ABOUT MONGOLIA
Reveal the secret of beautiful wild nature of Mongolia with visiting the pleces that will show you real history of Chingiss Khaan and Mongolia.
Mongollian culture
Mongolia is well known for its nomadic traditions. The nomadic way of lifestyle is still practiced today in the rural areas of the country. Nomads follow a seasonal routine raising and breeding the five main types of stock – goat, sheep, cattle (including yaks), camel and horse, migrating from place to place following the most favorable pastures and campsites.
Mongolian Food
The foundation of the traditional Mongolian food is based on the products of the animal nomadic herders raise in the Mongolian steppes – meat and milk. Those simple materials are processed with a variety of methods, and combined with vegetables and flour.
Khorkhog. Is prepared by cutting up the meat of the sheep and coat and placing it in a container together with hot stones, while heating from the outside. Some people add and fixed many kinds of vegetables also pepper and salt. Khorkhog was a cooking method commonly used by soldiers on military compaign in earlier centuries as the meat of a large animal such as a deer or gazella could thus be cooked in it's own stomach thus eliminating the need for carrying heavy pots or special utensils. Usually man making Boodog and Khorhog.
Aaruul: specialist believe that aaruul is one of the factors responsible for the Mongol's strong and healthy teeth. Aaruul is curdled milk, dehydrated and thoroughly dried in the air and sun. The remarkable thing is that there is practically no limit to it's slowly life.
Airag is Mongolian traditional drink. Rural people making summer time in it. 1000-3000 times bit it in cow' skin bag. (leader bag) Mongolian people used to airag in Naadam festival, wedding, New year and others. Some people can drink 2-3 letre one sit. Airag has included 7-8% of alcohol. So you will drink a lot of airag maybe you hang over. Airag is Mongolian respect and safely drink so you never to spit and drop it outside. During the Naadam and New year festival who win the wrestling competition people present him one big bowl airag. Also horse racing competition whose horse win people drop the airag horse's croup.
Tea with milk. Usually used to tea cow, camel and sheep milk. May you visit Mongolian nomadic family first they served you tea with milk. The Mongolians drink tea with milk with a salt. Sometimes the tea is cooked with rise, dumplings and flour. It preparing is easy first water and add brick tea salt then milk and boiled it is ready. Some Mongolian ethnic groups drink tea without salt. Usually Mongolian old people drink tea about 1-3 l a day.
Borts dried meat: the Mongolian nomadic way of life and the countries climatic conditions has give rise to specific methods of preserving meat. The most widespread one is air -drying or bortsloh. Beef is cut into long strips which are hung in the shade. The meat dries very quickly, becoming so hard that you can not cut it with the knife.
Mongolian Naadam Festival
Wrestling is the most popular of all Mongolian sports and is the highlight of the Naadam. Historians claim that Mongol-style wrestling originated some seven thousand years ago. Hundreds of wrestlers from different cities and aimags take part in the national wrestling competition. There are no weight categories or age limits. Each wrestler has his own attendant herald. The aim of the sport is to knock one’s opponent off balance and throw him down, making him touch the ground with his elbow and knee.
Horseracing is an important part of the Naadam Festival. The riders are aged from five to 12. Mongolian kids are excellent riders, for both girls and boys have been riding since infancy. As a popular saying goes, “The nomad is born in the saddle”. Competitions are not held on special racetracks, but right across the steppe, where riders are confronted with various obstacles like rivers, ravines and hills. The distance varies according to the ages of horses, between 15 and 35 km.
Information about archery can be found in literary and historical documents of the 13th century Mongolia and even before. According to historians, archery contests began in the 11th century. The Mongols use a compound bow, built up of layers of horn, sinew, bark and wood.
Beginning the 20th century modem types of sport started to develop in Mongolia. After the Mongolian Sports Committee was founded in 1947 voluntary sports clubs and associations were formed. These organizations played a tangible role in promoting sport as a mass movement. Nowadays, track and field sports, football, basketball, volleyball, skating, skiing, motorcycle racing, mountain climbing, chess and other sports are widely played in Mongolia.
