We developed in collaboration with the NGO AVSF a tourism project supporting the yak herders' cooperative Arkhangai Ar Arvijin Delgerekh. The cooperative, through fair trade initiatives, encourages yak herders to develop the yak wool trade, and thereby become less dependent on cashmere. This wool is also more ecologically sustainable, as cashmere goats are a significant source of desertification issues.

The cooperative currently has 168 member families and wishes to develop fair trade tourism to enable herders to generate employment and diversify their income sources. Tourism notably serves as one of the factors limiting livestock numbers and thus reducing the negative effects of overgrazing.

Families who wish to participate in this program have decided to share their daily life with travelers by showcasing a wide variety of activities specific to their way of life. Here is a non-exhaustive list of activities developed among cooperative families:

• Herding activities: milking animals, combing, dung collection
• Horse training
• Wood cutting and transport
• Dairy product making: aaruul, eezgi, cream, cheese, yogurt, milk vodka distillation, mare's milk fermentation
• Traditional cooking
• Making traditional clothing, the deel
• Felt making: wool beating, weaving, etc.
• Ger assembly
• Woodworking, crafting the wooden frame of the ger and traditional furniture
• Leather work, particularly for animal harnesses

Choosing to stay with a cooperative family is not without significance. It is important that you understand:

• In addition to the standard payment made to families for accommodation, food, and activities, we return 30% to the cooperative (projects, VAT, and social contributions).
• Families are not accustomed to welcoming foreign visitors, and we intentionally limit the number of people visiting these families. Interactions are therefore quite genuine and simple, though they may sometimes surprise you. You must therefore maintain complete openness of mind.
• Accommodation infrastructure is also quite basic. Generally a single ger with 4 beds for travelers, very thin mattresses, some travelers may be invited to sleep on a mat directly on the ground, etc.
• No showers, but access to water for minimal washing.
• Dry toilets are not always available; you may use facilities as nomads do: in nature.

As you can see, you should not expect great comfort here, but rather a deeply enriching experience living alongside nomadic life. Authenticity comes at a price, and it is often the price of spartan comfort.