Naadam Festival, day 1

We arrive Ulaanbaatar station at 6:30 in the morning, together with many people anticipated to see the festival. People from the guesthouse came to pick us up, and 10 minutes later we were at Gana's Guesthouse, where we will call home for the next several days. On top of the concrete structure several gers, a traditional dome shaped tent, being used for dormitory accommodations were placed. Unfortunately, there were no cheap beds in these gers available so we ended up having a twin room inside the building.

We paid for our reserved tickets for Naadam, and we were on our way to the stadium. Naadam, meaning game or a match in Mongolian, is a celebration of the traditional sporting events. Once a year, this event takes place all over Mongolia, but the largest and most ceremonial events take place in the national stadium in Ulaanbaatar. This particular year was special for the 2,220th anniversary of the First Statehood of Mongolia, 805 years since Mongolian empire was founded by Genghis Khaan, the 100th anniversary of the National Liberty Revolution, and the 90th anniversary of People's Revolution, it was to be largely cerebrated. Main events are Mongolian wrestling, archery, and horse racing, and first two games are held in the stadium area.

We walked down the main street as we were directed. Likely due to dry atmosphere, the city is dusty, and heated with direct sunlight. We needed some cash before reaching the destination, but none of stores were open, being the first of the three-day holiday. We were joined by more and more people on half-paved sidewalks, and jammed vehicles filled the streets, honking and not moving, as our anticipation grew larger. 30 minutes of walking, we arrived the stadium and the area was filled with mixture of people with traditional clothing, and tourists with cameras around their neck.

We went through the gate, and the vivid color of the field appeared in front of us. On the track, a couple hundred musicians with horse-head fiddles were seated, and dances and performances took place in the center. There must have been a half of the city's population of 1,000,000 were involved in this ceremony, as more and more people poured onto the field. An opening speech was announced, and Naadam officially begun.

 

Mongolian wrestling was the event to follow in the center field. As we have many wrestlers from Mongolia to participate in Sumo, I assumed to have a similarity in two national sports, but this unique sport appeared to be somewhere in between Greco-Roman style wrestling and Sumo. The fighters danced with spread arms before and after the fight; the ritual representing having wings to fly to a higher level. Outside the stadium in a annex field, archers, men and women dressed in a traditional outfit, lined up in rows to aim for stacked up target 40 some meters away.

After seeing these events we went back to the guesthouse to find a party, owner and friends celebrating Naadam with cooked lamb. 

 

With bottles of Mongolian vodkas and endless amount of meat, our first day in Asian continent was welcoming the long and beautiful night.