This morning we leave Ulaanbaatar to begin our exploration of this vast country. But the first order of business was to drive about one hour to Hui Doloon hudag, the horse racing site for Naadam. It is simply an open field with rolling hills, located about 50 km from the city. We will be attending the most important race- 5 year old horses who will be racing 30km across the steppes. The riders are boys and girls aged 5-13! And they used to ride bareback, now use saddles and helmets for safety reasons. Horses and riders trot out the 30 km, turn around and immediately race back. Those horses must really be something to handle those distances. The top 5 winning riders get school supplies and a medal while the owner of the horse and trainers get free apartments, cars and money! Seems a bit unfair to me but everyone seems happy with the system.
Our touring vehicles turned out to be late model Lexus SUVs! We had three vehicles (3 people each plus driver) and rotated drivers and vehicles each day. Maggie always rode in the lead vehicle which then held 4 people.
What was unbelievable was how many people come out to watch these races; Maggie said up to 800, 000 people come here. It has a county fair kind of vibe- games, food, drinks (airag) and partying! We arrived early to absorb the experience, ate some more Naadam fried pancakes and worked our way down to the area of the finish line where thousands of people jockeyed for viewing locations. And then, it was over in a blink of an eye and people either went back to partying or like us tried to leave the venue, which turned out to be a major problem as it took us 1.5 hours to leave the parking area and get back to the paved roadway.
Parking everywhere you look. Might be a real challenge finding our vehicle when we want to leave.
Many people camp overnight at the site of the Naadam horse races.
Local family enjoying their breakfast while waiting for the horse race to end.
Most people drive to the site. Others simply ride their horses.
Carnival like atmosphere here.
Wonder what he is cooking. Looks pretty elaborate.
Souvenirs and candy for sale.
This sheep will soon be part of a restaurant offering.
Cool, remote controlled (by the parent) cars for rent.
Not sure what the object of this game is.
Camel rides are available.
Dressed in her party finery!
One of dozens of pop-up restaurants here.
A ger restaurant. Note how they allow air circulation by opening the lower portion of the ger.
Enjoying another hot fresh Naadam specialty-Huushuur, the deep fried meat pie. It was really good!
Scott had to try the horse meat and chicken offering. The horsemeat tasted like beef to me.
Now that looks like a fun slide!
Hmmm. Seems there were more adults than kids on the train ride.
The crowd is huge! Supposedly up to 800,000 people show up for these races.
Spraying the spectators with a water mist right before the horse riders show up.
Here come the leaders. It goes real fast! I am amazed at the endurance of these horses, running like that for over 15 miles.
Ten minutes after the race leaders/ winners showed up the stands were empty!
Messing with the crowd after the race. The kids loved getting wet.
Yes, we were there.
Cars and people everywhere.
Trying to leave the parking area after the horse race. It took us 1.5 hours to reach the road!
We stopped at a local ger camp for a late lunch before heading further south, stopping for awhile to watch a local nomadic family milking the mares in their herd; the milk is then used to make their alcoholic airag drink. It is a fairly complicated process. The mare’s foal will start nursing to start the milk flow, then is pulled aside for the nomad to continue collecting the milk. The foal is left touching the mare during the process. The foal is allowed to resume feeding once the milking process is completed. This milking occurs 8-9 times a day from mid-June to October!
Note dirt tracks which serve as roads when off the paved highway, which are few and far between. Surprisingly the dirt roads are in good shape and we often were traveling at 40 mph or so on them.
The dining hall at the lunch stop ger camp.
Our lunch stop. Unusual decor in the dining room.
Chicken nuggets and meatballs for lunch.
Our French lady pouring hot water for tea.
Now that looks like a fun camping rig!
Locals gathering at the local watering hole for some swimming and probably washing of clothes.
A large herd of cashmere goats and sheep enjoying the delicacies of Mongolia grasslands. By the way, the goats and sheep do not interbreed!
Pick out your next cashmere sweater. Mongolia supplies most of the cashmere to the world.
The expansive steppes of Mongolia. Treeless as far as the eye can see.
The small herd of mare horses and their foals, waiting to be milked.
The nomad lady milking a mare.
Scott handing out hard candy to this ger family.
Maggie asking the children how old they were. They were very polite.
We arrived at our first stay in a ger camp around 7PM. It was surprisingly modern with nice beds, very clean restrooms and showers. There was even electricity available 24 hours. Our ger experience begins!
