Enjoy the Spectacle

The great Naadam Festival is included on many Mongolia trekking holidays, as it is a spectacular representation of a traditional and untainted country.

When people visit Mongolia, trekking tends to be the order of the day. The history of the domination of Genghis Khan echoes about the land, which remains largely unhindered by the modern world and its developments. Full of physical challenges, Mongolia’s landscape offers everything from the wilderness of the Gobi Desert, to the peaks of the Altai Mountain Range – Mount Kharkhiraa and Mount Turgen – both standing at around 4,000 metres tall.

But in Mongolia, trekking is not the only way to experience the nomadic and traditional culture that is still so inherent to the Mongolian lifestyle. In order to provide you with a real insight into the culture of this phenomenal country, many treks will incorporate the great national celebrations of the Naadam Festival. This ancient celebration, the biggest festival of the year, has been an important event in the Mongolian calendar for hundreds of years. A perfect way to round off your Mongolia trekking, your appointed leader will ensure that you are in the prime location to see the best of the festival.

A Tournament for Warriors

The Great Naadam Festival is held annually between July 11th and 13th. It was originally held to honour the mountain gods, but is now held in commemoration of the 1921 revolution, after which Mongolia declared its freedom. The three-day festival was initiated in order to provide an opportunity for warriors to prove themselves. It was a strictly male-only affair, though today, women are also allowed to compete in some of the events.

The festival is celebrated all over the country, though to witness the most impressive celebrations, tours will most likely take you to either Tsetserleg, capital of the Arkhangai Aimag province, or the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, where you will be taken to the National Sports Stadium.

The Sports

The name ‘naadam’ means ‘competition’, and although the festival consists of music, dance and general merrymaking, it is focused mainly on three sports: wrestling, horse racing and archery. When you visit Mongolia, trekking may be the activity which first attracted you to the country, but for the locals these three sports are the most important.

Mongolian wrestling is different from anything that you will have seen before. During the competition, hundreds of traditionally-dressed wrestlers all compete to become the champion, wrestling for 9 or 10 rounds and trying to avoid falling to the ground, as this would result in their elimination. This is the only event in which women are not permitted to take part.

Horseracing is also a very different spectacle to its western equivalent. The jockeys are all children, and the races last between 15 and 30 kilometres, much further than the racing you may be used to watching back home.

The third sport, archery, has particular significance as it is the oldest sport in Mongolia. Trekking may be the reason you came, but you should not miss the opportunity to see some of the finest archers in the world competing in this competition. The event is made up of teams of archers, all shooting at numerous targets. The men have to hit targets from 75 metres, with the women shooting from a slightly closer range.

Author Bio: Jude Limburn Turner is the Marketing Manager for Mountain Kingdoms, an adventure tour company who run Mongolia cialis cheap Trekking holidays. They now offer treks and tours worldwide, including destinations in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Central and South East Asia.

Category: Travel
Keywords: Mongolia Trekking