Madagascar

Nosy Bé and the surrounding islands

Ankarana (grey Tsingys) :

Red Tsingys

Around Diego Suarez, from the Indian Ocean to the Mozambique Channel :

Naadam in Ulaanbaatar

The last moments spent in Mongolia will be dedicated to the Naadam, the country's traditional festival that is celebrated nationwide. The three manly games (archery, wrestling and horse racing) were considered to be the essential skills in ancient times.

The opening ceremony is a combination of quite a few surprises

The wrestling begins with 512 wrestlers meeting in a single-elimination tournament. They lose if they touch the ground with any part of the body except hands and feet. Competitors wear an open-chest vest called zodog, made open to ensure only mean take part in the wrestling, after a national champion was found to be a woman, according to the legend.

35000 wrestlers, 40000 horse racers and 1500 archers compete throughout the country.

Good bye everybody, take care !

Aduu min zuseeree saikhan Baina

Adduchin bi jargaj Baina...

Mongolia : On the road (again)

It's already time to head back to the capital, with Oyona cooking for us in “borrowed” restaurant rooms, and Choukaa and Gamba fixing the trucks.

We will have the opportunity to see horses race with a lot fewer people than in Ulaanbaatar. Just try and imagine that those kids are between 5 and 10 years old, and cover almost 30 km in 45 minutes with their horses.

Last monastery, last ride (on camel back this time, where is my Sheitan ???), last pictures before coming back to Ulaanbaatar...