This is the Wildest Holiday You've Never Heard Of (NAADAM in MONGOLIA 2022 Vlog)

San Beno people get drunk from drinking milk here and I'm going to do that [Music] the crowd is psyched up cheers guys hello everybody this is Doug and today I am here in ulambatar Mongolia and this is the reason I came to Mongolia I'm here for nadam it is a festival that takes place every summer I just saw the opening ceremony I'm recording this after because I was rushing to make sure I got there in time it was absolutely incredible here we go foreign [Music] [Music] okay we just had the national anthem and it's on all the tickets I actually caught on even though I can't pronounce it quickly enough to sing along I can read along [Music] walking around and no one really seems to mind so you're gonna just do what I can here so they've got a float coming out here lots and lots of people in costumes [Applause] yeah so guys just for a little background Adam is an annual Festival that's been happening for centuries in Mongolia and I kind of like to think of it as basically a celebration of mongolian-ness so it celebrates mongolia's culture the nomadic lifestyle and also kind of the warrior spirit that Mongolia is so famous for and the festival focuses on the so-called three manly Sports of wrestling archery and horseback riding but these days women take part in the archery and horseback riding too I'm slowly getting closer to the center of the action here foreign and all the fire ladies wow that is hot I can feel it from here okay so all these people dressed very beautifully are coming along and they are going into this gear obviously I don't speak Mongolian so I don't really know what's going on but it's all very beautiful it's an amazing spectacle [Music] Mongolian throat singing this feels to me like part nationalist parade and part circus it's amazing it's like an amazing mix of Pride and entertainment they've got kits on the hoverboards right now [Music] you got people on unicycles wow oh my God you guys just see that these kids are straddling to other kids that are balancing on hoverboards [Music] people riding these horses around our kids and they're doing it like it's nothing it's crazy look at this [Music] so much is happening around me right now you've got the horses and then over here you've got someone doing acrobatics from a ladder and you've also got someone hanging from the wires they're hanging from their hair [Music] thank you [Music] Mongolian doctors they're who helped me I love Mongolian doctors foreign [Music] [Music] okay I think that is the end of the opening ceremony and that was like 100 times cooler and more amazing than I expected that was unbelievable I thought it was going to just be some marching and some instruments and some speeches and presentation but that was like a circus I don't even know what to say that was so cool okay guys so the opening ceremony is over but I'm here with some of the amazing dancers who were walking around when they lit the the flame which is right here and here they are you guys are incredible so you're a dance group and like how long have you been practicing for this month after like eight nine years that some of them like five six years really yeah they're all how old what are your guys ages how old are you I'm about seven years seventh grade okay so what time did you have to get here this morning 5am oh my gosh now it's almost two okay in the crowd yeah yeah it was sold out I came to Mongolia I tried to get a ticket online and it was apparently they sold out in two days I had to buy a ticket from somebody I was like so pleasure for us like you to get here and the other tourists to come here and watch it like it's a big big yeah oh it's a big thing for me thank you yeah I think I'm from the US and in the US people I don't think they know so much about Mongolia they just know Genghis Khan and like riding horses yeah the history you guys speak English so well by the way that was amazing thank you so much thank you bye-bye great job now apparently I've been given free reign of the field here I don't know what happened I had a ticket for a seat and I kind of stood up because I couldn't really see and then I was kind of inching more forward and then I just asked the cop hey can I go up there and he was like yeah sure and now it's over and there's no danger of being trampled by horses and I'm just on the field okay guys so I just came out of the stadium for a little break before I think the wrestling and archery will start the horse racing takes place outside of the stadium in a different part of the city actually a bit outside the city so we're gonna do that tomorrow the scene out here is absolutely crazy tons and tons of people Everyone is eating for sure and I am looking to grab some of those for a little bite to eat so let's go take a look can I have one please one one uh 500 okay okay guys so the lines for kosher are way too long right now so I'm getting some shishlich I think that's the name Street Meat barbecue and it comes with meat and potato and fat Carla they just cook it up right in front of you there let's give it a shot here we go very good all right that was delicious I'm feeling refueled so I just went inside and unfortunately I don't have the best view of the wrestlers and the cops were not as willing to let me just wander the field as they were during the opening ceremony not really sure why because it's kind of empty in there now it seems like most people left after the opening ceremony an opening ceremony was way more dangerous to be roaming around with all these horses running around but anyway they wouldn't let me so out here on this screen is actually a better view of the wrestling so I'm gonna come back and try to get a little bit closer to the wrestling and then once we've covered the festivities the next goal is to try IROC which is a drink that they have in Mongolia that is especially popular during nadum it is literally fermented horse milk and it has alcohol in it so people get drunk from drinking milk here and I'm going to do that stay tuned I'm very excited to try it all right guys now real quick I want to give a big thank you to extra for sponsoring this video so extra makes some of the slimmest and smartest wallets in the world and they sent me a couple models to check out and honestly after seeing these I don't think I'm ever going to go back to using a regular wallet again extras wallets are made from super high quality material and they all feature this quick card access mechanism so you just push this button at the bottom and