Meet Darsuren – Our Host At Amarbayasgalant
Life is frequently tough in Mongolia. And life got very tough for Darsuren when her husband who was a truck driver died in an accident leaving her with four young children to care for and provide for.
After her husband’s death, Darsuren, who is a Buddhist, decided to bring her family from out west where they lived to Amarbayasgalant Monastery in Mongolia’s northern Selenge Province so that her middle son could be educated as a boy monk at the monastery.
The images used throughout this blog post of Darsuren at Amarbayasgalant in Mongolia were taken by Cath Forrest a translator and photographer living in London. Jess was asked to write the foreword for her newly published book ‘Portraits From A Valley In Mongolia.’ For more on Cath’s wonderful book – https://www.centralbooks.com/publishers/JACKKK/orkhon-portraits-from-a-valley-in-mongolia.html
The monastery is located 35km from the nearest asphalt road and 60km from the nearest town. And in times of adverse weather, the dirt road connecting the monastery to the asphalt road turns into a mud track that becomes a fight between the driver and the road. This remoteness is one reason that Amarbayasgalant is used as a training school for young novice monks. They have less distractions.
For many rural and more traditional Mongolian families, including Darsuren, sending their son to a monastery was and remains common practise. Not only is free education guaranteed but it is also a ticket out of poverty with meals being provided.
As novice monks, the boys are taught self-discipline and are expected to follow daily rituals such as rising before dawn and studying and memorising Buddhist scriptures in the morning and learning more general subjects such as mathematics in the afternoon.
Those with children at the monastery are permitted to live within the local area and so Darsuren made a home for herself and her children just a few metres from the monastery itself. And Darsuren continues to live in the small wooden house she made into their home.
Although Darsuren runs a small shop used by the young monks and local community members and she receives fresh produce from her youngest son Bolobaatar who is a herder looking after the family’s small herd of horses and sheep in the close-by Iver Valley, life remains fragile for the family.
We were looking for accommodation at Amabayasgalant in Mongolia and although the area has a couple of tourist ger camps, we wanted something closer to the monastery so that our guests could explore independently in their own time without the need for a vehicle. We also wanted accommodation that was open all year round and allowed us to put support back into the local community. This is how we met Darsuren as she has 2-3 gers that she offers as guest accommodation.
Darsuren’s life is basic and so is the ger accommodation she offers. But by forming one of our long-term local community partnerships with Darsuren we help to provide long-term support. Examples include using the accommodation Darsuren provides, our zero-interest micro-loans scheme, arranging and paying for private guided tours of the monastery through Darsuren, and also looking at all the ways we can include Amarbayasgalant into the experiences we offer.
If you’re interested in visiting Amarbayasgalant in Mongolia and meeting Darsuren, why not explore the range of experiences we can offer and ‘be part of a bigger travel philosophy’?
