An excerpt from the travelogue of Justin Lichter:

It was getting late one night and almost dark.  I was pushing on to find a campsite when I came across a herd of about 300 goats and sheep grazing.

Soon after I saw this guy stooped low and butchering a sheep. I walked past and he yelled after me. In the few English words that he spoke he asked me to be his guest for the night. I couldn’t turn it down.

I set up my tent a few yards away from his 6 foot by 6 foot rock hut.  He continued butchering the sheep. He lived with his brother at about 3500 meters elevation (11550 feet) during the summers to graze his animals and then returned to their village in the fall.  His brother came out and took the meat as he was cutting it off the animal.  

He cooked us an amazing curry with the mutton and fresh goat’s milk that he had just milked, and naan (an Indian bread like a pita) that he made in the fire.  It was the best meal of the entire trip. I couldn’t believe how tender and lean the mutton was.

Not once did I get a chewy piece of fat.  

In the morning I woke up and my new friend taught me and had me milk the goats.  I am now a master goat milker!

He took the sour, lumpy curd of the fresh goat milk and made me a cup of salt tea, a typical rural Indian beverage of black tea, fresh milk, and salt, before I headed back out hiking down the trail.       

Part II coming soon.