So ive got way too many photos, and obviously cant put them all up. ive trimmed the selection but its still a lot, so the text is going to be pretty sparse, and you can just skim the photos (probably a lot more fun).
The first day of the trip was actually a 3hr, that turned into a 5hr, van ride through the mongolian countryside. outside the cities the roads are all dirt, and change into an array of roads when the original one becomes too worn. we stopped for a water break at a well where two nomads were watering their goats/cattle.
leaving KhogGor
the highway
theres was a leather bucket at the end of the leather strap, and they empted the water into the concrete trough, and once onto Anikas head to help her cool down
For the night we stayed at a gher camp on the shores of Lake Ogii - an inland freshwater lake. went for a swim and took it easy. The next day we jumped back in the van and had made it to our destination by lunch - a mini nadaam festival held by the local province. Every year theres a huge naddam festival in Ulaan Baator where the whole country enjoys the competition of its three national sports - wrestling, horse racing, and archery. In addition to this national competition each province/state holds a regional nadaam, which we were lucky to catch when we arrived. The event felt like a kind of rodeo (cause ive been to so many rodeos)
Nairden (driver), Dimbe (horse-herder guide), Dawa (translator)
Before the festivities started we sat down for some lunch and watched the locals arrive.
our ex-russian military van
if ive counted right, 14-leaf suspension (we needed it)
Horse racing - Quick Facts. Horses are really sacred in mongolian culture, and they only race the stallions, the mares are used for milking. During the winter the horses roam free, and are then herded up during the summer. For the festivals, horses race between the ages of 2-8years, and are fastest between 5-7years. the jockeys are all kids - they have to weigh less than 80 pounds - and apparently they ride the horses bareback because its safer (no stirups to get dragged along by if you fall off).
Races are around 27km long. To start with all the horses walk from the finish line out to the start line, turn around 180 degrees and start racing back. The finish has the feeling of a cross country race, and the finish line (red flag) is pretty hectic. Spectators (most on horses) line both sides of the finishig straight and all creep closer inwards to get a better look. In this ever diminishing space competitors are galloping across the line, judges decide who came where, other judges on horses have to reign in the competitors (who arent going slow), give them the place theyve been assigned, and guide them out past the spectotors.
At the end its good luck to touch the sweat of the winning horse
the boy in white is the winning jockey
Before the wrestling started we watched some traditional folk dancing, listened to a horsehead fiddle soloist, and a singing soloist. We also got to try some Airag - or fermented mares milk. Basically it tastes like really really really sour dour, and has the texture of milk. Dawa tells us that in the summer, some men live on only airag. For the festival a huge pot of it is brewed, and passed out in bowls to the crowd for free. Dawa informed me that its ok to have the entire bowl if you want, i just took a sip.
folkdancing
thats the pot of airag in the foreground.
entrance to the stadium
Mongolian Wrestling - the wrestlers wear the traditional dress (see below) and the rules seem to be that if your knees, back, butt or elbow touch the ground, then youve lost. I saw one dude on all fours with his butt in the air, but he still wasnt out - although at this point your pretty screwed. Before each bout the wrestlers perform the Eagle Dance. Briefly, it involves circling round on the spot with your arms out like an eagle, then slappig your thighs a few times. After this your coach (the ones in robes next to the wrestler) takes off your hat, and you start wrestling. During the bout, to give you a bit of encouragment if things are looking a bit tough, your coach will walk up and slap you on the butt.
if you win your bout, you can walk over to this guy, take a few of his cookies (in the box) and either eat them or throw them to the crowd.
the judges' tent
By this time it was getting late and we had to skip the archery to make it to our host nomad family's place before dark. Our host family traditionally are horse breeders, and they have had several very successful horses that have won medals at various nadaam festivals. In the last few years they have started to move into the tourism industry, and thus are our guides for this trip, and it was their horses that we rode.
the local shops
the family's medals hanging in the gher
we were invited in for a quick mongolian tea, and a few dried yoghurt biscuits
For desert that night we had mongolian yoghurt, which is made from goats milk, usually quite nice with a few teaspoons of sugar. although this particular batch wasnt so good, even after multiple heaped tablespoons it continued to do down rather poorly. we found out in the morning that they had given us the wrong bucket of milk/dairy stuff (you can understand that they get confused and times), and we had actually been eating fermented curdled cows milk. i think the mongolians have a certain attitude towards dairy - if you can milk it, mongolians milk it - if you can milk it, you can make cream, yoghurt, cheese, fermented milk, dried cheese biscuits etc etc....
