Another Nadaam

We celebrated another local festival. It started with a kids’ race in the afternoon. The rule is they have to be below 35kg but a few of them were much smaller. I was told the youngest was 6 years old. To be as light as possible, many of them ride bareback and barefoot. The fastest ones go as fast as 60km/h. It is incredible to see these little guys (and girls) going so fast bareback. 

Before the race starts, all the participants circle around a holy stone and buddhist monks. The children and the monks sing together as the monks bless the racers. 

 

This was the perfect moment to observe all the racers - some very cute looking ones!

and some half asleep...

all the tails were tied in that way with a string of hair deliberately left out

a few of them did have (kind of) saddles

the starting line

ready, get set, go!

a typical scene from the steppe: kids wrestling and their horses tied on the line

We went on with some polo exhibition matches (Genghis Khan’s own little addition to the Nadaam tradition) followed by a concert by local artists and a contortionist. One of the singers sounded like he had swallowed a music instrument. We simply couldn’t believe the sound that was coming out of him. 

The most amazing part of the day was the evening feast. A goat that was cooked from the inside with stones sown into his stomach. It was absolutely delicious, albeit very very oily. We were all given a stone from the stomach. It is said to cure body aches. Once we were all full and thought it was over, they got the vodka and airaq (fermented mare’s milk) out to really start the party. The host stood up, holding a bowl of airaq in her hands and sang a Mongol song. She then asked the guest seated next to her, a Korean man in his fifties, to sing a song from his country. He proceeded to do so and sang surprisingly well. Manjeev was asked to do the same and he sang a Himachali song. I was also asked but politely declined. Unfortunately, the host got back to me later on and made me sing after I lost at a game of ‘fingers’ (the Mongol equivalent to ‘paper stone scissors’). I also had to drink several ENTIRE bowls of airaq. That is an achievement all in itself. Eventually, we decided to discretely escape from the party ger feeling a little sick from all the drinks. I can imagine it was quite rude but given that the Korean guests who stayed the entire time still haven't emerged (it’s 3pm) I think it was a safe decision.