Handwoven Yak Wool Tents

Nomad tents are usually made from yak wool that has been hand spun into yarn. It takes about a year to make a mid-sized tent. When going to a nomad home, it is common to see the women spinning yak wool into yarn. Mongolian gers (nomad tents) are often very thick and well insulated. Tibetan tents are very thin. From inside the tent you can see the blue Tibetan sky through the hand spun yarn. Nomad tents are held up using hand spun yak wool rope and 8 to 12 wooden poles. The top of the tent has a large opening that is used to let smoke out and to let the warm sunshine in. Prayer flags will always be flying outside across the top.

The inside of nomad tents are very simple. Nomads are very poor and own few belongings. Inside there will be some sleeping mats and blankets, a stove, a table or two, a few extra clothes and a little food. Nearly all tents will have a picture of a local lama and often will have a picture of the 14th Dalai Lama. A thangka (Tibetan buddhist painting) will also be found hanging inside.

Yaks are kept tied up outside of the tent using lines of rope that are made secure by two wooden stakes driven into the ground. Each line of rope will have 8 to 10 small loops which are put around one of the yaks feet at night (or tied through the yak's nose). A few dogs will also be kept tied up outside the tent. Large piles of dried yak dung are stored close to the tent. Since many nomadic areas of Tibet have no trees, yak dung is often the only source of fuel. It is common to see Tibetan buddhist sculptures made in the yak dung.

Hand woven yak wool tents are quickly disappearing. Many nomads now only live in these tents in the summer months. They live in mud-brick homes the rest of the year. Others are moving into towns to live in traditional style Tibetan homes or are being relocated into cities (such as Xining) where the government gives them a modern style apartment. I visited a remote monastery last December and came across several dozen yak wool tents in a storage area. I was told that these tents had be sold to the monastery over the past 6 months by nomads who were moving into mud-brick homes.

Though there are fewer and fewer yak wool tents each year in Tibet, there are still a few areas that have them. The northern regions of Nagchu and Ngari prefectures in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Yushu prefecture in southern Qinghai and northern Ganzi prefecture in Sichuan province all have nomads still living in yak wool tents. If you are interested in seeing these type of nomads, please email me at info@tibetanconnections.com.

Comments

[Julie Eley]

For foreigners laws apply and these may be difficult - need to find out beforehand.
However, there is also the safety aspect to camping. I have camped a few times in Qinghai and Sichuan Provinces and also Ladakh. Always with prior consent of the nomads camping near-by or local guides. One of the reasons is the wild dogs and wolves that abound in many of these areas. (Maybe some leopards too)! The nomad dogs protected our tents by leaving their mark on our tents they also came out at night and were heard barking at the wild dogs who might venture too close for comfort. (Of course one has to be carefull too of the nomad dogs and only go close when their nomad owners are around as you can get a good bite from them!)
Never leave any food in the tent, even the smallest morsal! It will be smelt out, by the wild dogs, wolves or even the nomad dogs!

[Lease Purchase]

Good info.
Look forward to reading more on your site.
Good Luck

[aboobacker]

could you please send me the contact details of turkish nomad as we are interested to deal with them for the tent business in the near future.

Thanking you in advance.

[Andrew Johnston]

Dear Sir,
Can i first of all commend you on this fantastic website, I am travelling to tibet for the first time in a week and it has helped me a great deal. I still have one question though and im hoping that you may know the answer...after Tibet i am going to mongolia, where they have no camping laws so i intend to pitch up my tent wherever is most suitable with (hopefully) no complications! is it the same in tibet-can foreigners/travelers camp by themselves in the country with ease or do the locals and nomadic people have a problem with this? the last thing i want to do is offend anyone or break any laws. wherever i go i always ensure that i leave no rubbish and leave the area as best as i found it!
Thankyou again
Andrew Johnston