After the delay of a cold windy day on Wednesday, Thursday came around all sunny and warm with just enough breeze to keep the bugs at bay.
We headed off to the barge on Thursday morning. When we got to our campsite, we knew where we were going to place our yurt. I pronounce it as I read it but I found out that its pronounced ger. I still say it as I read it.
Chuck brought out the door and the five walls and proceeded to show us how to install the Yurt. We learned the proper way of tying down the walls, which involved being able to untie if we decided to dismantle our yurt. The way of tying down the pieces was familiar to my mother who says it’s what we do for our tepees. We have to be able to untie the pieces easily yet it has to be tied down properly so that it doesn’t fall apart.
Once the walls were all at even height, there was then the center dome with its two large center poles to hold it up to tie it to. Chuck had the Mongolian word for the pieces of the yurt and sadly I forgot.
The poles were then temporarily installed to steady the center dome and it’s poles before starting to put up all the poles for the roof. They sometimes fell so being on the inside was not a good idea unless you were completely in the middle. Even then, I certainly felt safer on the outside of the yurt during the installation. Once the poles were all up and settled into the notches in the center dome and looped onto the wall with the ropes which were tied to the poles, we were then ready to put the first of its coverings on.
The first covering was a light canvas or cotton cover I should say, that would make sure the inside looked as nice as the outside. Then the felt insulation went on. It is a thick goat’s wool the Mongolians use to insulate the yurt.
The final part was installing the outside canvas and the finishing touches like the four windows provided to cover half the dome and the bottom piece wrapped around the base of the yurt which is originally to keep horse poo out (since Mongolians deal with horses and herding animals) but is just as decorative and pretty.
Once we were done, we headed back to the mainland. The next day we packed our gear and supplies and headed back to our camp that afternoon to enjoy our new yurt!
We headed off to the barge on Thursday morning. When we got to our campsite, we knew where we were going to place our yurt. I pronounce it as I read it but I found out that its pronounced ger. I still say it as I read it.
Chuck brought out the door and the five walls and proceeded to show us how to install the Yurt. We learned the proper way of tying down the walls, which involved being able to untie if we decided to dismantle our yurt. The way of tying down the pieces was familiar to my mother who says it’s what we do for our tepees. We have to be able to untie the pieces easily yet it has to be tied down properly so that it doesn’t fall apart.
Once the walls were all at even height, there was then the center dome with its two large center poles to hold it up to tie it to. Chuck had the Mongolian word for the pieces of the yurt and sadly I forgot.
The poles were then temporarily installed to steady the center dome and it’s poles before starting to put up all the poles for the roof. They sometimes fell so being on the inside was not a good idea unless you were completely in the middle. Even then, I certainly felt safer on the outside of the yurt during the installation. Once the poles were all up and settled into the notches in the center dome and looped onto the wall with the ropes which were tied to the poles, we were then ready to put the first of its coverings on.
The first covering was a light canvas or cotton cover I should say, that would make sure the inside looked as nice as the outside. Then the felt insulation went on. It is a thick goat’s wool the Mongolians use to insulate the yurt.
The final part was installing the outside canvas and the finishing touches like the four windows provided to cover half the dome and the bottom piece wrapped around the base of the yurt which is originally to keep horse poo out (since Mongolians deal with horses and herding animals) but is just as decorative and pretty.
Once we were done, we headed back to the mainland. The next day we packed our gear and supplies and headed back to our camp that afternoon to enjoy our new yurt!