Okay, I have a chance to expand on the story.
So, we were out west of Ulaanbataar returning from Lake Khovsgal and trying to make up some time. It had been a long day of driving which is tough on the passengers, but grueling on the driver. It's all rough, off-road, and often full of rocks. We were losing daylight and not yet to the city where there was a small ger (yurt--to the rest of the world) camp. It's too dangerous to drive at night, and our driver had already fixed a broken bolt in our suspension that day.
Anyway, we pulled up to a nomadic family's camp, and our guide asked if they could accommodate us for the night. They said sure (that's the nomadic way), and allowed the 6 of us without tents to use their storage ger to sleep in for the night. We started bringing in our sleeping pads and bags when I noticed the drying meat on the bone that was hanging up. No problem, it's a storage ger. Then I noticed on the ground next to the door the freshly severed sheep's head. I was mostly fine with it, but my wife wasn't going to be comfortable with it. She hadn't slept very well anyway with the various bugs that make their way into the gers.
Our driver, Howgva, was in the ger with us. I smiled. He smiled. My wife grimaced. He motioned to the head, and I smiled and kind of motioned that it would be great if he could remove it. He gladly did. I think I put it in the kitchen ger. We set up our sleeping bags, shared our silk sleep sacks with the couple of guys who didn't have sleeping bags and settled in for dinner and then sleep.
Mongolia is not a place for vegetarians. In the capital, UB, you can find a fair amount of veg stuff. There is enough Chinese and Korean food there, as well as Indian that eating vegetarian is not too difficult. Outside of UB is a different story. The people are nomads--the last truly nomadic people on Earth. They have thousands of years of experience with herding animals, and it is their way of life. I eat mostly vegetarian at home, but I appreciate the history and culture of the Mongolians, and I can eat what is served to me. There is no question that Westerners could find the use of animals barbaric, but it is their way. The animals are well cared for, graze free-range for their entire lives, they are killed humanely, and every single part of them is used (not just ground up for other animal feed either). The majority of Mongolians are Shamanistic and/or Buddhist, so respect for all life and healthy interaction with the land is a part of everyday life.
So, after a long day, a sheep's head was a little bit of a shock, but I'm glad it was 2 weeks into our trip instead of the first night. It makes for an interesting story, too. (I did NOT take a picture of it either.)
Mark
