Word: yurt
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...four telecommunications workers--three from Britain, one from New Zealand--in Chechnya in 1998. Movsar also had an aunt in the rebel business. Khava Barayeva is revered by Chechen guerrillas for her suicide car-bomb attack on a Russian base in the family's home village of Alkhan-Yurt. She was 19 when she blew up herself and two soldiers in June 2000. Arbi was killed last June in a six-day shootout with Russian forces, who displayed his body on a stretcher on television to convince skeptics he was really gone. Those who knew Movsar well say his turn...
Somewhere between a tent and a hut lies a curious little structure known by a single ungainly syllable: yurt. A yurt--also known as a ger, if that sounds any better--is a small, round, roofed structure that looks like something Bilbo Baggins might have used as an outhouse. But it has become the trendy choice for do-it-yourself shelter...
...Yurts were invented thousands of years ago by Mongolian nomads, and the basic structural elements haven't changed much since then. A yurt has a circular lattice wall topped by a round roof that comes to an adorable little point. The simple design belies its many virtues: yurts are tough as a yak, easy to build and cheap to heat. They're also eco-friendly: there's not much in them besides wood and cloth, and they sit lightly on the ground, no foundation required, so their impact on the environment is minimal...
...taken the ancient wisdom of the original design and incorporated modern technology and fabrics," says Alan Bair, president of Pacific Yurts, a leading manufacturer of prefab yurts. Bair built his first yurt 25 years ago after spotting one in the pages of National Geographic. Over time he improved on tradition with seven-ply reflective insulation, architectural-quality vinyl-laminated fabrics and aircraft-quality tension cables to produce a warm, draft-free, ultra-stable modern superyurt. He now employs more than 20 people full-time supplying yurts to ski resorts, national parks, military bases and thousands of private yurt enthusiasts...
...Pacific Yurts www.yurts.com offers six different models, ranging from 12 ft. to 30 ft. in diameter and starting at $3,350; optional features include French doors, skylights, ceiling fans and a water catchment. But with all those improvements, shouldn't yurt makers be able to come up with a better name? "We got used to yogurt," Bair says firmly. "We can get used to yurt...