We researched several tour companies, but through Cris's suggestion, settled on one that would allow us more time on the ground and less time driving from place to place. Ger-to-Ger is a company that tries to encourage nomadic families to maintain the heritage of their lifestyles by making it profitable to continue living off the land, herding livestock. They accomplish this by giving them money to house guests in a spare ger. The families feed the guests, take them on jaunts to nearby sites, and share with them their everyday lives.
After booking our tour, we went to the state department store to buy groceries, water, snacks, and gifts for the families (lighters, candles, and soaps for the adults and highlighters and clay for the kids).
Then it was back to the tour company’s office for our two-hour orientation, which included an introduction to local customs and basic language skills. The customs lesson taught us things like you should let the head of the house enter the ger first and let him sit at the seat of honor on the north end, across from the door, even if he offers it to you. They even provide a small book with a phrase section at the back, with questions you can ask to get to know the families.
Now we were armed with both excitement and knowledge, which would make for one of the most fulfilling traveling experiences of our lives.
_
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment