Naadam is an interesting holiday/festival - just about all of Mongolia shuts down and everyone attends the festival. The biggest Naadam is the one in Ulaan Baatar, where the wrestling and archery events are held in the city but the horse racing is outside of the city, some 20km away. I didn't get to see any of the wrestling or archery events in the stadiums since I wasn't able to get tickets, but the horse racing events are free. The horse racing ground is one gigantic field where spectators and riders set up tents/gers for the event. Others just come for a day and have a picnic and watch race or two (most of the riders are under 16 years old)...or maybe even a fashion photo shoot. Since each race is 20km long (world's longest horse race), there's not much to do for couple of hours but hang out and socialize.
Back in UB, Tai was able to connect with two Aussies (Tom and Verity) who may join us for the full trip and Emma who could travel with us for 3 weeks, but still no word from the Dutch girl. Three of us decided to look for the Dutch girl since Tai remembered where Marilou was staying and we couldn't reach her by phone. We found her guesthouse but no one answered...another dead-end. We started to wonder if this girl even exist. We agreed to give one more try after dinner - this time a woman who runs the guesthouse was there but no Marilou. We left a message for Marilou, unsure if she'll get the note.
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Location:Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia
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