Camping like a Khan

>> Mongolian-style yurts come to Quebec

TOTALLY CIRCULAR STRUCTURE: Yurt

by CHRIS BARRY

It’s almost an annual rite of passage for me and the missus. Summer approaches and one of us gets the brainstorm that perhaps camping might be a nice way to kill a week or so in July. But then, predictably, we come to our senses and remember that we hate camping.

For starters, we’re both pretty lame when it comes to outdoorsy stuff. So heading in to the wild is pretty much a recipe for disaster. As beautiful and bucolic as these huge provincial parks most certainly are, perishing in the bush isn’t quite what we’re looking to do on our summer vacation. And the alternative—setting up camp in one of those noisy overcrowded family facilities—is absolutely out of the question.

But this year I might have finally stumbled across a camping variation that renders these unpleasant elements redundant. It’s something called a yurt, which is a tent-like shelter certain nomadic Mongolians have been inhabiting year-round for centuries. And I’ve got to figure, hey, if a yurt was good enough for Genghis Kahn, then it’s probably good enough for us. Better, of course, is that there’s at least a few of them available for rent within striking distance of Montreal, the closest yurts being housed at Parc National de Plaisance in Outaouais, with several more located just this side of Rimouski on the magnificent grounds of Parc National du Bic.

Most mod cons

MORE COMFY THAN A TENT:
Inside a yurt at Parc du Bic (above and below)

Marielle Bois, who is the yurt go-to gal at Parc Plaisance, tells me I’m not alone in my enthusiasm for the structure, which by all measures is a pretty cool feat of design. “This is only the second summer we’ve had them here and they’re tremendously popular,” she reports. “By the first week of July, the two yurts we have were both booked for the entire season. One of them houses two people and is 15 feet in diameter while the larger yurt is 24 feet and accommodates up to six people.”

And while the costs to rent one are $63 and $120 per night respectively, when you consider what you’re getting for your hard-earned cash it works out to be a pretty good deal. “People like them so much,” says Bois, “that we’re planning on developing a little village of 10 yurts that hopefully will be up by next summer, or if not, then for sure by the 2009 season. They’ll be located beside the current yurts, close to the water right by the beach, but far away from the main campground.”

So what, exactly, is a yurt and what makes them so goddamned wonderful? “Well,” Bois informs me enthusiastically, “the yurts of Parc de Plaisance are entirely round structures made from a canvas-like material that are housed upon a wooden platform. They have doors on them, just like in your home, with lots of big tent-like windows, and because of the dome-shaped ceiling, the air circulates in a way that creates a perfect temperature inside, so it’s never too hot in the summer and always nice and warm in the winter. And they’re big, so you can walk around in them, and if it’s raining or something, you can stay inside and be really comfortable. You’ve not only got a large dining table and real beds in them but also a propane stove so you can cook indoors. Just being inside a totally circular structure like this is unusual in itself, but I think the reason people like them so much is because you get the same feeling as being in a tent, but it’s so much more comfortable. Not to mention they have electricity too.”

Think of Genghis

So, if you’re a little like me, this yurt business could be right up your alley. For approximately the same price as a cheap motel, you can stay in a yurt, enjoying almost all the comforts of home, while experiencing the fresh air and all the joys of that rustic camping vacation.

And if, after reading this, you simply can’t wait until next summer to set your ass down in a yurt for a few nights, remember that up at Parc du Bic you can do the yurt thing all year round. According to all reports, it’s supposed to be pretty damn cozy in one of these things come wintertime, and hey, Genghis Kahn didn’t freeze to death living in his yurt.

For more information on renting a yurt at Parc
National du Bic or Parc National de Plaisance go
to www.sepaq.com or call 1-800-665-6527.
Yurts are also available at William Lyon
McKenzie King’s former estate in Gatineau
Park near Ottawa. Reservations: (819) 827-2020;
www.canadascapital.gc.ca.