Sunday, June 30th to Monday, July 1st, 2019 - Naadam Festival Training

One of the prime reasons I chose this trip to Mongolia was to visit its famous Naadam Festival, which occurs each year in July. It is an athletic competition in the 'three manly games'  - horseback riding, wrestling and archery. Its historic roots go back to the training of warriors prior to and during the days of the great Mongol empire - the days of Genghis Kahn, and most likely even before then. Its celebration at the national level dates back several centuries. Small festivals are held throughout the country, but this trip was designed to help us access the State Festival in Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian Capital.

Awards Lkhagvaa had earned from his horses. He was most proud of the blue one on the left - for a 4-year old Naadam win

In addition to experiencing Mongolian hospitality, our stay with Lkhagvaa also allowed us to learn from his twenty years of experience training horses for Naadam. We were to visit a nearby training site where practice races had been set up this afternoon.

Jockeys ride their horses out to the beginning of the race at a moderate pace.

We were told that the extreme winters prevent Mongolian horses from becoming very big. The races vary from 15 km to 30 km, depending on the age of the horse. These distances are too long for the horses to carry fully grown adults at speed, so the jockeys are children seven years or older. We were told this age requirement was instituted after a four-year-old jockey rode the winning horse one year. We heard of the accolades received by the winning horses and trainers and when we asked about how the jockeys were lauded, we were told that they are just children and they don't want praise going to their heads.

The pace of the return trip is much faster - you can see the dust that was raised.

During the practice races, the horse and riders travel together in a pack with the escort of cars and bikes carrying trainers and coaches. We were told it may take them 2.5 hours to get to the starting point and this allows both horse and rider to get properly warmed up. The return journey may take 45 minutes and looked like a mayhem of cars, bikes and dust.

This horse had fallen, and when it finally got up, it was clear that one of its front legs was broken.

Following this first race, we saw that a horse and its rider (in the orange shirt) was down - apparently it was being ridden by an support adult who was following the race. We were very distressed to see that it could not stand on its leg, which was obviously broken. Lkhagvaa and his neighbor went to investigate. We were told that it was probable they would set the leg instead of putting the horse down - we all hoped this was true.

After seeing the first race from the middle, we then went to the finish line for the next race. As you see, it was a collection of vehicles on the side of a hill.

Horses from previous races were being ridden and walked around to reduce the risk of injury and get them properly cooled down.

The excitement rose as the first rider appeared.

This little guy and his mount might not be first, but they were really going!

The amount of dust raised with the horses, cars and bikes was substantial! Although most kids were wearing helmets, I saw no-one wearing masks.

This boy had been riding one of Lkhagvaa's horses. You can see the tiredness and dust on his face.

So, while the men tended to the horses, the women tended to the boy.

The scene was bucolic - herd of goats passing by on the hillside, horses tethered, people picnicking, people chatting. I did discover that there is dialogue occurring at the national level about the safety issues involved in using child jockeys. It appears that the event is going beyond the traditional summer venue and is leading to children being commercialized and taken out of school at other times of year, not to mention the obvious hazards of the sport itself.

Another 45 miles drive to the north-east took us close to the Terelj National Park, to visit the archery and wrestling training camps for this region.

The traditional bows used for the archery competitions at Naadam are made of  bone, wood & animal tendon, and made in a style called 'recurve' - which apparently means they curve away from the archer when the string is removed. They take about a year to make and 'season', so are highly valued by the archers.

 I immediately loved the fact that the archers were dressed in their wonderful traditional clothing. I was fascinated by the hats in particular and learned that the bars on the long red tail were indicative of competitions they had won. Rather than coming to the 'firing line' one at a time, the archers lined up in groups. Each would then fire four arrows at a time towards the target which is 75 meters away for men and 60 meters for women.

The 'target' is also quite different from anything I've seen before. It consists of little cylinders wrapped in camel hide lined up on the ground. Although the middle ones are painted red, the archer scores no extra points for hitting any particular spot. They get one point each time their arrow moves at least one cylinder. The people at the target are other archers taking their turn to serve as judges and they use hand signals and singing to convey the result to the archer. Palms up means a point was scored.

I was very happy to see women being trained here. Women or girls cannot compete in the wrestling. When we had asked about female jockeys, we were told that the girls don't want to ride. However, internet reports that on occasion, girls have competed in the horse races.

The archery master in the blue deel coaches his student. (Photo by Nadine Hood)

First the archer raises the bow in the air (as seen in the previous photo) to get the help of gravity in pulling back on the string. Then, as seen here, she lowers the bow to aim at the target.

It takes a great deal of steadiness and strength to stay focused and control the release of the arrow.

