Tsenkher - Gobi

Community Highlights Asia Tsenkher - Gobi

After breakfast this morning, we leave the hotel to travel to our next destination, the Gobi Desert, stopping several times on the way for photos and to witness traditional local life.

Milking the Yaks

In the same way they do with the horses, yak herders keep the calves separate from their mothers so that they can milk the females.

In order to start the milk flowing, a calf is brought along to suckle for a couple of minutes.

Milking the yak

Each yak yields somewhere between 500ml and 2 litres of milk per session, and they are milked several times a day.

A bag of yak curd hanging up

A Black Kite looks on from a nearby fence post

The day I herded sheep by drone in Mongolia (as you do)

After my not-so-successful attempt at photographing sheep directly from above yesterday, I have another go today when I see a small flock ahead with a photogenic mix of different coloured animals. Finding a suitable place, I launch my drone and head for them.

This time I seem to have the upper hand (no pun intended), and somehow I manage to get straight above them and get a few of the type of photos I am after.

After a couple of minutes, however, the sheep (and goats) think I am trying to herd them and make a run for it (they are usually shepherded by farmers on motorbikes these days, so I am guessing they associate the sound of the drone with having to move.

They are fast. Very fast, and are quite some distance away by the time I return the drone to where it started from. Sorry Mr (or Mrs) Farmer, I didn’t mean to move your animals up into the hills. I would recommend a drone, though, as an easy way to get them from one place to another.

Horses

Mongolia is a horse-loving nation, with five times as many horses as people (there are even more sheep apparently, at 25 for each person).

Horse Farm

It’s not a ‘farm’ in the traditional sense that we would think of, here is a yurt and some nearby tethered foals and free-range horses.

As soon as we pull up in the car, we are offered the tradition greeting of a cup of airag, the ubiquitous fermented mare’s milk. It is customary to grab the bowl with both hands to drink. The slightly alcoholic beverage is naturally carbonated and slightly sour with a hint of sweetness. This is one of the better ones I have tasted, it is not as sour as some.

Daari (our guide) has explained to the family that we are interested in seeing them milk the mares, and we get invited into the ger while we wait for their regular milking time.

Appearing a little embarrassed, Daari explains that most gers are not as untidy as this.

Airag

Airag, the national drink of Mongolia, was inscribed in 2019 on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It is not just an important symbolic beverage, airag is also extremely nutritious and contains many healthy bacteria, said to help strengthen the immune system. Traditionally the milk is filtered through a cloth and poured into a leather sack known as a khukhuur, although these days, a more ‘modern alternative, such as this blue bucket is often used. The khukhuur is usually placed near the door of the ger, as it is required to be churned repeatedly with a wooden masher called a buluur (at least 500 times, ideally up to 3,000 times) over a two day period. By being situated near the exit, every person who goes in or out of the ger does their bit by stirring it a few times. The agitating ensures that all parts of milk ferment equally.

Aaruul - Mongolian hard curd

In the centre of the ger is a stove, upon which is a bowl of boiling yogurt. Daari explains that you have to be careful with the fire, as it shouldn’t boil too fiercely.

The yogurt is slowly cooked into curd over low heat, stirring continuously. Milk is added and the contents of the bowl is placed inside a cotton bag which is hung to filter out the whey (I use this method to produce labneh from yogurt at home). When it is ready, usually after a couple of days, the resulting mass is placed inside a thicker bag to protect it, and then pressed between two large stones. Later it is cut into shape and dried. The drying process can take up to 14 days.

One of the reasons that aaruul is so popular in Mongolia, is that the curd is a nutritional food that the nomads can keep for long periods without a refrigerator.

Milking the mares

The animals are milked every 1½ to two hours. As with the yaks, a foal is brought in to encourage lactation.

The calves drink first

The foals encourage the flow of milk

Milking the mare

We leave the horses behind and go back on the road, stopping to take some photos of sheep and goats on the way.

The goats are rather curious of us.

