TRAVERSE 138
pre-arranged birthday dinner— complete with cake— back in town. Still, camaraderie won out, and we celebrated properly, albeit late and on full stomachs.
The next morning, we traded bikes for wings on a short flight back to Ulaanbaatar, just in time for the national Naadam Festival. Wrestling, archery, horse racing— three“ manly games” as old as the steppes themselves— filled the stadium with energy. Yet after ten days of immersion, the packed seats and slow pace nudged us toward an early exit. Some chose to prep for their flights home, others wandered the old monastery and city streets.
We had done what we set out to do: explored Beijing’ s imperial majesty, crossed Mongolia from east to west on two wheels, and stood among the echoes of one of the world’ s oldest festivals. Along the way, we were met with warmth and generosity from the Mongolian people— a reminder that while landscapes impress, it’ s the people who leave the deepest mark.
Mongolia is unlike anywhere else on earth. It’ s a land where history rides shotgun with the present, where the winds carry stories of warriors, shamans, and nomads
TRAVERSE 138