Day 4, Lake Khovsgol

A tour of Lake Khovsgol
With the road impassible, we never got to our start point by vehicle, the van could only bring us within 75km of our intended departure point. Luckily there was another method of transport available to us; our canoes that would carry us to lake Baikal. So we paddled north, adding an extra two days and the before mentioned distance to our voyage, a miniscule addition compared to the route ahead of us. Reaching our original departure point, the small community of Khankh, a few days late however did allow us to enjoy the Naadam festival.
The Naadam is a two day festival celebrating the independence of Mongolia from China in 1921. The festival is celebrated nationwide with various traditional competitions, namely: horse racing, Mongolian wrestling, and archery. At khankh, the first event we witnessed was Mongolian wrestling, where opponents attempt to throw one another to the ground, second came the horse racing.
In Mongolia there are no age categories for the horse rider, and no minimal age. Therefore most of the horse racers were rather young, between the age of 8 and 14, for the obvious advantage of reduced weight. The youngster who crossed the finish line looked to be about 12. Upon his winning the crowd let out a loud cheer, and those who were on horseback chased after the winning rider in attempts to acquire some of the sweat from of the horse, which in believed to carry good luck.
Tomorrow we will head south, en route towards Lake Baikal.
Position: N 51’07 E 100’19
Total distance: 130km

Eric McNair-Landry