The archers wore beautiful belts, which were used to hang all sorts of gadgets. They always had a pen, as you see here on the left tassel. It is used to score.

The scoring kept track of each shot - indicating whether it was short or long, left or right. But ultimately, each archer gets a total of 40 shots. The one with the highest number of points wins.

I made many attempts to catch the arrow's moment of release - I was never successful!

Nadine poses with the archery master. Notice that he has a metal arrow on his hat - it signifies his accomplishments.

The archery master had been very intent on explaining everything to us, so that we could appreciate the skill of the archers and have an understanding of the sport. As you see from his face, he had a very patient demeanor.

I wasn't sure I would like the wrestling, which was our next stop following lunch.

From my research prior to the trip, I knew it involved some hefty men dressed in very scanty outfits trying to get their opponent on the ground. I don't care to be a witness to violence - hence my hesitation about this next experience.

First, we were told how valuable the costumes are to these men. The white stitching is done by hand and takes months to complete. It is needed to reinforce the clothing so that it will not rip when grabbed. You will see that holding on to the costume is an integral part of the sport. Because they value these so highly, they are never allowed to touch the ground when not being worn.

The wrestlers are also proud of their traditional Mongolian boots. Thy explained that the curved toes prevent the tip of the boot from getting worn too quickly. Kicking during wrestling is not permitted, but using the foot to try to unbalance the other is allowed.

As was the case in the archery, the number of chevrons on the red tail hanging from the hat tells the number of events the wrestler has won.

Our local guide, Timur, demonstrates how a judge would hold our wrestling teacher's hat during a match

The hat is also very important and it is considered very unlucky if it touches the ground. One of the rituals to begin the match involves the wrestler presenting himself to the judge, who then takes his hat and holds it during the match, to keep it safe.

Once the wrestlers have turned over their hats, they approach the flagpole, or banners, to circle it and conduct a dance in which they wave their arms up and down to resemble eagles - hence the eagle dance. In addition to the gracefulness of the dance, and the reverence of the dancers, I loved the beauty of the outdoor setting.

Many matches take place at the same time, so it is confusing to figure out which match to follow.

The wrestlers often held position for some time, opposing each others strength by resistance.

Grabbing onto the clothing or rope across the chest was part of the positioning and strategy.

The goal was to get one's opponent on the ground - feet and hands could touch, but any other part of the body meant that it was 'game over'.

Just like that! I found myself enjoying it much more than I had imagined. It was not aggressive and rough, and although some were wearing wraps and evidence of injury, it did not seem rough.

The final treat occurred shortly before we were due to leave. There had been some joshing between some of the males in our group and some of the wrestlers to compare muscles. This was pretty heady stuff, as we had been told these men were shy and superstitious and that they believed that being touched by others would rob them of their strength. Perhaps we had also gained some kudos when several of us had produced photos and video to help them determine the outcome of an ambiguous match earlier in the afternoon.

So when this wrestler challenged Tony to a wrestling match, it brought a new level of interest for us.

Tony held his own for a considerable period of time - or was our Mongolian friend just being polite?

In the end, the inevitable outcome was revealed! Happily Tony was placed on the ground instead of being thrown, so we all went 'home' happy. It had been a wonderful day.

Monday July 1st and Tuesday July 2nd, 2019 - A Large Statue, A Brief Stop at Terelj National Park and Some High End Kultcha!

800 years ago, Mongolia was not a place on the map to which one said, 'Now, where is that?' It was the center of the largest contiguous empire that has existed since the death of its founder - Genghis Kahn. Now this did not happen because he approached other kingdoms with a polite knock at the door! No! His strategy was to conduct large scale massacres to establish power. The historians suggest a representative figure of 40 million deaths from his empire building. On the other hand it is estimated that as many as 16 million male descendants of his exist today. I don't think the DNA techniques allow for female descendants to be identified, as the technique uses the Y chromosome, which women don't have.

Genghis Kahn Equestrian Statue - about an hour's drive east of Ulaanbaatar

Yet Genghis is also lauded for the many positive outcomes he contributed to the world. He abolished torture, embraced religious freedom, united disparate tribes, hated aristocratic privilege, ran his kingdoms meritocratically, loved learning, established a postal system and advanced the rights of women in Mongol society, as described in this article. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanholiday/2012/05/07/9-lessons-on-leadership-from-genghis-khan-yes-genghis-khan/#670802bf6996

Whether you admire or despise this man, it is no surprise that the Mongolians have great pride in this history. Images of the great Kahn are everywhere, but the most consequential is this huge statue sitting out in a field. Standing at 131 ft tall - it is the largest equestrian statue in the world. 

