Mongolia: Gobi Desert – Milking the Camels
In Gobi desert I got lucky to stay one night not in a tourist ger camp but an actual nomad’s family guesthouse – basically an extended herder family (several generations) with a few yurt right beneath the Khongoryn Els Sand Dunes. They own 4 yurt houses, 1 Russian UAZ jeep, 1 Belarus tractor, 100 camels, a dozen cows and horses, and a myriad of goats and sheep. As the sun set, it was time to milk the camels – you don’t see that every day! The baby camel is brought in to the mother to get the milk going, after which it is removed and the milking goes on manually (similar process to horse milking). And I tasted the fresh milk, as well as camel cheeses and meat (coming later in a food recap)
