June 19 Khakassia Menhirs

Today, we went towards Askiz village in Khakassia to explore their menhirs. Well, we didn't really have to go there to see menhirs and stone circles, as they are pretty much everywhere in the region, but Askiz areas has some important stones, such as the Mother of the Mothers, Health Stone, burial grounds etc.

As we drove, the weather turned miserable and it was raining cats and dogs for a while. Thankfully, the Mother of Mothers (Ulug Khurtyakh Tas) stone is in the enclosed glass yurt, so we were able to enjoy it dry. The next one - collection of menhirs with petroglyphs in Poltakov - was an open air museum so we just rushed through it not to get too wet. As we set off from Poltakov, the sky cleared up and we had a wonderful view of the Safronov burial grounds. We then continued to Kazanovka. Although the museum was already closed, we still enjoyed some beautiful scenery.

We also saw a cow battle when cows fight to establish their ranking in the hierarchy. We had already seen it in Switzerland, so were not much surprised. What surprised us about cows is their mourning ritual. When we were in Kosh-Agach, we saw how a heard one by one came to a dead cow sniffing it and sometimes producing strong loud sounds. We then read on the internet that cows indeed have a strong sense of mourning for the dead and sometimes even shed tears.