Russia/Mongolia/China Trip Day 18: Terelj National Park

Our day in Terelj National Park was quite possibly the nicest day we’ve had yet on the trip. We ate breakfast in the hotel and then started our drive out to the national park. As we passed by the central square we saw the same 999 fiddlers out again, however this time they were in full traditional costume and were actually playing (whereas the last itme they hadn’t been playing anything). We got out to take some pictures and listen for a bit and Nemo told us a bit about the makeup of the orchestra. The 999 fiddlers are from all of the 22 previnces in Mongolia and some of them were members of the Mongolian Naitonal Orchestra. We got back in the car and continued our drive and along the way Nemo told us a bit about the Naadam festival.

Naadam celebrates Mongolian Independence. If first celebrates the victor of Chinggis Khan in 1206 and also celebrates the rebellion and independence that happened in the 1911 and 1921 Revolutions. The three biggest parts of the Nadaam festival are the wrestling competition, the horseback races, and the archery competitions. The wrestling competition begins with 1024 wrestlers and is a single elimination competition with 10 rounds. There are no weight classes and the first rounds of competition opponents are computer generated. People earn titles for getting through various rounds (like Mongolian Falcon, Eagle, Lion, or Elephant) and after the first few rounds the competitors with the highest titles get to choose who they compete against next. The competition takes place in a football stadium and the entire pitch is playable. There are very few rules but it a wrestler’s elbow or knee touches the ground, even of their own accord or from tripping over their own feet, they lose. The last man standing (literally and figuratively) is crowned champion. Every year there is a horserace over 62km that features approximately 400 horses. However because this year is special, celebrating 90 years of independence there are 100 races with 1000 horses in each race.

Along the way we stopped several times and Nemo told us about Mongolian traditions. First we stopped to try a common Mongolian drink: fermented mare’s milk. Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like: milk from a horse that has been allowed to ferment. It was... interesting.... Very very sour and not particularly tasty. We also stopped at a Buddhist prayer rock. It is tradition to have a tall pole with ribbons tied to it. You throw a rock and the base of the pole, walk around the pole in a clockwise direction 3 times, and make a wish. The rocks were piled up really high showing how many people had visited the spot since it was put up.

When we arrived at the Gur Camp we were staying at deep in the national park we had a lunch of bread, beef based soup, fried meat dumplings, and tea. We then went out for three or four hours, going horseback riding and hiking.

I started out on a horse I dubbed Clyde (in honour of the boring Gamecast commentator) who didn’t want to go about a slow walk no matter how many times I tried to get him going faster. The guides with us tried as well and he would speed up for about 30 feet and then slow right back down.


Eventually Nemo gave me his horse and this one was awesome! He was so responsive and eager to run and I was galloping across the Mongolian countryside in no time. I had a hard time naming this horse (Mongolia horses are not given names because they are work animals, not pets) and started out simply calling him Dude. Eventually Addie suggested I just name him Dude, a name that I think actually fit him quite well. We rode for about an hour to the most well-known landmark in the park, Turtle Rock. This large rock formation obviously looks like a turtle and while we let the horses rest a bit we climbed around the rock and took some photos.

We then got back on the horses and rode another hour or so deep into the valley where we finished our ride at meditation centre perched halfway up the mountainface. It was beautifully serene and I could really see why monks would come here to meditate. Nemo also pointed out that up at the top of the ridge there was a small opening in the rocks and we could just about make out a meditation hut that monks still used for their personal meditation.

After enjoying the meditation centre we hiked over a few ridges back to the Gur camp. It was a beautiful hike and I walked ahead of the group a bit (we eventually got pretty spread out) and enjoyed the quiet solitude of the hills and trees we were hiking through.

When we arrived back at the camp we had a cooking lesson with Nemo; we learned how to make dumplings. To save time the dough was made for us (although it was very simple, just mixing flour and water) and we started out by kneading the dough. After kneading sections about the size of a baseball (or cricket ball) we made those sections into doughnut shapes and then eventually stretched those dough rings until they had a circumference of about an inch. We cut them and rolled them evenly into cylinders an inch thick. We then sliced them into pieces an inch long and then smashed those sections into circles. Using a rolling pin we then flattened those circles out very thinly, leaving a slight bulge in the middle; these pieces looked a bit like fried eggs. We then took the filling (a mix of beef and vegetables) and starting folding them. There were three different ways that we folded the dumplings (its hard to explain then in words) and we made about 55 dumplings total (with varying levels of success and sophistication).

While the dumplings were steaming we drank tea, ate our first course of salads, and just talked about a bunch of random topics including American weather phenomena (like tornados and hurricanes), religion, alien life and encounters, and other random assorted topics. The dumplings finished steaming and were actually delicious (we managed to not screw them up too badly) and we just enjoyed the rest of the evening drinking beer and tea before going to our Gurs (all warm from the fires that were set for us) and to sleep.