I went on my first ‘organised’ tour. It was to a nomad family which had everybody complain about a gruesome 7 hr ride. We arrived after dark. Fortunately, we could join herding the goats up the mountain, which made us long for the simple life these people were leading.

After a rough night (our hosts were up most of it as wolves had eaten a lamb 2 days before, testified by their dog which was bitten too) I had enormous fun while playing with the lambs that I was tasked to herd. Only then I realized the true daily routine of living in the middle of nowhere, without rain, but with incredible numbers of flies that appeared out of nowhere at 09.00 in the morning. Temperature hit 30+ degrees celcius at 09.30. This was also the start of the daily ‘attack’ by gigantic wasps. Our hosts had a half open tent to live in and seemed to be completely used to both the flies and the wasps.

Through an interpreter I had the opportunity to ask the man of the family some questions. We spoke of everything from his ancestors to how he made money on his goats (milk, not meat). His family had been nomads for generations, but he had no man to succeed him on his land. The Irani government has been pushing the nomads to settle (easier to control), however most nomads refused. Expectantly, I asked if he was one of the persons who had refused (out of love for the nomad life). He had refused alright, but only because the government’s offer for living in the city would lead to worse conditions than he was now.

We left in our van at 10.00 when the heat became unbearable.
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