from the wood fire in the stove to create a rock layer over the meat.

A layer of onions, salt, pepper, and bay leaves is added to season the meat.

Tongs are used to add another layer of heated stones.

Another layer of meat is added.

 Enough water is added to fill the container with steam, and the container is closed.

The hot rocks and steam cook the lamb until tender.  Ideally, the container is not re-opened during cooking.  Instead, an experienced cook pays attention to the sounds and smells in order to know when the meat is done.

Lamb.  It's what's for dinner.

 Traditionally, the meat is eaten with one's hands, along with this flat "bed bread."

Home

is where the ger is

Do you see Fluffy in this photo?

This is our last night in this beautiful spot.  It is far more green and lush than I ever expected, with big, towering hunks of granite.

Fluffy and I have spent the last two chilly nights sleeping in a ger (rhymes with mare), heated by a wood-fired iron stove with a chimney through a hole in the round roof.  My ger smells faintly like a wet sweater, as it rained the night before we arrived, and the insulation layer stretched over the exterior of the lattices is felted wool. 

Let's take a peek inside.

Pretty fancy for a tent, right?

Gers are the perfect home for nomadic herders.  Within a half hour, a family of four is able to completely disassemble it and pack their entire household for travel to the next spot.  In the market, an average ger can be purchased for $600-$700.

This evening, we were tasked with working together to build our own ger from the ground up!  When we arrived at the assigned spot, we were confronted with a pile of poles, lattice, and wool, ready for us to build.

While some people stood around and scratched their heads,

Fluffy and I got in on the action.
The roof ring or "crown" and its support posts are connected and placed in the ground

while the lattice walls are stretched around the perimeter and attached to each side of the door.  It is the number of lattice walls linked together that determines the size of the ger.

Next poles are inserted into the holes along the outside edge of the crown

and positioned so that the other end of each pole rests in the elbow where two pieces of lattice cross.

Now the skeleton structure is ready for an insulating layer of wool felt to be pulled around the sides

and tied over the top.  This is what keeps the heat in on those very cold winter nights!

Next, a canvas cover is pulled over the structure.

It took us about 45 minutes, which is not a good time according to our guide.  I must confess, we had some expert help or our ger might still be in pieces on the ground.

After building a ger, we needed more appropriate clothes.