your cards all pop out at the top for super easy access besides that this wallet also has a few extra Pockets to carry any additional cards and it has this really minimalist strap to hold your cash this black vegan leather wallet is already super slim but if I want something even Slimmer I love this blue aluminum version it has the same quick access button and cash strap as the other wallet but then on the back it has this removable back plate where I have 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really famous in nadam yeah yeah it's and they make it differently during Madame yeah for sure of anatom is like around you know you get the circle instead of the half circle if you don't eat for sure it's not an Adam okay let's go do it just to give you guys an idea of how popular kosher is during madam all of these people in these lines waiting for these various booths they're all waiting for kosher the exact same thing and I think I think we have to just pick a line and try our best I think they're all going to be long here yeah okay perfect we're almost to the front of the line we had to move a couple of places because uh people are running out now so luckily there are dozens and dozens and dozens of booths selling kosher I'm gonna buy three for my brother ah okay nice no I got it don't worry no no no no no please it's non-stop production oh my goodness okay here we go we've got them here so these are just deep fried almost uh pastries or dumplings kind of with meat inside straight out of the fryer like you saw two ways to eat okay and you can roll it down like this or you can pitch like this so you roll it or you fold it I'm a type of world person you're a roller yeah okay I'm gonna do a rolling two then oh it's so hot how are you picking this up man Jesus maybe I'm Mongolian I guess so I can't do it I'm gonna be a baby and use the napkin oh man wow that's so good this one has like some chives or onion in there layer of meat and then the crispy bread it almost reminds me of like an empanada or something if you had to compare it to something hmm so it's not only the shape of the kosher that is different in this one is totally different from the ones I've tried in my you know past few days here in Mongolia and this one is my favorite by far is the best all right so we're out now just walking around and there are so many things here besides just the whole show and the stadium the stadium has a limited number of seats but lots of people even if they're not going into the stadium come here just to enjoy the holiday they've got activities for the kids here they've got games where you can like try to make a few baskets for the basketball and win some money they've got this game with the ring toss over the horses here and there are people selling things all sorts of food drinks it's really really cool and people are very happy you know this is the first not um since before covid two years later and everyone is just very very happy in a good mood I think happy to be back at it alrighty guys it is time for what I consider the main event which is trying fermented horse milk that is alcoholic it is called irug they sell it all over the place here and they usually just bottle it in Old bottles from Coca-Cola and stuff and I think they home do they make they home make it like all these guys make it themselves yeah wow so it's literally just straight up uh horse milk but firm fermented so that it becomes alcoholic and apparently it's it's kind of strong so let's give it a shot I'm I'm really excited okay this dude just chugged that entire massive cup of Iraq and I think he's going back for more impressive cheers it's gonna do it again isn't he this is my friend Jama and uh she's Mongolian too used to live in Sweden so kids drink this even though it has alcohol in it I have no idea yes literally once I read about Iraq when I was researching that um that's when I was like yeah I'm going because I just thought I need to try that okay so it's literally just stored in this giant blue bucket here wow oh my gosh it's just a vat of uh fermented horse milk here you go so my first time ever drinking horse milk and uh stood up cheers to that here goes nothing oh whoa wow that is intense it's not that strong okay I just wasn't sure what to expect with the flavor it's not bad it's just strong yeah I I think it's wrong oh my gosh it's very sour and it tastes kind of like uh cheese almost I think wow doesn't taste like alcohol or anything but it has a fermented taste kind of like kombucha or some of those drinks that I tried in Korea if you saw those videos that is unique I can't believe that guy chugged two glasses of this oh okay how are you liking it does it taste just like you remember it I think it's better I expected it to be like stronger like it's not that strong okay all right okay I know I'm a wimp [Laughter] yeah I think it's a bit of an acquired taste but I I I I don't hate it it's just yeah it's it's very unique cheers he's my school friend oh cool I'm his patient in the hospital uh allergy reaction red well that this is my normal color actually but thanks okay guys we're back in the stadium we just got in here so in Mongolian wrestling you lose if your elbow your knee or your back yeah touches the ground yeah if you wanna be a champion you will have to never lose 10 match 10 matches so there's 10 rounds and you said there are like 1024 wrestlers this year yeah that's crazy and there's one winner of the entire not um each year so there's no weight classes there's no different brackets it's one tournament basically everyone competes for one winning spot all right guys I'm walking back to my hotel now through Batar Square once again and it is absolutely popping right now full of people and families and kids running around everyone in Mongolia this week is off from work pretty much it's the biggest uh holiday of the year and people make the most of it anyway tomorrow we are gonna head off to hopefully see the horse races hopefully some archery as well whatever we do see it's going to be incredible so stay tuned and I will see you tomorrow morning hello guys it is the next morning now and we are here out in the Mongolian Countryside just a little ways outside of ulambatar but it looks very very different very Barren landscape there are actually a ton of people here it is absolutely massive and this is kind of the other part of the natam festivities around ulambatar or UB I'm here with my friend Mamba that's his nickname and what's your name again man okay see I told you Mongolian name's tricky sometime