 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
VISIT TO A GER |
 |
 |
|
| After our tour of Ulaanbaatar we left the capital and headed for a national park. Along the way there was someone showing golden eagles. These eagles are used for hunting by the Kazakhs in the far western part of Mongolia but we had not expected to see any where we were. Apparently they have become a major tourist attraction.
|
For a small fee you could hold the eagle. It was surprisingly heavy. When the Kazakhs hunt with them they use a kind of crutch on their saddles to support their arm because the birds are too heavy to carry otherwise. | |
 |
 |
|
| Demoiselle cranes along the way.
|
Suddenly we pulled off the road and headed for a couple of gers near a small animal pen with people out working, including this horseman.
|
|
 |
 |
|
| Ider jumped out of his truck and asked the family if we could stop and visit them. 25 guests? Sure! These are extremely hospitable people. The family was in the area because the husband was training a horse for the Naadam festival races.
|
Mongolian saddles are beautiful but they look quite uncomfortable as well. That plus the hard gait of the short-legged horses is probably why Mongolians ride a lot standing up in the stirrups. | |
 |
||
| The national drink is called airag and it is made of fermented mare's milk. | VIDEO (:23): Milking a horse. Of course, to get airag you first have to milk the horse. . .
|
|
 |
 |
|
| Before we went into the ger we stopped to admire some of the other livestock. This little lamb had been born earlier in the day and would probably be the last lamb of the year.
|
This lamb had been born the day before. The mother had rejected it--perhaps because it was born so late in the season--and so the ewe was tied against the railing so that the lamb could nurse. | |
 |
 |
|
| All right, all right - newborn lambs are incredibly cute. And they were safe for a while--Mongolians eat lots of mutton but they don't eat baby animals like lambs.
|
||
 |
 |
|
| There was also a newborn calf. . . | and, of course, foals as well. This family had quite a few horses.
|
|
 |
 |
|
| The gers are portable (most families move 4 times a year), but they are not primitive. Many have solar panels that power car batteries and most have a TV aerial or a satellite dish.
|
Inside the whole family shares the space--adults, kids (human), kids (goats), lambs. . . | |
 |
 |
|
| Inside the ger they put out a container of airag for us, along with biscuits and milk curd (a kind of butter). We all sampled the airag; it tasted rather like yogurt, with a strong yeasty smell and did not seem to have a very high alcoholic content. It is a acquired taste.
|
Ider acted as translator as we quizzed the family about their lives and learned more about their racing accomplishements. | |
 |
 |
|
| Along the back wall of every ger is an area where items of special significance are kept. In this ger the items included the family TV, some wrapped toys, and bridles for the horses.
|
The trainer was proud to show us his collection of medals won at the Naadam races over the years. | |
 |
||
The family also displayed certificates; most of them were for racing, but some were for other contributions to the community such a breeding a large number of sheep.
|
||
|
|