My last week has been a little more adventurous than the previous month. The highlight, as you can probably tell by the creative title of this post, was my trip to Kyakhta. Now, as I'm sure 95% of my readers will not know what exactly Kyakhta is, I'll give a brief history. Kyakhta is a settlement on the border between Russia and Mongolia, and when it was built, between Russia and China. As such, it was one of the most strategic trade towns on the planet during the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 1800s, Kyakhta was one of the wealthiest settlements in the world due to the massive tea trade that went from China and through Russia to the rest of the world (they preferred to transport tea by land, so it wouldn't get wet). Kyakhta has one of the most beautiful churches in Siberia (it had more, but they were destroyed), as well as a museum that many call the Siberian Hermitage. With the opening of the Trans-Siberian Railroad as well as other trade routes, trade began to slow down in Kyakhta in the late 19th and early 20th century. The Revolution sealed the deal. At present day, Kyakhta is not even a shadow of its former self, mostly serving as the border crossing point for those traveling to Mongolia by car.
I was invited to travel to Kyakhta by Rada Dambaevna, who was bringing a group of Russian journalists to meet a group of Mongolian and Chinese scholars and tour companies traveling the Tea Road. We left at 7am, which is well before sunrise at this time of year, and began making our way south. One pleasant surprise was how good the roads were, at least the first 150 km or so. When we arrived in Kyakhta, we had to wait for the Mongolian-Chinese delegation to cross the border. Once they got across, we went to the main museum in town. This museum is an incredibly good museum. It is small by American standards, but by Siberian standards it was huge. And the density of exhibits was something that I've rarely seen. Unfortunately, I didn't really have time to just wander and look at the exhibits as I pleased. The museum had prepared a tea drinking ceremony for our group, modeled after the ceremonies that merchants participated in a century ago. We sampled several interesting Chinese teas, but by far the most interesting part was how Buryat culture and Russian culture intermingled in these ceremonies. While I didn't see photographic evidence of this being the practice used 100 years ago, it is yet another example of the strength Buryat culture has in the area, particularly in tourism. I couldn't help but think that during the Boston Tea Party, the colonists dressed up as Indians for some reason or another, but it certainly wasn't out of respect for native culture (I think the only reason this popped into my head was tea). I am constantly (pleasantly) surprised by the attention to Buryat culture here. This continued during a presentation at the Decembrists museum in Novoselenginsk (a town just north of Kyakhta). Several of the school children in town put on skits or read monologues, many focusing on the partnership between Russians and Buryats centuries ago. It was both heartening to see kids in this near ghost town taking an active role in their museum, as well as to see the focus again on the cooperation between peoples. Is it propaganda? Perhaps, but unlikely. But it's still better than most places.
I'm also tutoring a local artist in English. His name is Zorikto Dorzhiev, and his art can be seen here. He is going to London in a few weeks to put on an art show, and Miami in about a month. He's extremely friendly and quite interesting. His art is technically very good, and I really enjoy his style that mixes traditional Buryat art with contemporary art.
Finally, I'm horseback riding more and more here in Buryatia. During the month of November, we ride without saddles, so I fell off a horse a few days ago. If you fall off a horse, it means you bring a cake next time to prevent yourself from falling in the future. While the stables provide an excellent opportunity to ride and relax a little, I also get to interact with several area children. Their questions are always entertaining. My favorite so far is how much ice cream costs in the US. When I told them that they could get a small ice cream cone for one dollar, they freaked out at how expensive it was. I hope I didn't ruin the American dream for them...
I was invited to travel to Kyakhta by Rada Dambaevna, who was bringing a group of Russian journalists to meet a group of Mongolian and Chinese scholars and tour companies traveling the Tea Road. We left at 7am, which is well before sunrise at this time of year, and began making our way south. One pleasant surprise was how good the roads were, at least the first 150 km or so. When we arrived in Kyakhta, we had to wait for the Mongolian-Chinese delegation to cross the border. Once they got across, we went to the main museum in town. This museum is an incredibly good museum. It is small by American standards, but by Siberian standards it was huge. And the density of exhibits was something that I've rarely seen. Unfortunately, I didn't really have time to just wander and look at the exhibits as I pleased. The museum had prepared a tea drinking ceremony for our group, modeled after the ceremonies that merchants participated in a century ago. We sampled several interesting Chinese teas, but by far the most interesting part was how Buryat culture and Russian culture intermingled in these ceremonies. While I didn't see photographic evidence of this being the practice used 100 years ago, it is yet another example of the strength Buryat culture has in the area, particularly in tourism. I couldn't help but think that during the Boston Tea Party, the colonists dressed up as Indians for some reason or another, but it certainly wasn't out of respect for native culture (I think the only reason this popped into my head was tea). I am constantly (pleasantly) surprised by the attention to Buryat culture here. This continued during a presentation at the Decembrists museum in Novoselenginsk (a town just north of Kyakhta). Several of the school children in town put on skits or read monologues, many focusing on the partnership between Russians and Buryats centuries ago. It was both heartening to see kids in this near ghost town taking an active role in their museum, as well as to see the focus again on the cooperation between peoples. Is it propaganda? Perhaps, but unlikely. But it's still better than most places.
I'm also tutoring a local artist in English. His name is Zorikto Dorzhiev, and his art can be seen here. He is going to London in a few weeks to put on an art show, and Miami in about a month. He's extremely friendly and quite interesting. His art is technically very good, and I really enjoy his style that mixes traditional Buryat art with contemporary art.
Finally, I'm horseback riding more and more here in Buryatia. During the month of November, we ride without saddles, so I fell off a horse a few days ago. If you fall off a horse, it means you bring a cake next time to prevent yourself from falling in the future. While the stables provide an excellent opportunity to ride and relax a little, I also get to interact with several area children. Their questions are always entertaining. My favorite so far is how much ice cream costs in the US. When I told them that they could get a small ice cream cone for one dollar, they freaked out at how expensive it was. I hope I didn't ruin the American dream for them...
