Mongolia Naadam Festival (code:22)

Naadam is a traditional type of festival in Mongolia. The festival is also locally termed "eriin gurvan naadam", "the three games of men". The games are Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery and are held throughout the country during the midsummer holidays. Women have started participating in the archery and girls in the horse-racing games, but not in Mongolian wrestling. The biggest festival is held in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar during the National Holiday from July 11 – 13, in the National Sports Stadium. Other cities and towns across Mongolia and those with significant Mongolian populations in China, have their own, smaller scale Naadam celebrations. It begins with an elaborate introduction ceremony featuring dancers, athletes, horse riders, and musicians. After the ceremony, the competitions begin.

Naadam is the most widely watched festival among Mongols, and is believed to have existed for centuries in one fashion or another. Naadam has its origin in the activities, such as military parades and sporting competitions such as archery, horse riding and wrestling, that followed the celebration of various occasions. Now it formally commemorates the 1921 revolution when Mongolia declared itself a free country. Another popular Naadam activity is the playing of games using shagai, sheep knuckles that serve as game pieces and tokens of both divination and friendship. In the larger Nadaam festivals, tournaments may take place in a separate venue.

Tour Overview

Tour Length:   6 days

Group size:      3 to 24 people

Transport type: Vehicle

Tour cost:        US$ 590 - (including taxes)

Tour level:       Standart

Schedule 2011:  June- September (You can choose when you come and the date.)

Highlights: Ulaanbaatar city, Wrestling, Horse racing, Archery, Terelj National Park, Horseback riding tour, city shopping, Visit nomad families, opportunity to ride horse and much more!

  ITINERARY

Day-1 Arrival in Ulaanbaatar.
After transferring to a hotel, there will be some sightseeing around town. We visit the Dinosaur Exhibition Hall of the Natural Historical Museum, and Gandan monastery. Dinner at the History Club restaurant offers the chance to hear a wonderful performance of pleasant melodies on the horse-headed violin (the morin khuur) and the famous Mongolian traditional vocal singing, called "Khoomii”. There will be an overnight stay in the hotel. (L+D)

Day-2 Naadam festival- Horse racing

Unlike Western horse racing, which consists of short sprints generally not much longer than 2 km, Mongolian horse racing as featured in Naadam is a cross-country event, with races 15–30 km long. The length of each race is determined by age class. For example, two-year-old horses race for ten miles and seven-year-olds for seventeen miles. Up to 1000 horses from any part of Mongolia can be chosen to participate. Race horses are fed a special diet. Children from 5 to 13 are chosen as jockeys who train in the months preceding the races. While jockeys are an important component, the main purpose of the races is to test the skill of the horses. Before the races begin, the audience sings traditional songs and the jockeys sing a song called Gingo. Prizes are awarded to horses and jockeys. The top five horses in each class earn the title of airgiyn tav and the top three are given gold, silver, and bronze medals. Also the winning jockey is praised with the title of tumny ekh or leader of ten thousand. The horse that finishes last in the two-year-old class (the daaga class) is sung a song wishing him luck. (B+L+D)

Day- 3 Naadam festival- Wrestling, Archery

512 or 1024 wrestlers meet in a single-elimination tournament that lasts nine or ten rounds. Mongolian traditional wrestling is an untimed competition in which wrestlers lose if they touch the ground. When picking pairs, the wrestler with the greatest fame has the privilege to choose his own opponent. Wrestlers wear two-piece costumes consisting of a tight shoulder vest (zodog) and shorts (shuudag). Only men are allowed to play.

Mongolian archery is unique for having not only one target, but hundreds of beadrs or surs on a huge wall. In this competition both men and women participate. It is played by ten-men/women teams who are given four arrows each; the team has to hit 33 "surs". Men fire their arrows from 75 meters away while women fire theirs from 65 meters away. When the archer hits the target the judge says uuhai which means "bulls eye". The winners of the contest are granted the titles of "national marksman" and "national markswoman". (B+L+D)

Day-4 Terelj National Park

After breakfast at the hotel, drive to Terelj National park. You'll explore the extraordinary formation of rocks and stones; some of them look quite similar to turtles. The Terelj National Park incorporates parts of Khentii Mountain Range. Overnight in tourist camp. (B+L+D)

Day-5 Back to Ulaanbaatar and city shopping

After breakfast, we will drive to Ulaanbaatar. You may choose an optional city tour where you will be taken to souvenir and cashmere shops before enjoying an evening concert. Then a farewell dinner and overnight at the hotel. (B+L+D)

Day 6 Departure

After breakfast, will be transferred from hotel to train station or airport. (B)

B- Breakfast

L- Lunch

D- Dinner

Included:

Not included: