In honor of Emma’s departure¹, Brian, Emma, and I went to a Yak Festival² with another teacher, Tsetsegbadam and her family. The Yak Festival was held in Yolin Am, a famous canyon in the Gurvan Saikhan Mountains. Yolin Am is always a nice place to visit but is especially fun in October-June when it is filled with ice.

When we got there we found out that we were too late to see the dance and music concert put on by our students (you can’t ever get anywhere in a land without roads or signs without getting lost a few times) but we were there for the “yakky activities”. First they herded all the yaks into the field area

and then, after making teams, the games began. We didn’t totally understand everything that went on but the first contest required teams to herd and rope a yak, flip it on its side, shear it, and then turn the yak hair into rope. It was very impressive.

It was also fun to see all the cute baby yaks. This one was 1 day old!

After watching the yaks for a bit, eating lunch, and hanging with Margad, a 5th grader from our school, we went on a walk in the canyon.

The ice was impressively thick in places and oddly enough melts from the bottom up.

While Emma and I stayed in the canyon, Brian went up to the top of a grassy hill

where in August 2008 Evan Lattimore, the grandson of famed Mongolist Owen Lattimore, left his grandfather’s watch as a memorial. Since then every time Brian visits Yolin Am, he climbs the mountain to check on the watch. While the rocks were moved around, most likely by the wind, the watch was still there along with an old Mongolian coin.

Brian rebuilt the stone cairn on the watch (8) and hopefully it will be there for many years to come.

1. 1.Much to our sadness Emma the Peace Corps Volunteer left Hanhongor on the 27th forever. We miss you and wish you all the luck in the world.
2. I should point out that until I went to the Yak festival I didn’t realize there were any yaks in Omnogobi. In my defense I believe the entire yak population of Omnogobi was at the festival.