In this era of technology and AI here in this planet earth coexists a lifestyle of Nomads. The traditional lifestyle and culture comes from ancestors of Mongol nomads and only remains unchanged ever since amongst the only Mongol nomads who are spread and live in the Mongolian landscape. When you will choose to travel to Mongolia, you will experience the exotic lifestyle of nomads and beautiful untouched nature!&nbsp;

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NOMADS MIGRATION COMBINED WITH EAGLE HUNTING PHOTOGRAPHY TOUR<hr>Nomads Migration combined with Eagle Hunting photography tour in the soil of Majestic Altai Mountains in Western part of Mongolia.Our joining the migration tour was held last Autumn in 2019. The nomads migration is occurred between the nomadic peoples summer camping spot and how they move backwards to their autumn spots along with the seasonal change.The whole migration process lasts about a week of time.&nbsp; It consists of nomads, collecting and loading all the necessary needs on their domesticated camels(the trusted transports of our ancestors) and herding their livestock.In this joint tour, you will not only be introduced to the unique lifestyle and culture of nomads that has been followed by its today’s descendants in its exact form and methods as back in days but also might participate in the process.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:100%;"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/kerege-travel.appspot.com/o/ckeditor%2Fnomads_migration_bn.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=d4738e05-ea65-4952-85e1-b1cf4214760d"></figure>

Our joining the migration tour was held last Autumn in 2019. The nomads migration is occurred between the nomadic peoples summer camping spot and how they move backwards to their autumn spots along with the seasonal change.

NOMADS MIGRATION COMBINED WITH EAGLE HUNTING PHOTOGRAPHY TOUR

Golden Eagle Festival 2023, Mongolia<hr>SCHEDULEAnnual Golden Eagle Festival will be held on 7th, 8th of October, 2023 “Sayat tolgoi” site of bugat sum of Bayan-Ulgii province.&nbsp;ITINERARY<hr><figure class="table" style="width:100%;"><table class="ck-table-resized"><colgroup><col style="width:49.87%;"><col style="width:50.13%;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td>SATURDAY, 7TH OF OCTOBER, 2023 (DAY 1)</td><td>SUNDAY, 8TH OF OCTOBER, 2023 (DAY 2)</td></tr><tr><td>Registration and credential of Eagle Hunters Opening ceremony of Annual Golden Eagle Festival Competition of best Kazakh costume, eagle and horse harness Horse race Competition of how eagles adapted to hanters “Tenge Ily” competition(Traditional coin grabbing game while ride a horse) Urainhai archery competition Competition of the best Kazakh costume of couples Folk concert in local theatre at Ulgii town</td><td>Competition of how eagles adapted to hunters “Shyrga tartu”(eagles will be qualified how fast and smoothly catch a lure that made of rabbit or fox skin) Camel race “Khyz khuar” game show(Traditional horse back riding fan game for youth, boys whipped by girls if they reached by them) Continuation game “Kukhbar” competition(Traditional horse back riding game fight over for goat skin) Award ceremony for winners of festival Closing ceremony</td></tr></tbody></table></figure><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:100%;"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/kerege-travel.appspot.com/o/ckeditor%2Fgolden_eagle_festival_mongolia_2023_parade.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=02e2db6e-1fa4-4434-9a8b-75ad842db1d3"></figure>HISTORY OF GOLDEN EAGLE FESTIVAL​<hr>During the communist period in Kazakhstan, many Kazakhs fled for Mongolia, settling down in Bayan Ulgii, an area that has been designated for the Kazakhs of Mongolia today. Kazakhs (Altaic Kazakhs or Altai-Kazakhs) living in Bayan-Ölgii Province of Mongolia continue to hunt with eagles today. There are an estimated 250 eagle hunters in the Western Mongolian province. Their falconry custom, so-called ‘horse-riding eagle falconry’, is unique in practice only with trained Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos daphanea) on horseback. Their hunting target is almost limited to Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) or Corsac Fox (Vulpes corsac). In the first week of October, 70 eagle hunters gather for the annual Golden Eagle Festival of Mongolia &nbsp;They use eagles to hunt foxes and hare during the cold winter months when it is easier to see the gold colored foxes against the snow. Many Kazakh traditions have been preserved by the Kazakhs in Mongolia, eagle hunting being amongst them. Although the Kazakh government has made efforts to lure the practitioners of these Kazakh traditions back to Kazakhstan, most Kazakhs have remained in Mongolia. The Golden Eagle Festival has been the largest gathering of eagle hunters and their eagles in the world since it started in 1999 with 70 eagle hunters participating in this event. It is recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Event. The festival starts with display of eagles and hunters, and then goes into the events of eagles displaying their talents. The first event is the eagle catching fox skin dragged behind a horse, returning to their owner from a distance on command, as well as a camel race and Kazakh games of Tiyn Teru (a race to pick up a coin on the ground while on horseback), Kyz Kuar (“girl chase,” a man and woman race on horseback while the woman whips the man), and Kokpar (tug of war over a goat carcass while on horseback). On the evening of the first night is a concert of traditional Kazakh music at the theatre included in the price of a ticket.

