A few years ago, the Family of American friends Yesenia read the book "Reindeer Herder in My Heart" and have been dreaming of the mysterious tribe of Mongolia ever since.
And I, born on the border between China and Mongolia, have dreamed of going to the other side of the border since I was a child.
So, in the summer of 2017, we went to Mongolia together and painstakingly found our reindeer herder near Lake Kusugul in the northwest!
A sketch of Mongolia's route
Wolves howl Bears haunt
Ultraman of Mongolian children with scissor hand
We carried big bags
Night by the lake
Ao Bao in the mountains
By train from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, we rented an old Soviet military vehicle and spent three bumpy days (pitching tents on the side of the road at night) before arriving at the city of Hatgare at the southern end of Kusugur Lake.
Then, carrying super heavy backpacks containing tent sleeping bags, pot stove food, etc., everyone first walked north along the lake and then west into the valley, walking for a full 10 days, about 130 kilometers, and finally walked to the small town of Rinchen Longbo.
Along the way, everyone drank from the lake, picked up dead wood and lit a campfire to cook, and at night they could hear wolves howling, and a large sign warned that there were bears in front of them.
My tent
The Yesenia family was at the campfire, and the July evening by the lake was cold like this
In Rinchen Lombot, we rented a car to the lake more than 100 kilometers away to find Uncle Naranhu.
He had his two sons and son-in-law as guides, and the nine of us set out on nine tall but strong Mongolian horses, and two with luggage.
Riding a horse is tough. The mud almost splashed on our necks as the horses crossed the swamp! You see the horses and people on the top of the mountain, we are going to ride a horse to climb such a big mountain!
The wizard fee we pay is fixed.
Therefore, everyone later wanted to break their heads and couldn't figure out, there was a road that only took a day and a half to reach and a lot of good walking, why did they choose the one that was difficult and time-consuming!
Mongolian guide cooking
Ride a horse
In the past three days, we have waded through several swamps.
Every time a horse's stomach is plunged into the mud, I think of the horrific scene of a female warrior being swallowed up by a swamp in the Soviet movie "Here the Dawn Is Quiet".
We climbed up and down countless hills, and every time the horse stumbled down the steep slope, I always felt that I would fall down in the next second...
Our horses were grazing and resting
We had been riding along a path a foot wide from the edge of the cliff for almost half an hour, and I was afraid that the horse would slip off the cliff without hoofing, and I was afraid that I would fall off the horse without paying attention, which was the longest half an hour I had ever experienced!
The Yesenia family can ride horses, and they are still bitter; I have only taken pictures of me on an old horse in the park a few times, although I am sometimes shocked but in the end there is no danger, and I have not fallen behind and have not added trouble, which is absolutely a miracle.
The Catholic Yesenia had to say, "You may have been a Mongol in your last life!" ”
In the distance, I saw The Pickers
On the afternoon of the third day, the horse carried us up a large mountain with difficulty, and we led the horse again—the slope was so steep that even the guide dared not ride it—and walked down one foot high and one foot low.
Finally, across a wide but shallow river, everyone saw the unique tee tent of the reindeer herder in the distance- the plucked luozi!
At that time, we had been running away from Beijing for more than 20 days!
Pickles, our new home!
Pick-ups, reindeer and solar power generation equipment
The horse drove us across the river one foot deep and one foot shallow. Several shepherds were already waiting there. Relying on China-made solar power generation equipment, they also used appliances and mobile phones, and wanted to know that we were coming.
Entering the basket, the hostess held a small pot of bread slices in front of everyone, and everyone only grabbed a small piece to taste.
Herders are usually not wealthy, and the steppe people are hospitable, so there is a tacit understanding between the host and the guest: the host is generous and the guest is "stingy"!
Many yurts also have a grand "watch plate" full of tempting delicacies – just for it! The reindeer herders in the depths of the mountains are especially scarce in materials!
The first on the left is the guide, and the others are the landlord's family
Reindeer antlers are hooked, hanging from a jar of reindeer milk
I took out a small bottle of high-rise wine that I had specially brought from China, pointed to the 56° printed on it, and they all smiled.
Everyone happily passed on the bottle of wine, and each of them took a careful sip with the bottle cap, and then looked very enjoyed. Naturally, they also passed the wine to the 3 women by the door, and the women drank it generously.
The spire of the plucked man is open
The plucked nuts are supported by a dozen long trunks crossed at the top, wrapped in canvas on the outside, and hung a curtain on the front as a door. There was a large hole in the top of the prong, and all the trunks and chimneys protruded from here.
They migrate 5-10 times a year, but the man says it only takes 15 minutes to support the picket. He is actually a foreigner, just because he fell in love with a woman here, he had no hesitation in "marrying" in.
If you live in a tent you bring, tourists don't have to pay, but it is better to send a little gift, cigarettes, old clothes, sweets... Everything is very popular because everything is lacking here.
However, we live in a handful of Luozi, 10,000 tugriks per person per night, which is 30 yuan.
This is not for tourists, but the owner vacates his own home.
In the center of the plucked luozi is the stove, which is a place where the Mongols are incomparably sacred. Directly in front hangs a flower cloth, and on the low table below is a group photo of the male and female hosts and daughters.
A bed made of stone and wooden planks
To the right of the tent are pots and pans
There is a missing corner of the trunk of the tree next to it, so that the children always suspect that I stole food, because only I am used to eating Mongolian milk!
On both sides of the low table, in the shape of a plucked luozi, there are two beds in the shape of a figure of eight, but in fact, it is only a few large stones holding up a few wooden boards. This half of the floor was covered with blankets.
The half by the door was only the worn-out floor leather, and in some places there was direct grass.
On the left side of the entrance are daily necessities such as toothbrushes and toothpaste; on the right side are pots and pans. For the Mongols, these two types of things must not be mixed, let alone in the wrong direction.