Genghis Khan revered the sky, I can see why. The cloud formations are ever changing and marvelous.
Our first sign of the real “rock”!
Our first ger camp experience. It was located 102 miles from Ulaanbaatar and 3 miles from a real road.
The ger camp had 37 gers for tourists.
The way luggage is deleivered to your ger by young people working at the camps.
The main dining ger and wash facilities at the camp.
The central dining ger.
Our home, away from home.
Modern day gers have elaborate wooden doors, rather than the canvas of old.
Furnishings were basic but adequate. It was cool at night so a blanket was provided. We did not need the stove.
This ger had electricity 24/7. Not all of them will.
Modern, clean toilets with lots of toilet paper!
Showers were good, although most did not provide soap or washclothes.
Very modern bathrooms.
Typical buffet selections. The potatoes were excellent.
Surprisingly good salads and kimchee.
The beer here was cold and cheap.
Nearby hill that Scott climbed after dinner.
Sunset on our first night on the steppes of Mongolia.
Today is the start of Mongolia’s most famous sports competition- the yearly multi-day Naadam Festival and we will be going to the opening ceremony. The festival, in one form or another, dates back to the days of Genghis Khan. It consists of three major sports: archery, wrestling and horse racing. We will have a opportunity to view all three in the next two days.
The opening ceremony is held at the 20,000 seat sports stadium in Ulaanbaatar where we have reserved seats waiting for us. We arrived at the stadium several hours before the opening ceremony (scheduled for noon) so we could wander around and view some of the competitions that had already begun-men and women’s archery and an unusual men’s competition called “knuckle bone shooting”.
I was amazed at the skill of the archers. Men aimed at small cylindrical targets 75 meters away (women shot from 60-65 meters) and scored highly time after time. It is colorful and the skill level is astounding.
Part of the men’s archery participants.
Men shoot from 75 meters to the target.
What the arrows look like.
Women getting ready to compete. They are in 4 member teams. They shoot from 60-65 meters.
A rare left handed archer.
Knuckle bone shooting may be the most unusual sport I have ever seen. It is a team-based sport where domino shaped tablets are “flicked” at a target of real sheep knuckle bones with the goal of knocking them down-like the old carnival game of throwing balls at a row of dolls. We sat in a large hall watching dozens of teams (men only) compete in this most unusual sport where they loudly urged their teammates as they launched their tablets at the target located a good 10-15 feet away.
The knuckle bone shooting competition arena.
It is a team event. Shooters are encouraged by their teammates.
Lining up your shot.
You must “flick” the tablet from a tray resting on your knee.
The object is to knock the sheep knuckle bones off the tray.
We then were marched into the stadium we were had rock star seats, located initially in the shade. However, before the two hour event was over we found ourselves seated in the hot, noon day sun! Smart people brought umbrellas to seek some degree of shade. The two hour pageant has all the trappings of a musical spectacular-music, dancing, racing horses and elaborate costumes galore. It is the equivalent of the opening of the Olympics soon to be held in Paris. The opening ceremony was as elaborate as any I have seen in the USA. It was quite a spectacle and included the appearance of the famous Mongolian rock band- the Hu! The pictures I was able to take do not do justice to the spectacle we saw. You had to be there to appreciate it.
These are the 9 horsehair banners that represent the nine regions of Mongolia and are normally kept in the parliament building, only leaving the building when Naadam is held.They date back to the time of Genghis Khan.
Plenty of booths selling food and souvenirs.
Our ticket to the opening ceremony.
The stadium holds 20,000 people and it was full by the time the opening ceremony started.
The pageantry begins.
Military presentation of the nine banners.
Dancers and music.
Horses and riders on display.
A huge moving stage with video streaming on its backdrop.
Trying the special Naadam food: Huushuur, a meat-filled deep-fried pancake. It was good!
Local orchestra playing traditional Mongolian instruments.
Interesting display using streamers. Note all the umbrellas suddenly in use as protection against the sun.
Acrobatic demonstrations. Note how high he is in the air.
Riders racing around the stadium.
Colorful costumes.
Even a bit of acrobatics on horses.
Immediately after the two hour show the wrestling competition began and we watched part of that spectacle. It is a big deal. 512 or 1024 men compete in a single elimination contest to hopefully become the ultimate champion. The winner receives a free apartment and fancy car, so it is a big deal to win. And, oh, by the way, age categories are not involved. Matches rarely last more than a few minutes but the overall contest takes up to two days to complete. A wrestler must win 9-10 matches to be the champion and they become national heroes.
