Article: Sheep for the shaman: few people have heard of Tuva, a small country at the heart of Asia. Still fewer know that Tuvans are shamans ...

TUVAN IS THE most beautiful language I've ever heard. Words and phrases linger in my mind like bars of music and I repeat them just for the pleasure of the sound they produce.

Here in the far western mountains there are more Tuvans than anywhere else in Mongolia. Tuva, Mongolia's north-western neighbour, is an obscure country, best known for its quirkily named capital, Khyzl (pronounced Kizul), where an obelisk marks the absolute centre of Asia. The Tuvans first crossed the Altai range to Mongolia because this seeming-barren landscape in fact offers good grazing for their livestock. Today, they herd their animals alongside Mongolian nomads.

But there is ...

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