All of Mongolia
Adventure-Tours
Adventure-Tours
|
Search |
Sitemap
|
All of Mongolia
Adventure-Tours |
|||
|
|
Search |
Sitemap
|
|||
The city of Kharkhorin of today is located at the same place where
Genghis Khan had planned his capital. At the time, however, the city
was only erected after his death. His grandson Kublai Khan then again
moved his court to what today is Bejing in China. Some time later
the Manchu destroyed Kharkhorin. Only a few stone sculptures of turtles give a
visible indication of past glory.
The Kharkhorin of today is a small settlement with little focus on tourism. The Ger camps are rather situated near Erdene-Zuu and other attractions. The locals in the town stay mostly among each other.
As a reference to the great historical importance of the place, discussions on moving the capital of Mongolia back to Kharkhorin again from Ulaanbaatar have been running for some time. The scenarios picture a transfer of the administration between 2020 and 2030. It is unclear how realistic those ideas really are. In any case, they would dramatically change the character of the place.
Naadam is the most important national holiday in Mongolia.
It is a mixture between a fairground and a Nomads' Olympic games,
where the best wrestlers, archers, and horsemen are crowned.
Most tourists will experience this festival in the capital.
The disadvantage of this approach is in the size of the event there.
For foreign visitors it will then turn it into an albeit very colorful,
but at times somewhat impersonal folkloristic show.
We have decided to avoid the big masses as far as possible, and to offer you a much more rustic Naadam experience. In Kharkhorin, it is the rural population of the surrounding area, who meet to celebrate together and cheer for their best athletes. Most of the local participants will arrive on horseback from their pastures. They have sewn new clothes specifically for this event, which are decorated with traditional patterns.
At the Naadam festival in Kharkhorin you will not be able to admire the national wrestling champion (usually a professional athlete) from a distant stand. Instead, you may even be able to congratulate the local winner (a nomad from the area) in person. Don't settle with the role of a passive observer. Instead, get immersed into the traditional festivities up close!
Erdene Zuu (translated: "hundert treasures") was founded in 1586,
as the first buddhist monastery in Mongolia. At its most glorious
days it housed more than 1000 monks. It was destroyed by the
Manchu together with Kharkhorin, and only rebuilt early in the
19th century. The second wave of destruction came with the stalinist
"cleanings" around 1930.
The monastery could resume in its role as a religious center again after democracy had finally been established in Mongolia. The rebuilding is an important, even if underfunded, national project.
The area is surrounded by a big wall with 108 stupas. Three temples inside have survived socialism. Despite the turbulent history, a surprising number of artifacts have been preserved, probably because some socialist officers still didn't just want to see their traditions go extinct. Many pieces of artwork had been buried nearby during that time, or local inhabitants took custody of them.