Sagaan haraar! Sagaalganaar! These words echoed throughout Buryatia on February 22, the day that marks Sagaalgan, Buddhist New Year and the first day of White Month. Sagaalgan may be the most important Buryat holiday and marks the transition from winter to spring. As Sagaalgan approached, I began to wonder how I would be taking part in the celebrations, until I received a call from my research advisor. "Brian, we are bringing Japanese Santa Claus to Buryatia for Sagaalgan. Do you want to travel around on the bus with him?" "Uh, sure..." "Also, you're going to judge buuzy with me." "Sweet."
So, I showed up on Soviet Square on Sagaalgan to judge buuzy. There was a huge stage set up in the center of the square, where people were singing traditional songs and dancing. As I was waiting, the mayor of Ulan-Ude spoke, and then the four fairy-tale heroes came onstage. These were to be my travel companions, so I'll give you some background info.
Our first hero is Sagaan Ubgen, Bely Starets, or White Old Man. This character is associated with Buddhism and makes appearances every year around Sagaalgan. The man who played Sagaan Ubgen was a dignified old man who was in the Red Army in the 1960s and was involved in theater for much of his life.
Our second hero the Evenk Matushka Zima, or Mother Winter, Tugeni Enyoken. The Evenk are a minority population that mostly live to the north of Baikal. Unfortunately, I didn't have much opportunity to speak much with Mother Winter, but I know that she is a recent graduate from Irkutsk.
Our next hero is Sohk-Ireya, Old Man Frost from Tuva. The man who played Sohk-Ireya is Edward Ondar, a famous actor from Tuva as well as an excellent throat singer.
Finally, the most surreal hero was Yamamoto, the Japanese Santa Claus. This man, whose full name is Paradise Yamamoto, first worked as an automobile designer for Subaru. After he got tired of that (or something), he became interested in Mambonsai art and music. A few years ago, he became the first Asian to become an accredited Santa Claus. It was an absolute pleasure to speak with this man.
So, as I mentioned, I was to judge buuzy (traditional Buryat meat dumplings). While this experience was fully delicious, it was not super interesting, so I'll just note that I gave the highest marks of anyone, which clearly reflects on my lack of buuzy expertise.
After the judging, I went to the Ethnographic Museum with the fairy-tale heroes. The Ethnographic Museum was packed with children waiting to see Santa Claus and the other Christmas characters. I was also surprised to see many of my fellow riders from the hippodrome, who were there to drive horse-drawn sleighs for the heroes. The ethnographic museum consists of several old homes that were relocated due to the increase in Baikal's water level after the dam installed for Irkutsk Energy. Each of these homes represented a different culture of the region. There were representative contingents of each culture to meet the heroes and offer each a small meal. These included Old Believers, Eastern Buryats, Western Buryats, and Evenks. This experience represented much of what I believe makes Buryatia a wonderful place: all major cultures and peoples were represented without any attempts to show one culture more than another.
The next morning, we set out for Baikal. We made our first stop in a Monastery in Troitskoe, a village in the Pribaikal Region of Buryatia. They are currently rebuilding the monastery, as it was used as a mental hospital in the Soviet era. One of the monks gave us a tour around the place. We then went to the shore of Baikal in the Kabansk region. Our first stop was a shamanist holy site up on a hill overlooking Baikal, Usan-Lobson. There, we danced in a circle around an evergreen tree. Finally, we got to the hotel in Enkheluk, which is one of the most well-known tourist towns in Buryatia.
In Enkheluk, the heroes participated in an event called Sagaalgan on Baikal. There were more than 60 kids there to play games and see various cultural performance. Unfortunately for me, this meant standing outside in deep snow for several hours, something my shoes were not exactly made to handle. After hearing my distress, the director of tourism of the Kabansk region reached into her purse, pulled out two sanitary napkins, and stuck them to the soles of my shoes. It worked. Apparently, Russian hunters and ice-fishers use this technique quite often.
After the games, the fairy tale heroes went ice fishing for about five minutes, but then they got too cold and decided to move on. This is when me and some of the other tour operators got separated from the group. We dropped by a Ministry of Extreme Events camp on Baikal and had some tea while we tried to regroup. After we left and were walking down the road, I saw something that I will never forget. At an intersection about 300-400 meters in front of us, a four-wheeler wizzed by. This first ATV caught my attention. A few seconds later, Santa Clause went flew by. Then Father Frost from Tuva. It was too surreal.
As we caught up with the other tour operators, we began to go on a tour of various hotels in the town. The first we went to was a hunter's cabin that one man had made entirely by himself. It was completely awesome. Then, we went to a hotel called Sakura (the owner went to Japan once), which was nice, reasonably priced, and they were building a nicely sized pool. The next hotel was the first hotel I've seen in Buryatia that was absolutely as nice as a brand-new Marriot, or something else of that calliber. It was filled with big-screen LCD TVs, tasteful decor, and they even had a Wii in the lounge. But the prices were ridiculous. The owner spent a nearly uncomfortable amount of time drooling over me, the American. As we left, one of the women who owned a different local hotel that I hadn't gotten to see, was quite let down. She was worried that the competition of such a nice hotel would make it difficult for her to do business. She asked me to come by and check out her hotel and give her advice. Which I did gladly, as she was an extremely friendly woman. I really liked her place and told her to call it a Bed and Breakfast in English. And now I'll shamelessly advertise for her: http://na-baikale.ru/ If you want to go to Baikal, stay with her. If you tell her you know me, she'll probably be even nicer than she already is.
