Naadam is what I like to call the Mongolian Olympics! There are three events – horse racing, archery, and wresting. We decided to go to a local one, where we were the only tourists, and we had the most incredible time.
Naadam is what I like to call the Mongolian Olympics.
It’s a festival/competition of three events: horse racing, archery, and wrestling.
Naadam is quite interesting because there’s the main one in Ulaanbaatar, but also smaller countryside ones. The two types of Naadams, countryside and UB, are completely different from each other. UB’s is supposedly a big party/tourist attraction, whereas the countryside ones are more authentic.
We chose to go to a countryside Naadam in the Khovd (Hovd) province. Be mindful of dates when picking where to go, as they depend on the region, but are all generally around the 10th of July.
Naadam is a time to celebrate, laugh, rest, eat mutton pancakes, and watch the games!
Horse Racing
Horse racing typically takes place in the morning, away from the other events. We took a car there (go to the side of the road and hail any passing car like a taxi- one will stop), and hitchhiked back by boys who I could only describe as The Frat Boys of Mongolia. However, they were total sweethearts!
What surprised me the most about the horse races were how young (and adorable!) the jockeys were.
Archery
Archery is the only competition where there’s an option for women to compete, so OF COURSE I wanted to watch these badass ladies! Unfortunately, archery wasn’t all that exciting to watch.
Wrestling
Wrestling is a really cool event to watch. It’s full of life, and a favourite amongst the Mongolians! Legend has it that their uniforms expose the chest because hundreds of years ago, a woman came in and whooped all the men’s butts! Now, with the uniform, it’s impossible to have that happen again.
The Food
Meat is the main type of food, whether in mutton pancakes or kebabs. We tried both, and weren’t disappointed! You can buy cups of Coca Cola from nearly all stalls for about $1.
Unfortunately, there was no airag at the Khovd Naadam, which was a massive surprise to our guesthouse owner in UB. Maybe we were just bad at finding it.
Airag is fermented mare’s milk (yep- alcoholic beverage!), and I was set on trying it, although pretty sure I’d find it tough to drink.
I was right.
Our guesthouse owner in UB, upon finding out I didn’t get to try it, had her mother fetch some and give it to us. It tastes very sour, and it has the bite that alcohol tends to have. It also had a very strange, milky, wine-y aftertaste.
Not sure I’d drink again, but definitely glad I tried it.
Thank you, Mongolia, for being such a breath of fresh air! Naadam was truly a lovely thing to experience!
Mind Blowing Article
Thank you!
love the sequence of you post, i also learnt a few things about the festival………
I’m so glad to hear that! Mongolia is a wonderful place.
Great experience! The layout flowed well, and I enjoyed the photos.
Thank you so much! <3
Wow, this certainly sounds like a different kind of festival! The women playing archery also look bored, haha. The boy jockeys look so young – very impressive they can take control of a horse at that age!
I completely agree! They’re so small! Luckily, they have adults driving in cars beside the horses, just in case something happens!
Mongolia has been on my list for years and this looks just absolutely stunning. I;d love to try some of the sports there and definitly the food.
Definitely check it out! It’s such an incredible country!
Such a different post since I rarely read anything from
mongolia! Bookmarking it as well for future reference.
You should definitely try to head over there if you can! It’s a crazy little place!
thank you for sharing this, Mongolia is on my bucket list and it’s great to see that you can still have more authentic cultural experiences like this! great find
Thank you! I hope you get to go!
Sounds like a great festival. the food look yum but, not sure about the mares milk.
The mare’s milk was something I definitely could have gone without, but I’m glad I tried it hah! The food? Absolutely wonderful!
Naadam looks like brilliant fun. I’ve seen versions of this on TV and I definitely didn’t know that there were more options than just the main event. LOVE the wrestling costumes origins, it really made me giggle.
haha it’s a great celebration! I think it would be amazing to see one in Ulaanbaatar, but the countryside one was pretty spectacular!
Mongolia’s culture looks super interesting to experience!! I’m definitely going to try something like this. I’m not sure archery would be that interesting to watch but I’m sure the wrestling was!
The archery definitely was the slowest of the events, but the wrestling was fun! It’s the most popular event by far!
More than the nice photos you took in Mongolia, you have a detailed explanation. I better start packing for my trip to Mongolia, especially because of the meat part. ??
Toll Toll Toll (*L*)