Oops. I missed it by a couple of days, but it was Mongolia's National Day on July 11th. What, pray tell, is the National Day celebrating? Modern Mongolia's gaining of independence from China in the year, 1921. That's what. They refer to it as the Naadam Festival and it is typically celebrated with the consumption of sheep testicles (boiled in a soup), generous portions of airag (fermented mare's milk) and wrestling tournaments. Very exciting stuff.
Of course, I'm taking this opportunity to import upon the reader some random facts that some of you out there might find interesting. Remember, the Mongols were certainly feared back in the day, not for their bad breath coming from such above-mentioned delicacies, but for their military campaigns that spread across the Asian continent and into the centre of Europe, leaving a trail of destruction and mayhem in their wake. What made them so formidable at the start of the 13th century?
1. They used not one, but three, horses per rider to cover impressive distances without over-tiring their mounts so that they were fresh to go into battle.
2. They erected changing stations before battle to slip on silk shirts. Silk shirts allowed those that were hit by arrows to more easily extract the arrowhead without excess damage to the wound.
3. They were expert horsemen who could fire arrows from their mounts and turn "on a dime" (if they had dimes, they could have turned on them, I assure you). Why? They invented the stirrup. Technology in military history proves its worth once again.
Interesting, hmmm?
So a toast of mare's milk to those cunning Mongols.
Extra random fact: The name "Genghis Khan" got corrupted from his actual name. In fact, it was Chinggis Khan. There is a popular beer in Mongolia called Chinggis. It's actually pretty good. Better than the mare's milk and testicle soup, anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment