I was hell-bent on going to Kyzyl since the moment I found out I would be living somewhere relatively close to Mongolia. Kyzyl is the capital of Tyva Republic and, despite its proximity to Abakan, the town is still pretty inaccessible because it is surrounded by low mountains and hills. In fact, eighty percent of Tyva’s territory is covered by mountains, which hampers the development of rail transportation into Kyzyl The first railway to Kyzyl is currently being build, but, despite the progress, many believe that its completion will never be achieved. That said, the drive to Kyzyl is one of the most beautiful experiences a human being can have. The steppe, usually though to be a void, a sterile, flat area with nothing to offer. After seeing the Tuvan steppe, I realized that looking at the expanse of the steppe is a lot like looking at the sky.
Geography is not the only aspect that makes Tuva inaccessible; culturally, Tuva is completely different from Russia. Most of its population speaks the Tuvan language and follows its own cultural practices. Although there is no direct hostility between Russians and Tuvans, many Russian have deep-seated prejudices against Tuvans and associate the region of Tuva with wildness and danger.
Before I went to Tuva, everyone in Abakan kept telling me how dangerous it is to go to Tuva, some people even made me promise not to go in winter.
“the roads are dangerous. You might fall into an abyss while driving over the mountains” somebody told me
“Tuvans carry knives and don’t take kindly to foreigner,” another person said.
Some of these warnings were tinged with discrimination against Tuvans: “Tuva is a dying republic. all they do is suck out money out of the federal government.” Drug trafficking, specifically the trafficking of marijuana, also seems to be a problem in Tuva. Maybe of these warnings discouraged me from going and managed instill fear in me. At the same time, I felt comforted by the fact that Joey, a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant is living there. When I found that Eirene (another Fulbrighter) and Joey were planning on going to Kyzyl in early February, I decided to tag along and find out whether the rumours were true..
I met my travel companions, who had been traveling for three days on train from Moscow to Abakan, at 6:00 am a the Abakan railway station. The bus to Kyzyl, which looked at least 20 years old, arrived 50 minutes later. We rode for almost 12 hour in our fume-soaked bus with two stops. On one of them, I got to see the worst toilet in the world under the effects of -30 C weather.
The drive into Kyzyl was breathtaking. The scenery changed completely. I felt like we were aheading to Mongolia as soon as we crossed the border that divides Khakassia and Tuva,. Snow-covered mountains started erupting from the steppe. The flatness of the land makes mountains stick out remarkably against the sky, but it also makes it hard to determine the size and proximity of a mountain. These low-mountains seem dettached and present at the same time; they appear small because they are actually very far away.
Tuva is an autonomous Republic of Russia. It manages its own internal affairs, but receives large subsidies from the federal government. Tuva’s Urug-Khem basin contains 16 billion metric tons of coal reserves, hence the state-backed decision to construct a railroad.Tuva may be rich in resources, but it is still one of the poorest regions in Russia. That may have to do with that fact that Tuva does not really have autonomous control over their wealth.
Although it was painfully cold, Kyzyl was sunny and clear when we arrived. From the main square you could see mountains looming in the distance. On top of the biggest mountain, thre was a solitary buddhist temple. Kyzyl is very unique. The smell of burning carbon and firewood gives the a rural atmosphere, while its stern soviet buildings and constructivist murals remind you that this IS the cultural and political center of Tuva Republic. The buddhist prayer wheel in the centre of the main square made me realize all of the sudden that I wasn’t in Russia. One of the most distinctive buildings in Kyzyl, for me, was the National Theatre. Its asian style architecture and wooden ornaments distinguishes from the rest of the grey, soviet buildings that still serve as offices and workplaces for Tuvans. We went to eat at cafe called Восторг (joy), where I accidentally tried tea with salt for the first time.
On our second day, we went American from Milwaukee living and working in Tuva. Sean is a local celebrity in Kyzyl. He works as a producer for Alash, a Tuvan music ensemble. I was expecting to meet a nerdy, white-haired boomer in a comfortable office, nestled among his books. Sean, however, breaks every stereotype. When we went into his office he was he was in middle of a lively conversation with his Tuvan colleagues—in Tuvan. When he saw us, he got up from his seat and introduced us to his colleagues, which are the members of Alash, a throat singing band from Kyzyl.An immense poster announcing an Alash concert in Carnegie Hall proudly hung from the back wall.
From his intonation and the way he carried conversations with the members of Alash, it was clear that Sean speaks Tuvan fluently. He bears a vague resemblance to Lenin and furrows his eyebrows when he speaks Tuvan. Instead of switching immediately to American English, Sean spoke to us in Russia, probably because that is the language he usually has to fall back on. After he morphed back into an American, he offered us tea:
He went out into the hall to say bye to his colleagues. From a distance, we could hear him casually singing a tune in хоомей( Tuvan throat singing style). He sat down and offered us some tea.
“Would you like sugar or salt with your tea?”
Sean came to Tuva his first time on a Fulbright research grant. He had been studying throat singing way before he came to Kyzyl. During his time there he learned Tuvan, worked at the state university, and met his wife. He had to go back to the U.S. after his grant. After working and saving money for a year, he came back to Tuva. Now, he works at Tuva’s most importanct cultural center, is a member of the Tuvan Philarmonic, and manages the musical group Alash. Our conversation covered a wide range of topics: the preservation of Tuvan culture, the history of Mongolian and Tuvan people, and cannibals in Milwaukee.
Sean, if anything, is one of the coolest people I met in my life. Not many people have the guts to go to one of Russia’s most isolated region and learn a language spoken by a minority in Russia. Although Tuvan, may seem like rare language, it is the lingua franca of Tuva. You might not get around very well with Russian, unless you are in a store or any type of work environment.
On our second day, we also went to the center of Asia monument, which is located on the picturesque banks the Yenisey river. The was completely frozen and barely distinguishable from the mountains that surrounded it. Whether or not Kyzyl is the geographical center of Asia does not matter. There is another city in China, Ürümqi, that also claims to be the center of Asia.
On a last day, we went to the museum of political repression, where we saw pictures and the death sentences of all the Tuvan Soviet politicians who were executed during the stalinist years. Among the victims of repression, there were also shamans and buddhist monks.
Tuva is still a mystery to me, which is why I am planning on returning to Kyzyl in June, when its not blisteringly cold and covered in snow. Three day were definitely not enough to fully appreciate the history and culture of this small town. Kyzyl is not a place where you go to consume and find wi fi cafes. It is a place where you have to be open to accepting its unique energy, above all, capable of embracing its culture.
My life in Khakassia 