Gobi: Lifestyle

Buddhist temple. The Mongolian practice a version that is close to the Tibetan Buddhism.

One of the highlight of our Gobi tour was to discover the lifestyle of the inhabitant of the desert. They live mainly from livestock: sheep, goat, cow, camel, horse. They eat the meat and the milk of the animals. I could even try the Airag, fermented horse milk. It was sparkling and sour. I'm glade I could try it, but I didn't ask for a refill. The skin and fur of the animals is used to make clothes and the Ger (yurt). They also sell their animals to make some money and buy what they can't get from the land. It's a harsh way of living with little water, extreme temperatures and having to work 365 days per year (no break when you take care of the livestock). But the nomad we met were always smiling and had an incredible sense of hospitality. They would always give us the best food they had, even if it was something very rare and expensive for them.

One of the local family where we stayed. They had two extra Ger for the tourist.

Chess, Shagai (traditional game made with bones), Morin Khuur (traditional violin), saddle.

Meal. They usually don't eat this much vegetables, but for the foreigners they try to offer some. I had the chance to help make the dumplings.

Young boy saddling camels.

Incense burning in a temple.

Local family we stopped by to discuss with. They didn't speak English so we mainly talked with the hands. The old man even shared some of his beer with me. They are driving a typical Russian van. They are reliable and easy to fix on the go (primordial when the next sign of civilization can be several kilometers away.).

One of the rare town scattered on this vast land.