After an overnight ride on Platskart (third class on the train) our traveling team arrived in Abakan at 6:30am. The four of us were- Tim, Tom, Rustam and myself. Jim met us in Abakan with his four wheel drive. The purpose of our trip was to connect with as many Tuvan brothers and sisters as possible. We learnt about the fledgling movement in Tuva. It was a joy to meet people in homes and in halls. We extended invitations to people to be involved in recording material in the Tuvan language.
On day one we had a six hour drive from Abakan to Kyzyl. The road is only 400 kms, but it is windy and snowy, hence the longer drive. We caught some spectaclar views along the way. The weather was a balmy -10, we knew that the -40 weather was waiting for us in Tuva.
The geography of Tuva is actually quite different from southern Siberia. As much as it is a part of political Siberia it is not really part of geographic Siberia. Tuva is separated from the rest of Siberia by the Sayan mountain range. These mountains seem to create a weather system that makes Tuva very different from Siberia to the north. North of Tuva, Siberia is covered in forest. South of the Sayan range is a cold desert steppe, with around 230mm rainfall a year. The temperature can be -10 north of the Sayan range but -40 in Tuva, created by a temeparature inversion and a higher elevation than most of Siberia.
The geographic border between Siberia and Tuva is stark as the above picture shows. The steppe begins and so does another weather system, culture, language and religion. In many ways Tuva is a different country. It is part of Russia but some how not. Eighty percent of the population is Tuvan and speak the Tuvan language. The rest are a dwindling population of mostly Russians.
The first village over the border in Tuva is called Shivilik.
We had a fun time meeting with some locals and sharing their joy in fellowship. One of the two boys present was particularly on my heart and I will remember him as he grows up. They were quite fascinated to hear our stories and plans.
Two young girls from Shivilik.
A little something for the "What the?" files. How can one possibly dry wet clothes in -40 weather? These clothes were stiff as a board with icicles hanging off them. But apparently the moisture is sapped out of them in a very dry climate. When they are taken inside at night, they then dry a lot faster.
6 comments:
Looks like Saskatchewan in the 50's when we didn't have a dryer. They actually will dry there on the line too, (it's called freeze drying lol).and they do smell so fresh after too. Beautiful mountains and do you see how He protects his people from different ideas so now they can see the right and may just be waiting for it.
Interesting how they have a courtyard effect the wind is almost nil the smoke is going straight up . Very inovative people.
Drying the clothing outside reminds me of us doing that in Nunavut as I was growing up. It was dry when we brought it in, but still needed to hang up to thaw!
BTW, your comments on earlier blogs about it seeming to be colder there than in Canada because you have to walk there and you drove everywhere in Sask, reminded me that in Nunavut we walked too - when we weren't traveling longer distances by dog team. Even now, you would still find that snow mobiles outnumber other vehicles in Nunavut - and they are REALLY cold to travel on! At least with a dog team you could get off and run beside the sled when you needed to warm up!
Heather
I saw something several years ago on Foreign Correspondent about life in the 'cold' of Russia/Siberia. They showed clothes being dried this way. The woman then banged them on the rail to get the ice of. I wondered if they would snap like some things do when frozen! Amazing.
It always made much more sense to me though than trying to dry clothes somewhere like Singapore where the humidity is so high and things just never seem to get totally dry without a dryer.
yes, lisette, clothes can actually snap in two if you try whack them outside; I too remember mom hanging the clothes out on the line in the winter
Wow. That could bring a whole new meaning to clothing alterations. You could start a line of snapped-off-jeans!!
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