For the past 10 days, we have had a short-term team from Washington State visiting and helping us at the guesthouse. A few days ago, we took one of our staff back to his home town, which lies on the western slopes of one of the highest mountains in the world, Minyak Gangkar མི་ཉག་གངས་དཀར་. Minyak Gangkar rises to just under 25,000 feet and is one of over 20 mountains in the Dartsendo area that rises above 20,000 feet. Our staff member, a man in his early 50’s, was born and raised in a valley of the mountain at an elevation of 13,000 feet. This valley is a 5 hour drive from the county town following a clear, glacier fed river. The drive was spectacular. Everyone with me agreed that the area looked similar to western Montana or the North Cascade Highway. High, rugged mountains with evergreen forests dominated most of the drive. At the higher elevations, the trees gave way to grasslands filled with yaks with glaciated peaks in the background.
The homes in the Minyak area are large and made of stone.
When we arrived in the valley, we went straight to our staff members home. The home was actually his sister’s, but he stays there whenever he is in the area. We had a typical Tibetan meal of butter tea, raw yak meat and momo’s (steamed dumplings filled with boiled yak meat). After lunch, we went to the horse racing grounds, about a half mile from the house. There were close to 100 Tibetan men gathered, most of whom were wearing fox fur hats and sheep lined chuba’s (traditional Tibetan style coats). There were a handful of Tibetan Buddhist monks on a hill chanting mantras beneath prayer flags while juniper incense filled the air. Many affairs in Tibetan life, even recreational ones, will have monks praying and chanting mantras. While the monks offered their prayers, the rest of the men sat on the grasslands eating sunflower seeds and drinking “nay chang”, a fermented drink made from barley. The horse race would not begin until the monks gave the appropriate time.
Monk praying and burning incense before the horse race starts
Monk chanting and performing Buddhist rituals
Finally, after all the religious celebrations were finished, the horse race began. Tibetan horses are very different than horses in America. They are considerably smaller, but are extremely strong and have no problem running long distances at elevations of 13,000 feet or higher. The race began on a flat piece of grassland before turning and going up a fairly steep mountain side. About 25 men took part in the race, which was done bareback. All of the spectators were hooting and hollering in a typical Tibetan style. The race lasted about 5 minutes with the winner receiving several white “khata”, a traditional Tibetan scarf.
After the race, everyone returned to their previous spots on the grassland and continued drinking barley beer and eating sunflower seeds. They were all telling stories and laughing. All of these men carried a long knife on their side and I am sure that most of them have used their knife in a fight. Kham Tibetans, known for being fighter and warriors, love having a good time, but can also be short-tempered and quick to fight. On this sunny afternoon, everyone, including me and the team I was with, was having a good time.
Kham Tibetan man riding his horse at 13,000 feet