times so these guys are cousins and we're hopefully gonna see some horse racing so they've even got a big carnival set up here for the kids a bunch of games and little rides and things a bunch of horseback riding yeah all sorts of festivities all right we have stopped for some kosher they are so good I absolutely love these things I like these better than the half circle also yeah so good we are at the starting line of the horse race now everyone is filing in things are getting ready to start got a great spot here on the start line so Mamba tell me about this horse racing I've heard that most of the jockeys like most of the horse riders are children is that true yeah that's true what age maybe six or seven years old really yeah oh my gosh so why are they so young it has to be super light super light okay the horse races here are like longer distance than in the west because the horses are different they're shorter and stockier and stronger and they're built for you know riding long long distances across the Mongolian step so the race is starting soon everyone's lining up here have you ever seen this before no I think so no no okay very exciting very young kids they look tiny okay so we're here at the Finish Line I thought it was the starting and finish line but apparently it's only the finish line and apparently the race has already started it's very hot here and the only reason I'm wearing my hood is because of the sun I don't want to get burned okay there's just a bunch of dust in the distance and I think that is them coming along here they come there's three in the front our main contenders oh it's gonna be close and just like that it's over now here come the rest foreign these kids are super impressive look at them go nice job guys very good job good job high five high five okay boom okay so I guess those are some of the kids from the race and uh anyway we are going to try now to figure out how to get back to UB and then we'll catch up with the rest of the festivities at the stadium okay guys I am back at the National Stadium now where all of the nadam events are taking place I was actually here earlier in the day too and I got a chance to see some of the archery that was happening there were a lot of people watching and there were a bunch of really bored kids who were way more interested in what I was doing than the archery the archery was cool because they had all these people lined up at the far end next to the targets and The Archers were shooting the arrows literally between these crowds of people I don't know it looked crazy dangerous to me and I don't know if that's how they always do it or if it was a special kind but they were shooting it right between the people and whenever they hit the target the people around the target would just go crazy it was like they were on teams or something everyone was dressed up very nicely very very cool thing to see so anyway I'm here at the stadium because apparently the president of Mongolia is going to be here giving out Awards to the winning horses and wrestlers and maybe archers and then apparently there's also going to be some kind of closing ceremony so let's go inside and check it out I'm sure it's going to be a lot of fun [Applause] [Applause] all right guys it's the semi-finals right now one of the semi-final matches just finished but there's one left and then it's the finals I'm here with my friend from the police say hello to YouTube Hello subscribe here oh good good call thank you here comes the wave foreign people are hyped [Music] the crowd is psyched up it's almost the Finals over a thousand wrestlers were competing in this entire tournament and it's down to the last three guys because they have these two fighting and then the winner of this will will fight the the guy who just won foreign that's it that was the semi-finals now we have our final two wrestlers the energy in here is totally different from yesterday people are getting really really pumped now it's the finals baby oh [Applause] yeah that's it yes wow and just like that the wrestling is over so guys right now the winning uh wrestler is heading up there and somewhere up in there is the president of Mongolia can't get too close but he's in there somewhere giving him the the medal for winning the entire tournament all right the president is coming out drone show all right we've got a drone Show starting right above Genghis Khan Forever Blue Sky wow so cool no I did try it yesterday oh yeah I think it's like um yeah I don't know yet drunk when you drink too much really yeah okay uh yeah I don't know if I could drink enough to get drunk okay guys so after all of that I have a feeling this is gonna be a very long video after all of that my nadam celebrations have come to an end and I thought what better way to end mine Adam than with some more Iraq or fermented horse milk so I'm here with my new friends cheers guys pictures here we go very nice good stuff the second time is easier than the first okay and I am back in sukhbatar square once again a lot of people here are waiting by the government building with chingis Khan in the front of it because apparently the president is making the procession back from the stadium to here anyway like I said this is going to be the end of my Madam experience I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did it's also unfortunately going to be the end of this entire Mongolia series I absolutely loved Mongolia and I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that made it so amazing and I really cannot wait to come back here again very soon and explore more of this country because there is just so much to see here I'm headed back to the states in just a couple days for a while gonna spend some time there and then eventually I will hit the road again and we'll see where we end up next but other than that thank you guys so much for watching and I will see you in the next one bye-bye [Music] foreign

Channel: Doug Barnard

Views: 214,937

Keywords: mongolia, ulaanbaatar, mongolia vlog, ulaanbaatar vlog, travel vlog, mongolia travel vlog, mongolian, solo travel, solo traveler, visiting mongolia, Монгол, улаанбаатар, american in mongolia, tourist in mongolia, how to visit mongolia, mongolia drone, naadam, naadam mongolia, naadam festival, khuushuur, airag, fermented horse milk, wrestling, mongolian wrestling, archery, horse racing, horseback riding, naadam opening ceremony, naadam 2022, Наадам, how to go to naadam, naadam holiday

Id: RuBTqkcLbcU

Length: 25min 51sec (1551 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 20 2022