How to spend the traditional Mongolian festival "Naadam"!

Hello! This is HushTug's Hariuna.

In this blog, I would like to talk about how to spend the traditional Mongolian festival "Elin Glaban Naadam".

Naadam is one of Mongolian traditional festivals, and it can be said that "Naadam is the month of July in Mongolia."

"Erin Graban Naadam" translates into Japanese as three boys' games.

These three games include "Mongolian wrestling," "long-distance horse racing," and "archery." Let's talk in more detail about how to spend Naadam.


table of contents

・Naadam & Covid-19
How to spend Naadam
·lastly

Naadam & Covid-19

"Is it okay to hold Naadam when COVID-19 is still not under control all over the world?"

Some of you may be thinking the same thing, but the way we spent Naadam this year was quite different from usual.

First of all, I would like to talk about how I usually spend my time at Naadam.

Naadam hosts a wide range of three sports competitions to promote talented wrestlers, horse and jockeys, and archers.

Every year, many foreign and Mongolian tourists come to see the opening ceremony of Naadam, where they can enjoy traditional Mongolian music and dance that lasts for about an hour.

However, this year, due to the effects of COVID-19, tourists are no longer able to attend, and since it is not permitted for large numbers of people to gather at the same time, Naadam has had to be held without spectators.

As a result, this year's Naadam was held with the opening ceremony and Mongolian sumo wrestling being watched on Facebook Live.

How to spend Naadam this year

This year, I wasn't able to watch the opening ceremony of Naadam from up close, nor was I able to eat the Naadam delicacy (hoo shour), so I went on a trip to the countryside.

This year in particular, because the event was broadcast online, it seemed like more people than usual were traveling locally rather than watching sumo or the opening ceremony.

If you want to travel around the countryside in Mongolia, you will have a lot of trouble unless you have a reliable car that won't break down.

Mongolian rural roads (especially those heading towards the wilderness) are left in their natural state and are not paved or built. I drive over 1,000km round trip on such roads, so it's normal for them to break down (lol).

*The parts of the picture that are not green are rural roads. Location: Uvurkhangai Province

I usually go to the countryside with my family, but this year I happened to be traveling with the workshop manager, Chimge.

Our destination was Uvurkhangai Province, about 500 km from Ulaanbaatar, and we decided to go there because we had heard that it had many mountains and rivers and beautiful scenery.

While we were driving, we happened to come across a local Naadam race taking place, where a long-distance horse race was taking place. It's rare to come across a long-distance horse race, so everyone was happy and thought it was lucky.

※Naadam long-distance horse race in Erdenesant village

It was my first time seeing a waterfall in Mongolia!

I have never traveled to a rural area other than my parents' home, so this was my first time going to an unfamiliar countryside. I was really looking forward to seeing a Mongolian waterfall for the first time. The name of this waterfall is "Ulaantsutagalan." It is the second highest waterfall in Mongolia.

We stayed overnight in a local nomad's house called a Mongolian ger!

During the three night trip, we stayed in a nomad's ger for one night. They cooked us local cuisine.

The noodles were served in a meat soup, which had a sour taste and contained something called aartu, which is made from yak's milk.

It was my first time to eat rice with AaRtz in it, so I was a little surprised (lol).

*This is the nomadic ger where we stayed.

*These yaks are raised by nomads.

When you go mountain climbing in Japan, there are usually roads built and stone stairs. In Mongolia, the hiking trails are left natural, not only in the countryside but also in the mountains of Ulaanbaatar.

This time, I hiked about 7km round trip to see the temple on top of the mountain. It is a historical site where the monk "Zanabazara" used to live in meditation, and is often visited by tourists.

※"Tobuhen Temple"

There were also many people climbing on horseback.

lastly

It was a wonderful trip to be able to enjoy the summer scenery slowly over three nights. Many parts of Mongolia are untouched by human hands and remain in their natural state.

When I go out into the Mongolian wilderness, I can't think about anything and I can rest my mind as if I'm meditating, so I love these rural places.

*These horses run freely across the Mongolian grasslands.

I would like to go on a trip next year to a place I've never been to before and experience the great outdoors.

HushTug
Hariuna