Govi Altai Thousand Camel Festival 2014

Golden Gobi 

I never realized how much I loved camels until I moved to Mongolia. They are officially my favorite animal, and preferred mode of transportation. Maybe its their height, and the fact that they tower over me like a giraffe. Or maybe its their large "moon" eyes, and soft cozy wool. I could go on for days talking about Bactrian camels, they're just that amazing. And in my opinion, their pitiful 1 hump Arabian relative, the Dromedary camel, doesn't even measure up.

I'll allow you to be the judge…

Majestic indeed!

Whoever your groomer is, please fire them immediately!

I should also mention, I've "mastered" the art of riding camels, giving commands in Mongolian (since they're not trained in English). Now, i just have to figure out how I'm going to bring one back to the states. Any suggestions?

As you can imagine, there are a TON of camels here in the Gobi desert where I live (more camels  than people!). So it would be a crime if we didn't celebrate how awesome they are. Govi-Altai province host an annual "Thousand Camel Festival" which is held every year in November in rotating soums (villages) in the countryside. Now a thousand camels seemed like a bit of an exaggeration, since it was closer to 400. Nevertheless, there were still a lot of camels.

This years festival was held 3 hours north west of Altai city in Tugrug soum. Myself along with a group of fellow PCVs, JCS volunteers, and Mongolian friends departed for the festival around 6am, and spent the entire day riding camels, watching the camel race, and concert.

If you're ever in Govi-Altai, Mongolia, camel festival is a must see!

As always I've included some pictures from my trip. I hope you enjoy them!

Opening Parade

Монгол улс

Governors opening speech

Performances

Tea Break

How cute are they in their camel costumes?!?!

I had to take a picture with them

A couple in traditional Mongolian garb 

морин хуур or "horse fiddle"

Camel race!

The crew :)