Kyrgyzstan promotes its traditional mare’s milk to lure tourists

BISHKEK, July 20 (Reuters) – Kyrgyzstan is searching for to draw extra vacationers by selling its conventional kumis – fermented mare’s milk – which locals drink and bathe in and say is sweet for his or her well being.

The transfer comes as curiosity in fermented and probiotic drinks is hovering in lots of international locations.

The significance of kumis to Kyrgyz tradition is demonstrated by the truth that the Central Asian former Soviet republic’s capital, Bishkek, is known as after a paddle used to churn the fermenting milk.

Via promotional movies and festivals, Kyrgyzstan is encouraging vacationers to expertise the standard nomadic Kyrgyz life-style by sleeping in a yurt in a lush mountain pasture near the herds of horses which give the milk.

Vacationers also can drink contemporary native milk, often called saamal, within the yurts.

“We determined to strive it after listening to about saamal and kumis from our buddies who had visited Kyrgyzstan,” says Ibrahim al-Sharif, a vacationer from Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

“I can not even describe its style. There may be nothing in Saudi Arabia that I might evaluate with it.”

Milking a mare is way trickier than milking a cow and requires the individual to basically hug the animal’s thigh to achieve. The milking is completed between mid-Could and mid-July, with the looks of the Pleiades star cluster within the evening sky a conventional signal of its finish.

Reporting by Marlis Myrzakul Uulu
Writing by Olzhas Auyezov, Modifying by Alexandra Hudson

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