The Penis Stone

Also known as Kharkhorin Rock, the 60cm long phallic symbol was supposedly placed here by the abbot of the local monastery to deter the monks from having sexual relations with the local ladies. Whether it worked or not is debatable, but the stone has become a centre of pilgrimage for couples struggling with reproduction. Legend has it that tying a blue ribbon (I have no idea what the colour represents) and saying a prayer would grant them their wish to have a child.

Apparently, to increase their chances of falling pregnant, women have been known to spread their legs and straddle the sculpture. Perhaps that is why the stone is now surrounded by a fence. The penis is said to be facing in the direction of a valley curiously known as the Vaginal Slope.

Soon we turn off the main road and head for the desert known as Mini Gobi.

Bayan Gobi Ger Camp

Yet again we go straight to lunch on arrival at the camp.

Salad - very refreshing

Chicken Soup, tasty with lots of vegetables

Deep fried dough - reminds me of a Norwegian cookie we have for Christmas, called fattigmann (poor man)

Beef and garlic in a rich peppery sauce - mostly tender and the sauce is tasty

Dessert is individually wrapped Nestlé wafers

Camel Farm

After lunch, we head off to visit a local farm complete with camels.

Most tourists who come here are keen to ride the camels, but I would prefer someone else to ride them so I can take photos. Daari negotiates with the owners for us to have three riders, with a spare camel.

I ask if they can wear some traditional outfits, and they oblige. Daari discusses on our behalf where we would like them to ride, and I suggest the small sand dune nearby.

For the next half an hour or so, I juggle two cameras and a drone as I try to capture the essence of camels in the Gobi Desert. Thankfully the camels are totally unperturbed by the drones.

The desert

We follow the camel riders back to their base and are invited into their ger where we are offered snacks and airag.

The family ger

Boortsog (fried dough) and aarul (hard curd)

Khoorog Greeting

Traditionally, anyone visiting another family in their ger, will be offered a snuff bottle as a way of greeting. Both the giver and the receiver will do so with their right hand while holding their right elbow with their left hand as a sign of respect. You should then either bring the bottle to your nose or use the little spoon attached to the lid to sniff in the tobacco powder from the bottle. It is mostly just men partaking in this tradition, but occasionally women will do so too.

Using Daari as a translator, I chat with the matriarch who tells me that they have four children, two of whom live in Ulaanbaatar, and the other two reside nearby. During Soviet times she worked as a bookkeeper – now she has somewhere between 70 and 80 camels, plus goats, sheep, cows, and horses.

We return to the camp and check in to our ger.

The camp. Just as well we sent up the drone earlier - it would be too windy now, as you can see from the flag

A couple of staff members turn up to help us carry / push in a cart our luggage to our ger, which is pretty much the far side of the grounds. It is trying to rain as well, now, which is a shame as I was hoping to take some pictures of the stars later.

The carts are useful over the uneven ground - there are no paths here, just grass

Even Daari (on the left) helps carry my camera bag

Our ger

This is one of the more luxurious gers, spacious, large double bed, and even a comfy settee, a first on this trip. We have an en suite bathroom and underfloor heating - all mod cons!

The main part of the ger, featuring the bed and sitting area.

After a lovely hot shower, we share some Duty Free rum and sit around chatting, listening to the rain. There is no wifi here, which is a blessing in some ways.

Dinner

As we wait for our food to be served, a very loud group of Australian motorcyclists turn up, all sharing a large table and lots of bottles of wine, whisky, and vodka. They are good-humoured though, and not really any trouble, just noisy.

Salad to start as usual

Something resembling cottage pie with vegetables - quite nice

Cupcakes topped with artificial cream for dessert

Just as we have finished the meal, the waitress rushes over to let us know there is a complete rainbow outside. As I don’t have my ‘proper’ camera with me, I resort to taking a photo with my phone.

The rain has stopped now, but will it clear up for me to photograph the night sky? We return to the ger and wait it out, agreeing with Daari that we will go out at 21:30.

Milky Way

By the time we get to the sand dunes where we photographed the camels earlier, there is a gap in the cloud cover that lasts long enough for me to take a few photos.

Like Kharkorin, where we took photos a couple of nights ago, there isn’t much in the way of a foreground here, so back in the UK and the land of Photoshop, I add a couple of camels. They were there, on that very sand dune, just not at the same time.