During the communist period in Kazakhstan, many Kazakhs fled for Mongolia, settling down in Bayan Ulgii, an area that has been designated for the Kazakhs of Mongolia today. Kazakhs living in Bayan-Ulgii Province of Mongolia continue to hunt with eagles today.

Golden Eagle Festival 2023, Mongolia

HOW AN EAGLE FESTIVAL IS CHANGING TOURISM IN MONGOLIA<hr>MONGOLIA DRAWS ADVENTUROUS TRAVELERS WITH ITS PRISTINE NATURE AND UNCOMPROMISED CULTURE. THE COUNTRY'S INCREASINGLY POPULAR GOLDEN EAGLE FESTIVAL IS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAINTAIN THOSE NOW THAT IT’S IN THE SPOTLIGHT. &nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/kerege-travel.appspot.com/o/ckeditor%2Feagle_festival_bn.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=4f1467ba-6167-40bb-b65f-f4792c879919"></figure>I’m standing on a grassy plain, encircled by mountains, in one of the most remote places in the world.And somehow, I thought it would be more crowded.I’ve come to Mongolia for the 20th anniversary of the Golden Eagle Festival, held every October in the far western province of Bayan-Ölgii, where the country borders Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. I’m not the only one: Before the next two days are over, nearly 1,500 visitors will kick up the dust on this sprawling expanse. But right now, a little before 10 a.m., the field is serene. &nbsp;Within the hour, tour operators will unload a few dozen SUVs full of Patagonia- and North Face–bundled travelers. Local visitors will accumulate as the day goes on, arriving by car or horse or motorcycle or camel. Some will carry sparkly cell phones; some will wear jeans and light jackets, and at least one will be in a hooded sweatshirt printed with a swoop and the word Neki. Others will be in traditional Mongolian Kazakh winter dress: enormous fur coats and colorful peaked hats ringed with fur. And 124 of them—the oldest an 82-year-old man, the youngest a 10-year-old girl—will be eagle hunters. The Golden Eagle Festival has occurred every year since 1999.&nbsp;THE EAGLE HUNTRESS EFFECT<hr><figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/kerege-travel.appspot.com/o/ckeditor%2Faisholpan1.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=2a9e7b9b-bf32-48b6-be42-808a75928a28"></figure>In 2016, a documentary called The Eagle Huntress drew people’s attention to Mongolia in a way that little else had since Genghis Khan used it as his base for building the largest contiguous empire in history. The film tells the story of another Mongolian warrior of sorts: a smiling, rosy-cheeked 13-year-old girl named Aisholpan, who defied gender convention to practice—and excel at—the ancient Mongolian-Kazakh tradition of hunting with golden eagles.Like her predecessors, Aisholpan climbed a mountain to find her eaglet (mothers usually foster only one of their litter, leaving the others to fend for themselves), then took it home to shelter, hand-feed, and train. (As is the custom, in about 10 years, Aisholpan will hold a ceremony to release her eagle back into the wild to live for another two decades.) Mongolia was suddenly on the international stage, and the festival—which had been quietly rolling along for 18 years at that point—was smack in the middle of the spotlight. I met two Australian women who’d been planning a trip to China when they stumbled on the movie; they added a week so they could be here. In my own tour group of 12, more than half had come specifically for the festival. &nbsp;Golden eagles get their flashy name from their not-so-flashy collar of lighter brown feathers. They are not rare—they can also be found in Mexico, the western United States, northern Africa, and Europe—but their ubiquitousness in no way makes them ordinary. With a wingspan of about 8 feet and a weight of roughly 15 pounds, they can dive at speeds up to 200 mph and are capable of taking down a full-grown sheep. Here in western Mongolia, they share the vast, harsh, often-subzero landscape with the nomadic Kazakh hunters, and the relationship is symbiotic: The humans get a swift, sharp-eyed predator to hunt small prey for meat and fur. The eagles get a surrogate parent and steady food, care, and shelter for the first third of their lives.This link between eagle and hunter goes back centuries. But by the late 1990s, only about 40 Mongolian Kazakh families still had eagles. The tradition—under threat from modernity and a disinterested younger generation—was dying.&nbsp;&nbsp;EAGLES AMONG US<hr><figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/kerege-travel.appspot.com/o/ckeditor%2Fgolden_eagle.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=ab863694-f439-45a1-ae3a-f96c0968141a"><figcaption>Golden eagles can dive at speeds up to 200 mph.