The wrestling competition begins right after the opening show.
Note the huge size difference between these two wrestlers. The “little” guy won this match!
During lunch in a nearby restaurant we were able to watch wrestling matches streamed live.
After a late lunch in a nearby restaurant we toured the Bogd Khan Palace museum complex, built between 1893 and 1903, and dedicated to the head of Mongolian religion at the time and who claimed independence from China. It was a short era of a theocracy in Mongolia. The complex includes seven prayer temples and the winter palace of the Bogd Khan.
The winter palace complex of Bogd Khan, who declared independence from China in 1911. The complex houses 7 temples and the palace home of the Bogd Khan.
Unfortunately picture taking was not allowed the temples.
Temple main doors.
The winter palace of Bogd Khan.pitcures were not allowed inside, which had the furnishings on display.
An original ger of the Bogd Khan covered with snow leopard skins.
One of the Buddhist temples in the palace complex.
Decorative outside pillar of a temple building.
A door of one of the temples.
It was a long day and we headed back to the hotel to prepare for leaving in the morning.
Another colorful Ulaanbaatar building
Hot pot dinner at a local restaurant.
We went with the VIP beef dish- thinly sliced beef.
Cashmere products are a big market for Mongolia. And the prices are a bargain- $30-45 for a scarf.
Tomorrow we will view the completion of the famous horse race and start our tour of the rest of Mongolia.
July 10, 2024: The Largest Equestrian Statue in the World
We met some of our travel companions yesterday as we were transported to the hotel and the remaining members this morning as we gathered in the lobby for our local tour today. There are two ladies from France, a lady professor from China who teaches English there and a lady Philippines professor who teaches math (long time friends reconnecting after many years), an English lady in the midst of a year long vacation with no pre-planned destination in mind and a surgeon and his wife from California. There are nine of us in total-a nice size group that turned out to be a lot of fun.
One of many flower gardens along the roadway in Ulaanbaatar.
Memorial in Mongolia.
Another monument
Each bus stop has these small shops selling items of interest to bus riders.
Today we will be visiting several local sights, highlighted by the Genghis Khan statue complex located 54 km outside the city. Lesson of the day: the proper pronunciation of his name is “Ching-ess Han” (k is silent). The statue of Khan on his horse is made of stainless steel, and is the tallest equestrian statue in the world, standing 40 meters high. The statue is placed with him pointing east, toward his birthplace. I have to admit it is impressive, especially when you walk up to the top and stand outside on the head of the horse, as we did.
Landscape in the area of Ulaanbaatar.
The first of many herds of animals we see during our stay.
Fences are popular in Mongolia. People erect them as soon as they buy a piece of land. They often look very expensive.
The famous steel statue of Genghis Khan.
Entrance to the statue park.
It is really big-40 meters tall!
People like to wear their native attire.
Outside deck on top of the horse’s head.
Standing outside on the horse’s head. Tough getting a clear picture because of all the crowds that gather there.
View from the top of the statue.
There was a further surprise while we were there as it became obvious that some dignitary was coming and we soon were honored by the presence of the handsome king of Bhutan and his lovely wife and son! And here we thought the fanfare was for us.
A senior wearing his native clothes.
Waiting for a special guest.
Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck is the Druk Gyalpo, the monarch of the Kingdom of Bhutan. He is 44 years old.
The king’s wife and son.
Camels were available at the site for rides.
The cloud formations in Mongolia were awesome!
Selfie of Scott and me, wearing my colors!
By the time we left the statue complex it was time for lunch at a nearby ger camp called Terelj Lodge. Next lesson: ger is pronounced “gear” and is the name of the popular house that the nomadic people use. Another less common name for these dwellings is “yurt” which is actually a Russian name. Ger camps are the hotels for travelers in Mongolia and we will be spending most of the trip using them once we leave Ulaanbaatar. More on them later. The lunch was surprisingly western in nature.
Another expensive fence surrounding simply a plot of land.
One of the few signs we saw in the area.
A tourist ger camp where we had lunch.
The camp was nestled near the mountains.
One of the tourist gers in the camp.
Scott’s favorite Mongolian beer.
A very nice salad, the first of many we had on the trip.
Chicken main course.
From an old cart used to move gers before modern times.
