YAK ATTACK!

We arrived in M on June 25th. Due to the poor road conditions described in our last entry, it is virtually impossible to reach the village without a motorcycle, jeep, or horse. The village is located 300 km from Xining at an altitude of approximately 4,000 m and consists of 100 nomadic T families. For most T, the term nomadic means that villagers have both summer and winter pastures (and sometimes a third or fourth camp as well). There are around 740 residents: 350 men, 270 women, and 120 children under 18. Per capita income can be as low as 500 RMB (less than $100) per year, and the main sources of income are selling yak and sheep products, renting grasslands, and digging caterpillar fungus. As far as we can tell, caterpillar fungus is a caterpillar with a fungus growing out of its head. It is valuable for medicinal purposes and is found mostly during the summer at high altitudes. Some families make their yearly income from caterpillar fungus, which sells for 120 RMB ($18) a pop. Few children attend school, and literacy rate (people who can read T) hovers around 20%. Most villagers don’t even speak any form of Chinese, so T Fishy was our voice and ears while we were in the village.

Caterpillar fungus

Upon arrival, one of the village leaders greeted us and drove us to Elvis's house, where we stayed for the duration of our time in the village. Of course at the time we didn’t realize he was a village leader! In case you’ve forgotten, Elvis is the university student we have been working with all year. He is the first person from his village to attend university, and is a student of Mama S. He is also a yak expert and a champion mountain climber. He and his family have worked with Mama S and Pentok to implement past projects in M.

One of the first things that surprised us was how spread out the village is. Elvis's house is located half an hour from the village center, even though it’s probably only 5 km away. Of course if the river is high you can spend all day waiting to get there. The village houses are mostly adobe, although some newer ones are made of brick and cement. The houses are scattered all over the grassy mountainsides. This time of year the hills are dotted with pink and yellow wildflowers, as well as countless yak, sheep, marmot, giant hawk, and the occasional guard dog (the unchained dogs scared the shit out of Sara). Surprising to us was the pervasive layer of trash littered throughout the hills, streams, and paths. Despite this, the houses in the village are still very clean.

Elvis's family’s brick and adobe house

While we were in Elvis's house we became accustomed to a slow and regular lifestyle. We lived primarily in one room of the house while his parents and little sister lived in the other. Both rooms are heated by centrally located metal stoves, which are fueled by yak dung. Thankfully, yak dung has a mild aroma. The houses have no running water, and the only electricity is generated by solar panels that provide around two hours of light. Water hauled from a nearby stream is used for cooking, cleaning, and tea. There’s also no plumbing or bathroom area, so we got used to going wherever we pleased, and for Sara that meant where there were no dogs. Our only spectators were curious yaks (who apparently love the taste of human urine), sheep, and the occasional group of villagers wandering around the corner.

The yaks go munching home

Elvis's family is super cool. His 15-year-old sister is a master at finding caterpillar fungus. This summer she has already found enough to fund their yearly budget, including her two older brothers’ school expenses. No wonder her family is reluctant to send her to school. Unfortunately, this is quite common in the village. Elvis's mother is always up bright and early and brought us our morning tsamba every day. She made sure we were well fed, constantly offering us tea, homemade bread, yak yogurt, and tsamba. In fact, we were given the same hospitality in every home we visited, so by the time we went to sleep at night we were stuffed. This is the standard diet in M. Since it is at such a high altitude, agriculture is difficult and we made sure to bring plenty of vegetables and watermelon for Elvis's family.

We were extremely impressed by Elvis's father. He was always calm, friendly, and knowledgeable, and David had a huge man crush on him. As with all projects that Pentok has done in the village, he was enthusiastic and helped coordinate village support for our project. We tagged along as he effortlessly herded the yak and sheep back into their pens using only whistles and the occasional shout.

Elvis's family members were intrigued by things that we take for granted. They were especially interested in our headlamps and money belts (Elvis's father showed us the slit in his jacket from when he was robbed). They also had a huge sweet tooth and loved the candy and raisins we brought with us. Chocolate, however, was not as appealing.

We also enjoyed things that are part of their daily lives, such as amazing cooking, the scenery, and easy pace of life.

Of course we were also in the village for business. Next up: motorcycle project gets underway.

L-R: Jesse, Sara, Elvis's father, Elvis's sister, Tsomo, Elvis's cousin, Elvis's mother, and Rooster