</figcaption></figure>Although the festival pays tribute to a hunting tradition, no actual hunting takes place, despite what some websites say. On the first day, each participant rode a horse onto a field at the foot of a small mountain, while a partner climbed up the rocky incline with the eagle. When the partner released the bird, the hunter circled his or her horse, whooping in a personalized call intended to draw the eagle to the hunter’s arm. A panel of local government officials and VIPs graded them on how quickly and elegantly that happened, along with assigning points for the beauty of their costumes and their horsemanship. (This seemed fairly subjective, but even as a casual spectator, it was possible to pick out the nuances in skill.)On and off the field, the crowd went wild for 14-year-old Akhelik, a huntress in a bright white fur hat who caught her eagle in 11 seconds. (As I found out later, some mistook her for the star of The Eagle Huntress, who was away at school this year.) Another clear favorite was tiny 10-year-old Aimulder, whose father rode alongside to help with the weight of her eagle. Later, through a translator, she told me she had been training since she was four. Her father and her grandfather were both eagle hunters, so she wanted to be one, too.At the end of the two-day festival, the top three scorers won prize money and medals, shiny medallions on rainbow ribbons placed reverentially around their necks—and the necks of their eagles, too. Teenage Akhelik took home third place. Little Aimulder earned an honorable mention award.The festival has developed to be more than just the eagle competition. Each day, locals set out mats and tables to sell their wares in a makeshift market: handmade felt shoes, embroidered vests, and fox-fur hats with faces of the animals still intact. There was even a tent selling pizza and one with a sign that touted “Nomadic Coffee.”In another area, people built simple carnival games, and a friend and I lost a couple tugriks trying to toss rings onto pegs. Nearby, archers in colorful coats showily pointed their blunt arrows at the sky and then thudded them quietly into the ground where targets were marked. Just beyond the arrows’ reach, their fellow bowmen jeered in what was unmistakably the Kazakh version of trash talk. A small local boy next to me seemingly loved every second of this. Mouth hanging open in awe, he ping-ponged his head back and forth trying to follow the arrows.&nbsp;<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:100%;"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/kerege-travel.appspot.com/o/ckeditor%2Fgolden_eagle_festival_bn.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=9e53859d-cdbb-4f51-8501-415e6974c086"></figure>MONGOLIA RISING<hr><figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/kerege-travel.appspot.com/o/ckeditor%2Feagle_hunter_kazakh_bn.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=4009b827-a1c1-41bc-a4fb-e596eb3b3d89"></figure>More than half of all Mongolians live nomadically in round, movable tent-homes called gers. They relocate in spring to find pasture for their cattle and in winter to find protection from the piercing winds and -40 degree weather. To meet these nomads—to interact with them at the festival and to be welcomed into their homes with fried bread and butter from their own cows, as we were on my tour—is something special; this peek at the culture is a draw for visitors to the country. Whenever I asked another traveler “Why Mongolia?” I got the same answer: nomads, nature, and the eagle festival.It’s not surprising, then, that while The Eagle Huntress drew attention to the Golden Eagle Festival, tourism to Mongolia has been growing as a whole. In 2000, just 150,000 tourists visited the country, but by 2008, arrivals had jumped to 446,000, thanks to a concerted government effort to build and promote tourism. By 2018, the number was 529,000, and in 2019, it rose to an impressive 577,000—though still shy of the government’s goal of attracting 1 million by 2020, via efforts like tax breaks for high-rated hotels and eliminating tourism licenses. Currently, most travelers come from neighboring Russia and China, followed far behind by South Korea, Japan, and the United States.Mongolia is one of the least populated countries in the world, with 3 million people living in 600,000 square miles. (By comparison, France, one-third the size of Mongolia, saw 90 million tourists in 2018.) Yet despite all the space, its relatively newfound attention has meant the country is at a delicate crossroads. There is a drive to ramp up tourism, yes, but the question officials are wrestling with is how to do that responsibly—especially when the things that draw travelers to this country are the very things that can be endangered by them: pristine nature and an authentic nomadic culture largely undiluted by Western influence. These same issues are at play at the festival, albeit on a smaller scale.&nbsp;

