A little past the village of Tsagaan Nuur, a frontier settlement on the edge of the taiga, we transfered to horses to complete the journey to the Tsaatan camp. On the first day out, as I was dismounting my horse, the saddle cinch slipped and the horse reared. I lost my balance and fell to the ground while my left foot remained stuck in the stirrup. All of a sudden I was being dragged by a spooked horse whose hooves were falling on both sides of my head. After traveling on my back for about 40 yards, my foot finally came loose. Although dazed and a little scraped up, I was okay--and very lucky.

After four days on horseback we spotted a group of tepees surrounded by reindeer. It was a camp of eighteen families that comprised half of the remaining Tsaatan reindeer herders. We were invited to sleep in the tepees, which were nice and warm but smokey. To avoid the smoke I slept with my head poking out under the edge of the tepee. One night I was awakened by the rough wet warm tongue of a reindeer licking my face. In my half conscious state I thought it was a bear and yelled out. Very embarrassing. The
reindeer are extremely tame and love the salt on skin.