I Travelled 2000km to meet this Tribe!

Today we have come to a very remote place on the Russian-Mongolian border. Some ancient people live here whose language and culture are almost extinct. One of the last tribes in the world that not only raises reindeers, but also worships them. This is the Dukha tribe. We are going to meet a very special community here. This is a very remote place. It will take three days by car to reach here from Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. We have come by helicopter, so we can reach in 5-6 hours. Hello! Hi! Hello! No, I did not. Really? The kids are very interested in the helicopter. Obviously, they don't see it every day. The whole village's kid party has come here to see the helicopter. You can see that the special thing about these people is that they still live in those traditional huts. They have very little connection with modern life. Hello! The religion they believe in is very interesting. The outside world classifies it as shamanism. They believe in spirits. They worship reindeers. They see reindeers as their spirit animal. Their religion is very interlinked with nature and the environment. They believe that if you don't respect the forest and reindeers, the balance of the universe will shift. And if this happens, it won't be good for anyone. So, these people have domesticated the reindeers. They drink the milk of the reindeers. They eat the meat of the reindeers. They use the skin of the reindeers as leather to make clothes and shoes. And the reindeers have become such an important part of their lives that we call these people the reindeer people. I can even touch the reindeers here. They are not very shy. These people are the last Mongol community before the Russian border. The Russian border starts behind that hill. And they said that they were the last people to be integrated into Mongolia. Before the Second World War, they were actually more towards Russia. But Stalin tried to integrate them towards him. He tried to force his culture on them. So, they crossed the border and came to Mongolia 30-40 years ago. Now, they have become so integrated in Mongolia that the government of Mongolia promotes them as tourism. Because this is the only community in Mongolia where you can see reindeers. They are very soft and cuddly. Right? And actually, if you remove the horns, it's almost like a cow. Yeah. Right? Smaller cow though. Smaller cow. Yeah. And look how many are there of them. Like, everything here in the distance. I didn't think that kids would be playing volleyball here. What is my name, she asked. What is your name? Tetsik. Tetsik? Tetsik. It's so hard to pronounce even. No, Tetsik is not that hard. Tetsik. It's a very special area of Mongolia. Yeah. People play football here. Yeah. It's so warm inside. Oh, you're here. Hello. It's so warm. It's like a natural heater almost. Not natural. Yeah. You don't think this is a heater? What is he doing here? What's your name? Oh, he speaks English. Oh, you speak English so well. He speaks English. You speak English so well. You know this? Now say, what is your name? Chengu. And how old are you? Huh? Five, six, seven? Ten. Ten? And where did you learn English? No, you don't know this much English. Football. In the tent, this is their kitchen area where the utensils are kept. In the middle, in the center, the fire is burning so that the entire tent can be heated. Which is working very well. If you look at the top, people have kept toothbrushes and combs. And here, actually, they had kept cheese. They just took it out. Which is reindeer cheese. Here it is. So, let's try the reindeer cheese. Parmesan, yeah. It tastes like Parmesan. It's very tasty, actually. So, once again, their traditional food, with bread, has butter and cheese. And this butter, this cream, is made from reindeer milk. It's curd. Huh? This one is curd. No, no, cheese. No, it's not cheese. It's not cheese? They said it's cheese. No. No? It's curd. Curd? Okay. Their language, friends, is completely endangered. There are only about 500 people in the world who can speak their language. And there are less than 50 fluent speakers. On top of that, their language is such that it can't even be written. There is no written script for it. But since 2022, they have been trying to provide language classes to their children so that they can revive their language. And they have used a Cyrillic script to bring it into written form. There is also a kindergarten tent here, which is specially made for children. That's why it's out here. So, everything is, you know, made for children here. To teach them, to teach the children, their native language, someone comes here, a teacher. So, their class is held here. And their native language is Tuvan. T-U-V-A-N. Oh, yeah. Now you can put. Oh, like this. We have seen reindeers in Sweden and Finland. But they can never be ridden. Because only the reindeers here have evolved in such a way that their back has become so strong. A thousand years ago, these people started domesticating them. So, after a thousand years of evolution, their back has become so strong that they can be ridden. And you can't ride reindeers anywhere in the world except here, in this small community. Approximately, they can carry 100 kgs of weight. Mine is less than 80 kgs. And, we can see that they are carrying it very comfortably. How do they feel if you touch the horn? I touch this thing. It's fine to touch it, yeah? Wow! So majestic. Oh, it started walking on its own. How is it moving alone? I'm not the one directing it to move. It is walking on its own. No one is making it walk. You are taking it back. I mean, I didn't say anything and it came on its own. What an experience! And, you might think that the horn will harm me if I touch it. But, it is so soft to touch. It feels so soft and cuddly when I touch it. The amazing thing is that around 2010, all their reindeers were almost extinct. There was a terrible disease and due to poaching, in 2010, the number of reindeers was less than 600. But then, they made a great effort to conserve them. And, today, as of 2024, this number has come back to more than 2400. So, like a third of the Mongolians, this community is also nomads. And, being a nomad means that every two weeks, they shift their location. So, all the tents they have set up, after two weeks, they will move to some other place. And, the reason behind it is that all the reindeers, all the grass, will be cut off from here. They will need new grass. In today's world, they have also started using renewable energy. They have installed solar panels outside their tent. Hello! Oh, they have a phone. Yes, they have a phone. And then, the solar panel is generating the receiver and then it is connected. So, this wire is coming from the solar panel to this generator. And, this telephone is running Yeah. In total, there are only two tribes in Mongolia. So, this is one tribe at one location. The other tribe is at some other location. And, in total, this tribe has 14 family tents. Now, there is a very obvious question that you must be wondering. How do these people work in their daily lives? For example, in the tent, there is a bed. I will show you the bed later. But, where do they go to toilet? So, they said that whenever they move from one place to another, they dig different holes. For every tent, for every family, a toilet is dug. And, it is somewhere in the bushes. They toilet it there. Later, they fill it up when they move. If we look at their diet, then you have seen the traditional food. Bread, cheese, cream, reindeer's milk, reindeer's meat. But, other than that, it is very difficult to get food here. In the name of vegetables, there is only one mushroom that grows in the forest. And, there are some ground potatoes and berries. That grow in the forest. This is their diet. This is their bed where they sleep at night. One is there. One is here. There are two beds in this tent. And, you can see the mattress of the bed. How thin it is. Below that, there are only pieces of wood. It is a very interesting bed. But, it is very comfortable to sit in. And, near this family's tent, there is a telephone which is connected to the battery. And, this battery is outside the solar panel. It is time for the helicopter to take off. Later on, we explored some of the nearby areas. Some of the mountains which are completely unknown. Where, from far away, there are such jungles where you can't even see a single sign of people. It is 4 o'clock in the morning. And, we drove for an hour on the mountain. Just to see the sunrise. This is the sunrise which is on top of the lake. It is so cold that we are sitting in the car and watching the sunrise. Actually, the entire country of Mongolia is filled with such landscapes. It is one of the most empty countries in the world. If you want to see more of Mongolia, I have already made vlogs. You can click here and watch the old vlogs.