Sangku returned to the winter village early in the morning. I was left to rely on the few Tibetan words I learned so far to communicate with the herder’s family.

Friends of the family – a young women with two little boys came to visit. Women sat on the ground separating yak furs from hairs and chatted, the boys played outside.

It got really hot during mid-day, hardly any activities going on. I took a nap in my tent, but soon woke up to the very distinct whistles of Herder DJ. Out on the other side of the fence, he walked with a very colorful umbrella to keep the sun out, and also to use it as a signal to the sheep that they needed to move. It looked kind of comical, and didn’t quite fit the herder on a white horse image in my mind – but that’s the joy of filming without a script I crave for.

Earlier during the morning, an airplane flew by, the little boy jumped around with excitement and called her grandma out to look. Herder’s wife brought the binocular with her and stood nicely in front of my camera.

Before the woman friend’s family left, they made the boys wash their face and I took a picture of them together. One of the boys looked a bit scared holding one of the kittens. But they all looked relaxed when their father came to ride them away, four people on one moto.

Nearby herders came to have dinner with the family at night. It’s common for them to do so. A great feeling actually to be among them. Maybe the whole modern world got it all wrong, I feel some times.