From the ger camp we stopped at a nearby attraction called turtle rock, named obviously by its looks.
A rock called “turtle rock” for obvious reasons.
A visitor holding a vulture for a picture.
Golden eagle (I think).
The next stop was a visit to the Aryabal Buddhist meditation temple, built in 1810 as a meditation retreat. Monks would climb to the caves high in the cliffs and meditate for months at a time. The temple was destroyed when Stalin ruled Mongolia in the 1920s but it was rebuilt and reopened in 2007. The path to the temple is lined with 144 placards with the teachings of Buddha. 52% of the Mongolian people practice Buddhism.
Entrance to the Aryabal temple complex.
Our visit to the Aryabal Temple, shown in the circle. There are a series of Buddhist sayings along the walkway to the temple.
A relevant Buddhist saying that caught my eye.
Yet another wise saying.
Wildflowers at the Aryabal Temple.
Buddhist writings on the rock.
Entrance to the temple area ( picture taken by Scott).
The temple (another Scott photo).
Complements of Scott as I did not walk all the way to the temple..
The last stop of the day was at the ger home of a local nomad where we were able to see what living in a ger entailed. We learned nomads live a simple life with minimal trappings. They can disassemble their ger in 30-45 minutes and be ready to move to a new location, something they commonly do at least four times a year. It was here that we got our first taste of fermented (2% alcohol) mare’s milk called “airag”, a common staple of their diet. Not sure how my body would react I only took a sip of the sour tasting beverage. Research on horse milk has shown that it has relatively high levels of the protein albumin, which can help regulate blood pressure and also has antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects. It is an acquired taste in my opinion.
Our visit to a local nomadic family.
Doors of gers were often decorative.
Dried cheese and bread offered to guests in the ger we visited.
Airag is offered to guests when visiting a ger.
The ger owner sat and answered questions we posed.
All their worldly possessions are stored in the ger, their home.
The furniture is hand made and pretty elegant.
Cowhide used to make a container for the fermented airag drink.
Clothing for dressy occasions.
Rope made by nomads using animal skins.
It was then back to the city. Tomorrow we will be attending the opening of the yearly Naadam Festival.
July 9, 2024: Ulaanbaatar, the Capital of Mongolia.
Backing up a bit. The Seattle airport was a zoo (July 4th weekend) when I arrived at 9:45 on Sunday. Luckily flying business class gave me some perks and I avoided the long security lines. Our Delta flight left only four minutes late with an anticipated flight time of almost 11 hours. I arrived in Seoul, South Korea on July 8 at 4:10PM( local time), a bit ahead of schedule.
Our flight path took us past our home on Miller Bay. That is the port of Kingston on the upper right with Mt. Baker in the background. It was a beautiful day for flying.
Aerial view of Poulsbo, WA on Liberty Bay.
Our flight route from Seattle to Seoul. Flight time about 11 hours.
I had a unique experience on the flight. We ran into some turbulence along the way that lasted for quite awhile (several hours). In my experience it was mild turbulence, but the captain went super cautious and told the staff to stay seated. I am sure this is because of the recent turbulence incidents where people were hurt. As a result we were never served the 2nd meal that normally occurs about 2 hours before landing. The purser apologized for the inconvenience and told us we would receive an additional 5000 miles credit on our frequent flier program- a nice touch.
The “cubicle” pods in Delta business class. There was even a sliding door to close up the cubicle.
I chose the Korean menu for lunch.
Pre-dinner drink while watching the Bob Marley movie. There was a good selection of newer movies to watch.
My Korean based lunch. The beef short ribs were outstanding.
Who can pass up an ice cream sundae for dessert?
Seoul international airport terminal 2 on a rainy afternoon. It is a very modern airport.
The Seoul airport is new and modern and it was easy negotiating it and getting through immigration. I was through immigration, got my luggage and was on the hotel shuttle by 5:10PM. I booked us a room at the nearby supposed 5 star Grand Hyatt Incheon hotel for a modest $133 price. Try that in the USA! The hotel turned out to be huge(1024 rooms) and definitely in the 5 star category.
Lobby of west tower of Grand Hyatt. The hotel has 1024 rooms!
One of several fountains in resturant area, which features 8 different places to eat.
Our room at the Grand Hyatt.
View from hotel room -Terminal 1 of airport and golf course to the left!
The ultra high tech toilet. I was almost afraid to use it!
The toilet controls! I think it can do everything but wash your clothes.