That evening, we ate dinner at the hotel and I heard some of the most wonderful toasts that I've ever heard. But that's typical of life here in Buryatia, especially when the subject is Baikal.
The next morning, we got up early and went to a children's home. Again, we saw many different cultural presentations and the heroes got to interact with several children, which was really cute. When we got back to Ulan-Ude, I was very disappointed to say goodbye to the heroes and tour operators. Of course, several of us exchanged contact info, but such a magical few days may never repeat itself. Although, in Buryatia, you never know what can happen.
So, I showed up on Soviet Square on Sagaalgan to judge buuzy. There was a huge stage set up in the center of the square, where people were singing traditional songs and dancing. As I was waiting, the mayor of Ulan-Ude spoke, and then the four fairy-tale heroes came onstage. These were to be my travel companions, so I'll give you some background info.
Our first hero is Sagaan Ubgen, Bely Starets, or White Old Man. This character is associated with Buddhism and makes appearances every year around Sagaalgan. The man who played Sagaan Ubgen was a dignified old man who was in the Red Army in the 1960s and was involved in theater for much of his life.Our second hero the Evenk Matushka Zima, or Mother Winter, Tugeni Enyoken. The Evenk are a minority population that mostly live to the north of Baikal. Unfortunately, I didn't have much opportunity to speak much with Mother Winter, but I know that she is a recent graduate from Irkutsk.
Our next hero is Sohk-Ireya, Old Man Frost from Tuva. The man who played Sohk-Ireya is Edward Ondar, a famous actor from Tuva as well as an excellent throat singer.
Finally, the most surreal hero was Yamamoto, the Japanese Santa Claus. This man, whose full name is Paradise Yamamoto, first worked as an automobile designer for Subaru. After he got tired of that (or something), he became interested in Mambonsai art and music. A few years ago, he became the first Asian to become an accredited Santa Claus. It was an absolute pleasure to speak with this man.
So, as I mentioned, I was to judge buuzy (traditional Buryat meat dumplings). While this experience was fully delicious, it was not super interesting, so I'll just note that I gave the highest marks of anyone, which clearly reflects on my lack of buuzy expertise.
After the judging, I went to the Ethnographic Museum with the fairy-tale heroes. The Ethnographic Museum was packed with children waiting to see Santa Claus and the other Christmas characters. I was also surprised to see many of my fellow riders from the hippodrome, who were there to drive horse-drawn sleighs for the heroes. The ethnographic museum consists of several old homes that were relocated due to the increase in Baikal's water level after the dam installed for Irkutsk Energy. Each of these homes represented a different culture of the region. There were representative contingents of each culture to meet the heroes and offer each a small meal. These included Old Believers, Eastern Buryats, Western Buryats, and Evenks. This experience represented much of what I believe makes Buryatia a wonderful place: all major cultures and peoples were represented without any attempts to show one culture more than another.
In Enkheluk, the heroes participated in an event called Sagaalgan on Baikal. There were more than 60 kids there to play games and see various cultural performance. Unfortunately for me, this meant standing outside in deep snow for several hours, something my shoes were not exactly made to handle. After hearing my distress, the director of tourism of the Kabansk region reached into her purse, pulled out two sanitary napkins, and stuck them to the soles of my shoes. It worked. Apparently, Russian hunters and ice-fishers use this technique quite often.
After the games, the fairy tale heroes went ice fishing for about five minutes, but then they got too cold and decided to move on. This is when me and some of the other tour operators got separated from the group. We dropped by a Ministry of Extreme Events camp on Baikal and had some tea while we tried to regroup. After we left and were walking down the road, I saw something that I will never forget. At an intersection about 300-400 meters in front of us, a four-wheeler wizzed by. This first ATV caught my attention. A few seconds later, Santa Clause went flew by. Then Father Frost from Tuva. It was too surreal.As we caught up with the other tour operators, we began to go on a tour of various hotels in the town. The first we went to was a hunter's cabin that one man had made entirely by himself. It was completely awesome. Then, we went to a hotel called Sakura (the owner went to Japan once), which was nice, reasonably priced, and they were building a nicely sized pool. The next hotel was the first hotel I've seen in Buryatia that was absolutely as nice as a brand-new Marriot, or something else of that calliber. It was filled with big-screen LCD TVs, tasteful decor, and they even had a Wii in the lounge. But the prices were ridiculous. The owner spent a nearly uncomfortable amount of time drooling over me, the American. As we left, one of the women who owned a different local hotel that I hadn't gotten to see, was quite let down. She was worried that the competition of such a nice hotel would make it difficult for her to do business. She asked me to come by and check out her hotel and give her advice. Which I did gladly, as she was an extremely friendly woman. I really liked her place and told her to call it a Bed and Breakfast in English. And now I'll shamelessly advertise for her: http://na-baikale.ru/ If you want to go to Baikal, stay with her. If you tell her you know me, she'll probably be even nicer than she already is.
That evening, we ate dinner at the hotel and I heard some of the most wonderful toasts that I've ever heard. But that's typical of life here in Buryatia, especially when the subject is Baikal.
The next morning, we got up early and went to a children's home. Again, we saw many different cultural presentations and the heroes got to interact with several children, which was really cute. When we got back to Ulan-Ude, I was very disappointed to say goodbye to the heroes and tour operators. Of course, several of us exchanged contact info, but such a magical few days may never repeat itself. Although, in Buryatia, you never know what can happen.
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