Buryatia: Medicinal Plant Market in Arshan

Buryatiya is the autonomous republic in the south of Siberia populated by Buryats who are ethnically similar to Mongols. Shamanism and traditional plant medicine is a way of life here – and every shrub and flower and bush and tree and bark and dried mushroom goes into healing one thing or other. The market in Arshan had all this on display in rows and rows of sellers/shamans pitching herbal solutions to pretty much everything. They even had small pouches of bear fat! And once you done drinking and chewing all this herbal stuff – have some fresh pine nuts – made in Siberia!