Part 7 of 8 – (September, 2018)

One of the major festivals in Mongolia is Naadam during which men compete in horse racing, archery and Mongolian wrestling. Those are crucial skills if you’re nomadic or if your Khan wants to conquer all of the known world. There are now female participants in horse racing and archery. Different provinces may have their Naadam on different days, but they usually take place in July and August.

Naadam canceled at Mongol Nomadic

We knew we would miss the real Naadam festivals, but Mongol Nomadic, a popular ger camp, puts on its own for tourists. That’s where we spent two nights before returning to Ulaanbaatar (UB). It is a big tourist destination with many gers, a big restaurant, shower and sauna, etc. However, we found out after we arrived that the event had been canceled. We were really disappointed. Other than that, the place was great. The manager and her staff were always accommodating.

The first night, Uncle retired soon after dinner. I bet he was very tired after six days of intense, mostly off-road driving. He said ours was one of his longer trips as far as tour groups were concerned. He used to drive long-distance trucks. His injured finger that had been bandaged all along had gotten more swollen. We were afraid it was infected, but he said it was fine and that he’ll get it looked at when we return to UB.

The rest of us stayed in the restaurant and chatted the night away imbibing vodka and wine from Georgia (the country). The Georgian wines were quite good; they have been making wine for 8,000 years, after all. There was a big group of Korean teens on an overnight field trip, rotating through the restaurant with instant noodle bowls requesting hot water.

Water glasses full of vodka

At breakfast, Yuka confirmed that Mongol Nomadic offers “in-ger” traditional massage, so we booked everyone an appointment, except for Kenric. We all opted for oil massage for our feet.

Cultural activities

Even though the Naadam was canceled, there were still scheduled cultural activities. Since Uncle didn’t have to drive us anywhere that day, we told him to go get his even more swollen finger checked.

It was quite exciting when the performance troupe brought the horses, yaks, and camels around. A tour bus and other visitors had arrived. Some rode the yaks and camels out to the staging area. Steph got on a beautiful yak halfway. I saw Uncle helping other tourists climb on their yaks.

Some of the more memorable things I learned that afternoon are Mongolian snuff tobacco gives an instant rush; and the concentric roof poles/beams provide organized storage. For instance, when the man returns to his ger in the dark, he can just reach up and feel his way to the third beam on the left and store his knife between the beam and roof, and move on to the fifth beam and grab the matches to light the lamp.

The Thousand Horses

Everyone in the ger was mesmerized by the musical performance. Ten Thousand Horses performed on the traditional stringed instrument, Morin Khuur (Horsehead Fiddle), will awaken the nomad in anyone. I rewatch that video often. One of the musicians we spoke with was a university student. Through the beauty of Facebook, someone tagged him in the video I shared, and we are now connected.

Smell like sheep’s tail fat

Yuka and Kenric had returned from their walk and were playing games in the restaurant. She asked if the lady used oil on me. I said yes, and not just on the feet. She was happy to hear that the lady was being so generous because sheep’s tail fat is rather rare and is a trusted remedy for aches and sores. I felt rude for washing off the lady’s nice gesture, but I did not want to smell like something I couldn’t stomach.

Finishing off the wine and vodka

After Uncle and Yuka left for their massages, the five of us stayed way too late at the restaurant emptying many Georgian wine bottles and the Soyombo. We didn’t save any because Yuka didn’t like vodka and Uncle wouldn’t even sniff alcohol if he had to drive. We slowly moved outside when the Mongol Nomadic waitresses’ boyfriends came to fetch them from work.

It was very cold. Steph and Jessie gave their leftovers to a friendly dog, and started jogging on the spot singing “Together forever and never apart” and declaring “I love dogs!” I’m sure poor Urnaa who had a nice massage earlier just wanted to go to bed, but she insisted on making sure we got to our gers safely.

The morning after

Steph and Kenric were utterly miserable at breakfast, I was OK because I didn’t drink too much, Jessie was holding up surprisingly well, Urnaa was her cheerful self, and Yuka was all smiles. Lathered in sheep’s tail fat, she slept like a baby after the massage.

Uncle looked refreshed, and he changed the bandage on his finger. He found out that the therapist was from his village; their families knew each other. I couldn’t tell if he was impressed or alarmed that we finished the bottle of vodka too, but he was certainly amused looking at Steph and Kenric groan in their hangovers.

Read Part 8

Transition to City Life in UB

Map of Places Visited