Mongolian Yurt

In 2001 when Bernt and Christoph secured the land that would become Amangiri, one of their Mongolian workers in Dunton Hot Springs – Batmunh Otgonbayar – had an authentic Yurt, or Ger, sent to Dunton from his country. Batmunh had seen the Teepees in Dunton, and he assumed – correctly – that the two partners would be intrigued by the Asian equivalent of a Teepee. So, it was decided to have the Yurt placed on a particularly scenic site of the future Amangiri lands as a place holder of things to come. 

 

Otgo – Batmunh’s nick name – oversaw the erection of the yurt, and, at some point, he stood next to the two Navajo workers brought in to help. Looking at them standing there, I was reminded that the Navajos – Thousands of years ago – crossed the Barring Street from Asia, possibly Mongolia, and then migrated down the North American continent, and settled in the Four Corners Region of the American Southwest. When the Yurt was up, one of the Navajo workers looked at it and said ‘Looks just like a Hogan’ (Hogans are the traditional dwellings used by the Navajo tribe).