Yurt at the Alarcha

Dad's last Saturday here we went to an alarcha with Aidai and her uncle Kuba. Kuba is only a year older than Aidai, though, so he's more like a brother. An alarcha is like a campgrounds or public area up in the mountains. It was about 30 minutes outside of Bishkek and so incredibly beautiful. I'll post some photos of the alarcha next, but first I wanted to post photos that we took in a yurt not far inside the alarcha.

We were hiking along and saw a yurt, and I asked if we could walk over so I could take dad's picture in front of the yurt. Aidai said that we could do better: we could probably go inside. She said she'd pop her head in and ask. Well, there were about 12 women inside who had been eating bread and melon and drinking kumas and vodka all morning. Whew, they were so hospitable! One woman was really enamored of dad and wanted to dance and tried to give him a kiss. Poor dad, he can't help being a babe magnet. While we were there, the women offered and insisted that we drink a couple of shots to various toasts and enjoy some of the amazingly sweet local melon and soft bread. We only stayed a little while, but I was snapping, snapping photos like mad.

Great Hospitality: Here Kuba tells dad what the bread is, while one of the women encourages dad to take some. You can see the beautiful blankets and textiles hanging on the walls inside the yurt.

Womenfolk: Here the women sit and enjoy their food and drink, and you can see more of the wall hangings and pole structure comprising the ceiling of the yurt.

Melon: Here a woman has just handed me some of the sweet melon, and everyone is saying to eat, eat.

Poor Dad: Here a woman gets fresh with dad, while he tries to figure out how to nicely say no.
Drink Up: Here two of the women toast the camera: Drink up!

Whew: You can see dad's opinion of straight vodka here: not his favorite.

A Toast: Here we drink a toast to their hospitality. To you!