Lots of us fancy the idea of a nomadic lifestyle. Slow travel and remote working is all the rage these days. But nomadism is not a new concept cooked up by millennials.
Once upon a time, all humans were wanderers. We travelled from place to place in search of edible vegetation and prey. Tibetans are no exception. What’s unusual about Tibet is that ancient, nomadic life persists to this day.
When I first met Yeshi he used to take me on long treks up the mountainside from his home in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas. I am a Londoner with no sense of direction out in the wilds. He was a skilled guide, with colourful stories to tell about the plants, trees and wildlife that we passed along the way.
As we walked, we talked. In Tibet he’d been semi-nomadic, he explained. How thrilling and romantic, I thought. Living and cooking outdoors with just your yaks for company. I didn’t really understand what he meant or what the rhythms were, and why he’d only be out there for part of the time.
It wasn’t until we visited his home in Tibet decades later that pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place.
For Yeshi, semi-nomadic meant that his family had a solid, comfortable base in the village. This was his home over the long winter. During the more temperate seasons, him and his dad accompanied their herd of yaks, sheep and goats from pasture to pasture.
The female yak, or dhri, provided valuable dairy products that sustained them at altitudes too high for cultivated agriculture. Yeshi and his father spent the warm season milking their dhri and making butter and cheese. Some of this was traded for grain or other local products, but they stored most of it for use over the lean winter months.
Working conditions were basic and tough. The weather was not always on side. Sleeping under the stars was all well and good until a wild animal turned up: part of the job involved keeping the herd safe from predators such as leopards, bears and wolves.
On our first visit back to Yeshi’s home in Tibet, we made the trek out to various camps he used to man back in the day. Some of the more permanent structures he once lived in were still standing, barely upgraded in the many years that had passed.
But there were fundamental changes. Many pastures were now accessible by motorbike, meaning that produce and people could be ferried in and out of the home and camp at speed. Crucially, herders were fewer in number than ever before. The nomadic way of life is no longer a rite of passage.
Change is afoot on the Plateau at large, but for Yeshi’s family, life continues more or less as normal for the time being. Meanwhile, at Taste Tibet, we continue semi-nomadic traditions over here in the UK: every summer we shut the restaurant to take our food to festivals and events across the land.
At the end of this week we’ll close doors for almost a month, so make sure you come and see us before our momos hit the road.
For now, the restaurant is open all the usual hours, as follows:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm (dinner only)
Saturday: 12-3/ 5-9.30pm
Sunday: 12-3 / 5-9pm
This week’s menu is up on the website – check it. Come for dine in or take away, hot food or freezer food, cookbooks and sepen chill oil.
Taste Tibet will be closing on Sunday 10th May until Friday 5th June, so if you need to restock your freezer, make sure you come by this week.
And if you haven’t already, sign up to our weekly newsletter so that you can keep track of our movements during the nomadic summer months. Every Postcard From Tibet also contains a discount or freebie.
Finally, our Postcards are now fully illustrated over on our Instagram, so if you’re after more than just the one snap, head this way.
Looking forward to seeing you this week,
Julie and Yeshi
Opening hours this week:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm
Saturday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9.30pm
Sunday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9pm
☏ 01865 499318
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