I’ve come to Mongolia for the 20th anniversary of the Golden Eagle Festival, held every October in the far western province of Bayan-Ölgii, where the country borders Russia, China, and Kazakhstan. I’m not the only one

HOW AN EAGLE FESTIVAL IS CHANGING TOURISM IN MONGOLIA

CAPITAL CITY OF MONGOLIA<hr><figure class="image image-style-side"><img src="https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/kerege-travel.appspot.com/o/ckeditor%2Fmongolia_ulaanbator.jpg?alt=media&amp;token=3e10a185-d786-4032-b073-cd1980526cb8"></figure>Capital of present day Mongolia was founded in 1639 as a nomadic Buddhist monastic centre which was dedicated to Mongolian first head of Buddhism. Ulaanbaatar city with a four hundred year history settled permanently at its present location, the junction of Tuul and Selbe rivers in 1778. Like nearly half of total population, the capital city itself is nomadic. It changed location twenty-eight times, with each location being chosen ceremonially. The triumph of the Democratic Revolution in 1921 led Ulaanbaatar toward the rise of modern architecture and an urban development era. In the twentieth century, Ulaanbaatar grew into a major manufacturing center.&nbsp; Ulaanbaatar has a history to honor, stories to tell, picturesque landscape to present, mysterious temples and monasteries, fancy modern buildings. Its population as of 2016 was over 1.4 million, almost half of the country’s total population. People who have visited Ulaanbaatar witness its unique beauty. The traditional Mongolian felt Ger stands among a modern glass skyscrapers. People dressed in business suits rubbing shoulders with people in Mongolian traditional dressing (deel) on the downtown boulevards are unique scenes of the city that elicit excitement about the mixture of Western and Eastern cultures and contrast between modern and traditional lifestyles. Contemporary Ulaanbaatar is a rapidly evolving, expanding and fast growing metropolitan city. A railroad and an international airport connect the city with China and Russia. The scenic wooded peaks of the Hentiyn Mountain extend to the northeast of the city. We assure that Ulaanbaatar offers something surprising and exciting for everyone.&nbsp;

Capital of present day Mongolia was founded in 1639 as a nomadic Buddhist monastic centre which was dedicated to Mongolian first head of Buddhism. Ulaanbaatar city with a four hundred year history settled permanently at its present location, the junction of Tuul and Selbe rivers in 1778.

CAPITAL CITY OF MONGOLIA

Attractions close to Ulaanbaatar 

Capital city Ulaanbaatar

Central Mongolia - Orkhon valley

Eastern Mongolia - Genghis Khan 

Northern Mongolia - Khuvsgul lake

Souther Mongolia - Gobi Desert

Western Mongolia - Altai mountains

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Altai Tavan Bogd National Park is located on the Western most point of Mongolia in Bayan-Ulgii Province. This vast mountainous park borders China and Russia with views of Kazakhstan from the highest peak in Mongolia.The people living inside the park are one of the main draws. Kazakhs and Tuvan nomadic herders live inside the park and visiting them is part of most tours. The Kazakhs are the most numerous and the ones that do eagle hunting. They are known for their colorful large ger with rich embroidered wall hangings and their warm hospitality. Tuvans occupy the Tsagaan Gol valley and have different clothes, food, and language than Mongols. Those living inside the park have retained their traditional culture to a greater degree than probably any Kazakh in Central Asia.

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