Olgii (Naadam Festival)

5-6th July 2014         0km by bike  (a few by foot)
Olgii

I spent the today at the Olgii nadaam festival today.  Naadam is a huge celebration in Mongolia and it seemed like the entire town had turned out for the festivities.  Despite it being held in a dusty field, I felt slightly under-dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, as all of the women and most of the men, had obviously put some effort into presenting themselves well!

Naadam means “three manly sports” the three sports being horse racing, archery & Mongolian wrestling.

The celebrations began with musical performances which included Mongolian throat singing, which I always find fascinating and aurally pleasing.  Once the performances were complete, the wrestling began.  The wrestlers prepared and then performed the eagle dance, before the bouts began.   Most interesting in Mongolian wresting is the mixed weights, a huge 150kg wrestler can be paired up against a 72kg guy.  More often than not, the big guy won, although later in the day a number of army soldiers appeared and also took part in the wrestling.  One of the fitter soldiers winning against a much larger opponent, which stirred the crowd to let out a huge cheer.

It was a great day out and followed up on Sunday with the horse racing and archery, in a valley 10km out of town with views to the distant snowcapped peaks.  The principle event of the day was the horse race, 30km long and commencing in a valley near the mountains.  The riders, some as young as 5 years old, racing their steeds to the finish where all the spectators were waiting.  One of the stallions collapsed of exhaustion only 100M from the finish line, the 6 year old rider was ok.  Another example of the super-tough little Mongolian kids.  When the horse fell, the crowd raced to see what was happening, hundreds of people that only four police were trying to hold back.  When the crowd just pressed out onto the course, the police picked up rocks and started throwing them at the crowd.  Needless to say, I hot-footed it out of there, I didn’t need more contact with the police, or a rock to the head.

I’ve been spending some time preparing for the next phase of the journey, planning Russia & Kazakhstan routes and ensuring preparations for those countries are complete.  Although the last few days I’ve been somewhat lost, not physically lost (well not any more than usual) but a little bit lost strategically.

Mongolia has been such a magnificent experience, the riding, the people and the adventure have been truly amazing.  The time spent working at Lotus was fabulous and it was very rewarding to be in the company of the great kids there.

In preparing for this journey, I put a substantial amount of effort and focus into specifically preparing for Mongolia.  More attention and focus than any other country.  In terms of purpose, the meaning behind the journey has always been in the support of children of Ulaanbaatar at Lotus Children’s Centre.
I expected the Mongolian roads would be challenging, and I had prepared physically and mentally for those. Transiting over 3100km of Mongolian dirt, sand, mud, rocks, bogs and rivers over the past fours weeks has been really fantastic, and my body knows and feels it.

Now that I have completed my time at Lotus, and feeling that I have successfully crossed Mongolia off-road; with those objectives now achieved, I’ve felt a little bit as though “what should come next??”

To put it in motorcycling terms, I’ve stalled.  The engine has been restarted, I just need to kick it into gear.

Mongolia is only halfway to Ireland, there is still a tremendous ride ahead, and I know that I now need to focus intently on the next phase.  The ‘Stans are going to be very different and probably bureaucratically challenging. I’m sure that they will also bring surprising rewards, just as Mongolia has surprised me every day that I’ve spent in this magnificent country, through the people and their immense kindness, and through the absolute beauty of the country.

I’m sure I will be back in Mongolia again.

Tomorrow the last of the Mongolian off-road, as I ride the last 100km to the border and enter Russia!