Day 6 The Reindeer People

 Day 6 of our adventure is a day at the summer camp of the reindeer people. After another delicious breakfast we prepared to meet the Sharman. We were all invited into his tent where he shared some information about his life and practices. On our way back to our teepee I came across his wife milking a reindeer. Reindeer are a major resource here and nothing goes to waste. Even the antlers are used when they fall off. They are soaked in pine tar and carved then sold to tourists. Aside from a meagre government handout this is their only source of income. We were then invited to sit on a reindeer. I can tell you it isnt as easy as it looks and the bigger the antler, that harder it is to hold on. You cant hold on to the antlers so balance is important.

The locals then brought out an array of handicrafts for us to see and purchase. Everything from carved antlers to carved jade and wooden pendants was available. We bought a beautiful carved antler and knife.  The day was pretty much ours to do as we want, and after lunch we went for a walk in the hills to find a rare flower that they believe helps women find  a husband. It looked like a cabbage but apparently had not opened completely. 

On the way back we picked bunches of wildflowers for our cook who was celelebrating her Birthday. On arrival back at the camp we then sang Happy Birthday to her in Mongolian and English.  We were then entertained by the local children who put on a mini concert and dance for us. Our guides and wranglers also joined in and eventually we all started a rendition of "Country Roads,Take me Home". It seemed I might have been the only one who new most of the words other than the chorus.

At 1030 PM we were invited to the Sharmans Teepee again dorba Sharman ceremony and blessing. The teepee was around 4m in diameter and there were 17 of us in there. It was a long ceremony finishing at 1.30 AM and was very smokey inside. It is hard to know what was actually happening but I did pick up a couple of things that werebthe animal spirits channeling through the Sharman. With the ceremony finished we now had to find our way back to our teepee in the dark on the other side of the creek. Needless to say we slept well that night.