ULAN BATOR, Mongolia — It is late June, but a biting north wind has swept in from the Siberian steppe, driving temperatures down by 40 degrees and bringing an icy drizzle that chills the skin.Bundled in an inadequate cloth coat, Khavdal Khurman stoops behind a makeshift mine piling with a small sack, sifting through the detritus for a few lumps of coal to heat his tent against the unseasonal chill. Around him lies a coal-blackened Mad Max landscape of abandoned mining equipment and derelict buildings, the windows long since stripped of glass.
Life has been tough for Mr. Khavdal, who worked for 11 years in the coal mine a few miles outside of the capital until it was closed because of safety concerns in 1990 — the same year Mongolia rejected socialism in favor of democracy and a market economy. Read more from Washington Times
Cashmere wool is wool obtained from the Kashmir goat. The name derives from an archaic spelling of Kashmir. It is sometimes incorrectly applied to any extremely soft wool, similar to Champagne being used to describe any sparkling wine.