Scott arrived in Seoul late last night, albeit long after I went to bed. We have a leisurely morning as our flight from Seoul to Ulaanbaatar does not leave until 1:55PM. There are limited flights to Mongolia and we were supposed to be on a MIAT ( Mongolian Airlines) 787 flight for the 2.5 hour flight. However, we learned that there was a problem with the plane and they had to reschedule us to fly on two smaller 737 planes that would leave within 20 minutes of each other. I found myself on one plane and Scott was on the other. As it turned out both planes arrived safely and we reconnected at the Ulaanbaatar airport where we were met by a representative of Amicus who took us to our hotel (Grand Hill hotel) for our three night stay while in Ulaanbaatar.
Our first surprise of the trip: Ulaanbaatar has huge traffic problems and we found ourselves right in the middle of it; people were leaving town as this was the start of the Naadam Festival week. It took three hours to make the trip from the airport to our hotel, which normally should have taken about one hour!
Flat Mongolia landscape as far as you can see.
An occasional evidence of humans in the vast land.
Airport in Ulaanbaatar. We learned there are only 6 gates.
Country #105 stamp in my passport!
Modern three lane highway leading from the airport to the city.
The bumper to bumper traffic once we got close to the city,
Screenshot showing we still have over an hour to traverse the last six miles to the hotel!
Sunset, three hours later, and we are still not at the hotel.
The hotel Irish pub that had nothing Irish in it- no Irish beer, food or music!
Scott with a celebratory Mongolian beer now that we are here!
10:30 PM bowl of Pho for dinner.
Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, dates back to 1639. Over 1.5 million people live there, about half of the total population of the country. It is a modern looking city and you could easily feel you were on a major city in the US. I noted there was little trash and no graffiti! Surprisingly about 1/3 of the cars on the road were right hand drive, yet they drive like we do in the USA. And ever other car seemed to be a Lexus SUV. I later learned that they get a lot of used cars from Japan which explains the right hand drive.
Modern buildings everywhere. Lots of construction going on.
Our Mongolian expedition is about to begin!
July 7-8, 2024: A Visit to Mongolia and Naadam Festival
In 2020 I was scheduled to go to Mongolia and we all knew what happened. It has been on my bucket list for many years. I especially wanted to experience the Naadam Festival which I liken to our Olympics. The festival dates back to the 13th century when it was first established by Genghis Khan to celebrate his war victories. It has become an annual competition that features horse racing, archery and wrestling. It is held in early July and my tour will include seeing part of the spectacle.
Our youngest son, Scott, is able to join me on yet another “father-son” adventure! He will be flying up from New Zealand and will meet me in Seoul, South Korea, one of the few common entry points to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia and the start of the 13 day trip throughout the country. I booked the tour with a local Mongolian travel company, Amicus Mongolia Travel Company. Details of the trip can be found on their website: https://www.amicusmongolia.com/mongolia-naadam-festival-tours/naadam-group-tour.
Geography lesson for the day: Where is Mongolia? It is in Asia, mainly surrounded by China and Russia. It is the world’s largest landlocked country and the least populated country as it only has 3.5 million people. 94% of the people are Buddhists and there is a literacy rate of 93%. A bit of trivia: Mongolia is as big as Texas, California and Montana combined! Its landscape is quite varied- mountains to the north and west and the Gobi desert in the south. Much of the country are grasslands called “steppes”. It is a member of the United Nations and thus will be the 105th country I will have visited!
Mongolia is a landlocked country in Asia.
Who has not heard of the famous Mongolian warrior, Genghis Khan, perhaps the greatest conqueror in history? He was also known as Chinggis Khan, although he was called “Temujin” when he was born c. 1162. He is credited with uniting the various tribes of Mongolia and defeating neighboring countries, ultimately creating an empire that extended from China to Eastern Europe! That empire lasted from 1206 to 1368.
This is the book I read before leaving on the trip. A good one if you want to learn more about Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire.
The extent of the Mongol Empire, created by the conquests of Genghis Khan in the 13th century. Modern day Mongolia is shown in green.
I am flying non-stop to Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, July 7, on a Delta flight. Flight time is expected to be almost 12 hours. Luckily I will be in business class so should be able to grab some decent sleep during the flight. Because of limited and weird flights (2AM or 2PM) to Ulaanbaatar we decided it would be best to simply spend the night at the Seoul airport and fly to Ulaanbaatar tomorrow.
