The Nadaam Festival and Licking Dinosaur Fossils

After sweating through my sheets and multiple runs to the bathroom last night I was starting to feel like I was over the worst of it when I woke up this morning. Today, we would be going to a Nadaam Festival. Nadaam means festival so I guess we are going to the Festival Festival. These are actually pretty common and are held at various villages almost weekly as it is their most common form of entertainment. The only problem was it was raining this morning. However, in Mongolia you just have to wait a few hours as the weather is constantly changing.

Yeah, no shit.

I hung out in the lounge around the fire while waiting for the skies to clear.

With the skies clear they started with wrestling. They are way in to wrestling and many of the dining areas in the various Ger Camps had photographs of the current champion on the walls. It's not so much wrestling as it is tripping and throwing, kind of like Sumo wrestling without the jock straps and the circle on the ground. Basically the first one to touch the ground with anything other then their feet losses.





They have an interesting story behind their wrestling attire. Legend speaks of a wrestler who dominated the country to become the champion of all of Mongolia. It would turn out that this champion was a woman. That did not sit well with the other competitors so they now require everyone to wear the same outfit when wrestling. One that is open chested, making it impossible to hide any boobies.



There is a kind of referee but he never called any kind of illegal moves. He was really just there to place the cap on the winner.





Today's champion.

Next up was archery. They were fully clothed so I figured women were allowed to compete in this event as well.



It only took like 400 photos but I finally caught a few pictures right as they released the arrow.





They have a lot of confidence in their competitors as they stand dangerously close to the target. Hitting the red mark is three points and hitting the brown mark(s) is one point. If you hit your opponent then I guess you win. You should have seen them run when I picked up the bow and arrow.

Today's champion.

I wasn't kidding when I said everyone ran when I picked up the bow. They did allow a few of us to try it after the tournament and I think this picture best sums up my effort.

They quickly started to disassemble their bows for everyone's safety.

They also had a baby camel.

Got milk?

For dinner today we would be heading to the flaming cliffs. Not only are they very beautiful at sunset but you can still find dinosaur fossils here.





They also contain a few petroglyphs, although you may have to squint like when looking at those crazy computer 3D images in order to see it.

I'm still not sure if I was being setup or not but they say, and include a long scientific reason as to why, that if you lick a fossil it will stick to your tongue. So I walked around looking for something white to place on my tongue.

Found one! Or maybe bird shit sticks to your tongue too? My guide did say it was a fossil without laughing so I felt pretty good about my find. However, you are not allowed to bring them out of the country.

It was happy hour and there was not a better place to have it. Three Camel Lodge setup a special dinner for us tonight out here. I had a few beers while mingling with the other guests before sitting down for dinner and a show.

Three Camel Lodge supports the local school of arts and tonight they would entertain us, starting with some traditional dance.



Followed by some music on a Morin Khuur, a two string traditional instrument, also know as a Horsehead Fiddle.

The kid on the left was also a very talented "throat" singer.

The finale was this kid with an amazing voice. I had no idea what he was singing about but it sounded good.



It was yet another amazing day, another amazing experience, another amazing chapter. Sadly, this story was soon coming to an end as I only had one day left before I would begin the long journey back home.