Day 373: Ilars the Lion

Kanas – Hemu – Burqin, China

I was glad my relatives had booked me a superior package on this tour. I only had to share a 3-star hotel room with another person. Some other unlucky ones had to share 4 beds strung together among 6 of them in a 9-person room. And the toilets were in a communal restroom without any dividers whatsoever.

In the morning, we made our way to Hemu. The ride brought us up the lush green mountain. Never had I seen a place with so much greens;  different shades of greens. I wanted so badly to be let off the tour bus to take pictures.

Hemu is inhabited by the Chinese of Kazakh descent. Looking more like a mix of Central Asian, Russian and Chinese, the Chinese Kazakhs have higher nose and brows with droopy eyes, yet somewhat still carry a bit oriental feel in them.

I took a ride on a horse, led by a 9-year old boy, in hope to learn more about their culture. They speak their own tongue, perhaps more similar to Russian than Chinese. The boy’s name is Ilars, meaning Lion. The family owns 5 horses and while the mother and older brother took tourists like me on horse rides, the father was out gathering grass in preparation for winter. Winter in the area is brutal; with thigh-high snow and -40 degrees celcius, lasting for half a year.

I had brought with me a pack of small muffins and thought it good to share them with Ilars. He took the pack and munched down the content almost immediately and ditched all the plastic and paper leftover on the grass. It was then it occurred to me that there are rubbish scattered all over the greens. I had thought it was the doings of the bombarding tourists, not the locals.

In the evening, I went with a fellow tour member to a night market in Burqin. We had been recommended to try the grilled fish and a drink called Kawas. Kawas is a Russian “beer” drink with 0.5% of alcohol and tons of honey. It’s a mild and sweet drink, perfect for a non-alcoholic drinker and sucker for anything sweet like me.