Naadam Festival, Ulaan Batar, Mongolia

One of our most memorable adventures ... 30 days in Mongolia! The entire trip was one huge learning moment as well.

Their Naadam Festival is THE festival. If you ever visit the country, try to time it so that you get to experience this. It's a national holiday that lasts 3 days and is a grand celebration of their nationhood, history, culture, identity and independence. Everything Mongolian comes out during this festival -- traditions, customs, food, clothing, sports, you name it. Their national hero? Genghis Khan, of course! -- the Father of all Mongolians and founder of the nation, and of the empire that is no more.

A very close friend of mine remarked that these costumes reminded her of the Star Wars series. I fully agree!

WARP back to the present here. :)