Throughout our 18-month journey, we had only a couple of fixed dates to plan around. Coincidentally, these bookended our travels: the Selma (Alabama) Bridge Crossing, in early March 2022, and the Mongolian Naadam festival, in July 2023. Centuries old, Naadam features traditional competitions of horse racing, archery, and wrestling surrounded by colorful pageantry celebrating Mongolian culture. Naadam drew us to Mongolia, yet proved to be only one part of an emotionally poignant experience in the Land of Eternal Blue Sky.
Mongolia’s unique mixture of people, land, history and culture unexpectedly swept us off our feet, making the country one of our favorite destinations. First, (some of) the history: in the 1200’s Mongols, led by Chinggis Khaan and his descendants, became the most successful land conquerors in history, creating an empire spanning from Korea to Europe. The smaller Mongol armies conquered vastly larger populations due to superior combat skills and brutal tactics, aided by a nomadic culture that obviated supply lines by traveling with huge livestock herds. The empire opened trade and cultural exchange across Asia and into Europe, generating the Silk Road. Mongols killed at least 30 million people and razed some of the greatest cities of the time, including Baghdad, where 12 days of slaughter, library burning and wanton demolition ended the Islamic Golden Age.
I defer a more fulsome historical and ethical discussion to social scientists and historians but the Mongols’ history of conquests still resonates today (images of Chinggis Khan are everywhere, he is spoken of in reverence) in a country that endured centuries of Chinese and Soviet dominance, emerging only about 30 years ago into a newly-formed democracy.
Buddhism, another major cultural influence, was adopted in the centuries after Chinggis Khaan, and is still followed by about half the population, despite Soviet efforts to eliminate its practice. Finally, and equally significantly, nearly 1/3 of Mongolia’s 3.3 million population remains nomadic, following their herds of sheep, goats, cattle and horses around the vast Asian steppe as their ancestors did for thousands of years.
A few of the things that amazed us:
Ulan Bataar (called “UB” by locals) is strikingly urban, with Soviet bloc architecture and modern office buildings, as well as the monumental Chinggis Khaan Museum, a must-see. Damdin Sükhbaatar, the Communist revolutionary known as the “Father of Mongolia’s 1921 Revolution” against the occupying Chinese Beiyang government and Russian anti-communist White Guards, is honored in the city’s main Sükhbaatar Square (opposite Sükhbaatar’s statue is a huge statue of Chinggis Khaan in the Government Palace). The 1921 Revolution led to Mongolia becoming a Soviet satellite state until 1990 (most signage in the country is in Cyrillic, albeit spelling Mongolian words phonetically). Mongolia’s current population is approximately 3.5 million; however, there are about 8 million Mongolian-speaking people, counting those living in lands appropriated by Russia and China.
You don’t have to travel far out of UB, with its wide variety of ethnic restaurants and bustling activity, to confront the vast Mongolian steppe. Mongolia’s nomadic population lives in gers like those pictured above. Traveling throughout the countryside, I never felt isolated; in fact, I felt that if we needed help, we would receive it wtihin a few minutes, as the nomadic families are highly aware of their surroundings in a very wide radius. Though independent, each nomadic family relies on the tight-knit community to solve problems together. Shepherds with thousands of animals know each of them and are always aware of their locations, respecting other families’ boundaries and herds.
Naadam is Mongolia’s annual 3-day festival, though the festivities start well before the official opening. Naadam began thousands of years ago, as a way for the Khaan to ensure troops stayed in fighting condition. Archery, horse racing and wrestling are the main events. The elaborate pageantry of the opening ceremony had the energy and complexity of an Olympics opening ceremony and Super Bowl halftime show, multiplied by about a thousand. My favorite part: hundreds of horseback riders galloping around the stadium, exhibiting skills (riding two horses at a time, performing gymnastics astride galloping horses, I can’t describe everything) that left us agape.
Our guide, Ganzo, and me (in traditional Mongolian garb called a deel and a Mongolian fur hat- I simply couldn’t resist) at the Naadam opening ceremony. Ganzo became family to us, never leaving our side throughout the two weeks. He taught us traditional Mongolian games (sheep knuckles and 13 card poker, which Theo and I still constantly play at home). We giggled over the fact that it seemed everyone thought I was Mongolian. (I must have Mongolian heritage, given that the Mongolian Empire once encompassed the Korean peninsula).
Shocking to me, the Naadam horse racing jockeys are 5-13 years old; here, one of hundreds of jockeys at the end of the biggest race, a 25km run over the steppe near Ulan Baatar. The racing venue felt like a mix of the Indy 500 and Lollapalooza: thousands of cars and tents; lots of music and food; fantastic energy and lots of laughter.
We had the good fortune to witness 3 Naadam festivals over 3 consecutive days: at the village, provincial, and national levels. Above, archers prepare to compete at a village festival. These gentlemen also invited us onto the field to take a shot (pun intended).
Before beginning a match, Mongolian wrestlers perform a short Golden Eagle dance (watching these muscled men conduct a delicate dance is wonderful) to begin the match and remove their hats. Many matches take a few minutes but some can go for hours. There are strict rules of engagement which we never saw broken, and the mood was always friendly and calm, albeit competitive. Worn by the wrestlers in photo above, Mongolian boots are designed to minimize wear and tear on the grass, given that healthy pastures are critical for a (cattle, sheep, goat) shepherd’s way of life.
While traveling the Mongolian countryside, we visited many nomadic families (who, contrary to what I would have imagined, are fully connected via “Nomad internet” and smart phones). We usually rolled up unannounced, never failing to be stunned by the warm hospitality, often meals conjured within moments. The spotless and comfortable gers can be built or taken down in 30 minutes (we helped construct one), and are built to withstand heat/cold/rain/wind, adorned with tapestries woven by the woman of the household and rugs on the floor. Every item has its place, which means the family can put their hands on anything within seconds. Above, an example of a feast we encountered in every ger, with just a few of the dozen different milk products nomadic families have developed over the centuries to nourish their families. Meat is a staple in winter (with nature as a freezer), and milk-based foods are the summer staples.
Me, practicing for the annual Golden Eagle Hunter Festival in October. :):) We visited a master golden eagle hunter, who let me wear his coat and hat and try to hold his golden eagle (she was heavy!!!). Hunters work with their eagles for only a limited number of years before re-releasing them into the wild, not viewing the eagles as their possessions but more as partners.
In UB, we visited the Red Corner Community Center, where one of the resident artists, the master calligrapher Naigaa Enkhbaatar (@artistnaigaa), shared his incredible artistry. Among his many generous gifts, he wrote our three sons’ names in Mongolian ancient script; since each name ends in “son”, the large script at the bottom represents “son” and the three smaller scripts above read “Jack”, “Emer” and “Hud”.
In UB, I visited the National Library, which holds thousands of Buddhist sutras, many from Tibetan monasteries, which were hidden during the Soviet purges. During these purges, thousands of monks were brutally killed and manuscripts destroyed, in an effort to obliterate religious history and practices. Each sutra (which weigh 30+ lbs each) holds thousands of handwritten pages with elaborate artwork. The Library also holds several copies of the book Secret Lives of Mongols, the 13th-century work that serves as the most important literary Mongolian text.
Looking through a ger door into the Gobi Desert. Click here for more of Theo’s fantastic photos of the vast Mongolian landscape and incredible people.