This location was chosen in 2008 because it is purportedly the place where Genghis found the golden whip you see in his hand here. His face is pointing to the east toward his birthplace. The fun aspect of this monument is that one can pay to go up into the horse's head and get these views of the surrounds. It was built by a tour company and the plans are to have it surrounded by gers arrange in some historic pattern. I'm glad I saw it before it gets too crowded with people and money-making extras.

Our stop Monday night was a tourist ger camp in the Terelj National Park, also about an hour east of Ulaanbaatar. It was a landscape quite different from any other we saw on our trip.

The setting sun caught the rocks just above the camp. My ger was the one with the yellow door.

There are high end ger camps that have en-suite bathrooms, but most of the ones we stayed in were like this. There was usually a central dining area - here is is the big round ger to the left. The bathroom and shower block are the two buildings on the right with the pink roof. With a setting like this, I was perfectly happy trekking to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

Although a national park, it was still open to the herders. We watched this group of horses being moved down this hillside.

As we watched, some appeared to want to get up close and personal!

As there were a few foals among the group, the nomads may have been planning to hobble the foals as you see here. This keeps the mothers nearby so that they can be milked to make the fermented mare's milk or airag which is a summertime favorite. I did not drink it, but when offered it, thought it smelled very much like kefir. It has a reputation for causing novice drinkers to get sick, so that was an experience I thought I could live without!

In addition to the horses, we also encountered yak, the only sighting of the trip.

They were a good size, with healthy coats.

Before heading back to Ulaanbaatar for the night, our plan was to climb this rock - not surprisingly known as 'Turtle Rock'. Now you and I know it is not a turtle, as there was no water in sight. It should be a tortoise! But our guide and the internet both want it to be a turtle! In general, turtles are symbols for longevity, wisdom and power in Mongolia and traditional Mongolian legends tell about a golden turtle that carries the golden world on its carapace. So the fact that this is shaped like the reptile of legend, gives it special significance.

Our group honors the tradition of walking around the ovoo three times clockwise, throwing a stone on at each turn

It should not be surprising therefore, that there was a pile of rocks, known as an ovoo at its base. This is a sacred stone heap, rooted in both shamanic and Buddhist practice. I was interested in seeing these to compare them with the Buddhist altars after my travels in Bhutan several years ago. They were strikingly bare compared to the Bhutanese ones, lacking the splendid proliferation of prayer flags. Most often they had only blue fabric, called khadag, and these were scattered judiciously. They did not have the joyous abundance of their Buddhist peers further south. 

When offered the chance to climb through the rock, who could say no?

Nadine enters the small entry to the crevice

We didn't realize until we got up there, that there was actually a crevice that allowed us to crawl back through to the side we had just come from.

It took a leap of mental faith to go through - there was the embarrassing possibility that getting back might not be so easy.

Both Nadine and I navigated the route without having to call on any 'bottom pushing' for the return journey, so we were both thrilled knowing that these bodies of ours still had some adventure left in them! Yeehaw!

This view was awesome!

Sadly, some of the development here is being too enthusiastic in its hope of appealing to outsiders. This camp near the rock was blaring very loud western (rock) music and I was saddened to see that the buildings were not the traditional ger shape.

The restaurant opposite and the radio tower also detract from its beauty.

Sadly, this was all we were able to see of this park, so we headed back down this dirt road to Ulaanbaatar for the night.

Photo by Avrea McDonnell

Having experienced the culture and music of the nomads the previous night, this was the total opposite - a glimpse into the cultural world of the elite. I had heard the hammered dulcimer (center) played in Chinese venues, also the zither to the right, but it was the first time I had heard the horse head fiddle (on the left) in person. This instrument is one of the most important instruments in Mongolia. I had first seen it used in the movie 'The Story of the Weeping Camel'. I was very impressed with the sound it could produce with only two strings.

Photo by Avrea McDonnell

The costuming was magnificent.

Photo by Tom Starling

But the event that I was holding my breath for, was the Tuvan throat singing, a style of singing that creates overtones, making it sound as if the singer is producing two or more notes at once. Sometimes the singer has a drone going on and sings a clear, sharp melody over the top, other times it is more complicated. The man above was a marvelous singer, and hearing him unaccompanied was a joy. The venue did not allow photography without paying a substantial extra fee, so our group shared the cost to have just a few of us take the photographs.

Happily, Avrea was able to catch some video of these two men singing. The instrumentation hides some of the subtleties of the overtones, but it is worth listening through to the end, to hear what they are capable of. Otherwise, there's lots of it on You Tube.

Photo by Tom Starling

The evening ended with horns and drums and tsam - dancing with  masks. It turned out  this was good foreshadowing for our next destination - the Erdene Zuu Monastery near Kharkhorin - the original Mongolian capital city that Ghengis Kahn had envisaged. So stay tuned for more!