Golden Eagle Festival

Fortunately our trip to Mongolia was to coincide with the Golden Eagle Festival, held in Olgii. Kazakh hunters come from near and far with their Golden Eagles and participate in a competition to test their Eagles’ speed, accuracy, and agility. From early Friday evening the hunters (traditionally named kusbegi or berkutchi) rode into town on their horses with arms raised and their impeccably trained Golden Eagles perched proudly on top – such a superb sight! Come Saturday morning we were keen to see the hunters in action and drove out to the festival site. There were plenty of magnificent looking Eagles and hunters, groups of traditionally dressed men, camels and ger. The sight of the eagle hunters and their noble steed made us feel like we were about to witness something magical. Amongst the locals we had found ourselves a little group – Hayden and I, Manuel from Switzerland who had been hitch hiking through Russia (we had actually met him at the border), Nicola from Italy who had hitch hiked from Ulaanbaatar, and Jan the crazy Danish cheesemaker. We perched ourselves up on the rocks out of the wind and readied ourselves for the action.
Things took a while to get started, the morning session was spent checking that all the hunters were suitably attired and had all the right gear, this also served as judging for the ‘best dressed competition’, each hunter would ride into the arena and present himself and his eagle to the judges. It was nearing lunch time, and with some of the boys not suitably dressed for the wind chill factor, we decided to pile into Maggie (who’s contents were now all over our hotel room in order to make room for passengers) and head into town for food and more clothing. Jan, the crazy Danish cheesemaker, decided that this would also be a good time to sample some of the local vodka. Our cockles warmed, due in part to the extra clothing, but more so from the vodka, we returned to the festival. One at a time the Eagles were released from half way up the mountain and their owners would ride their horses around the arena, arm outstretched, calling to them. The aim was to have your eagle land perfectly on your arm. So many did this exceptionally, but some had to work hard to beckon their Eagles back from flying over the mountain. This was a spectacular sight, and they made it look so easy.The final event of the day was the ‘coin pick up’, although in the modern day version the coins were replaced with small yellow bags. Men would ride their horses at pace and lean off to each side in order to pick up the yellow bags in the fastest time. Some were successful, others not so much, but all showed exceptional skill (and guts) to lean that far off a horse! We returned to the car and were a little nervous to see a group of about six policemen surrounding it. I did a quick mental check to recall where I had put the paperwork only to find out that it wasn’t necessary as they just wanted to have a good look, just like every other nosey but friendly Mongolian.
Our evening dinner was spent in a restaurant that had only one other table occupied…one full of about 20 middle aged women! They would sit and eat for a bit and then get up to dance, dragging the boys with them! It turned out they were all teachers and it was some special day for teachers in Mongolia, so I was accepted into the group and joined the celebrations. Jan, the crazy Danish cheesemaker, once again produced a bottle of vodka and provided entertainment to us and the teacher ladies with his unique dancing style.
Day two of the Eagle Festival was met with slightly fuzzy heads, but equally impressive talents on the part of the hunters. They had to call their Eagles down from the mountain and have them land on some fox or rabbit skin that they would drag behind them whilst on horseback. This simulates how they actually train these Eagles for hunting. Apparently they used to use real animals, but some people were upset by it so now they use skins only. The day progressed with events such as ‘horseback tug-o-war’, exactly how we know it, except with the rope replaced with a dead sheep, a horseback race where the girls chased the boys and try to whip them and a camel race. We stuck around right until the very end, after all the medals and participation certificates were handed out. Piling back into Maggie, we followed the hunters back into town, this time some choosing to swap their horse for a motorbike, but always with their dependable eagle perched splendidly on their arm.