Mongolia tourism | Traditional wrestling | In the grip of the Gobi: "Mongolian men are born to wrestle. Genetically, they are predisposed to bulkiness. Historically, they are descended from the fearsome warrior hordes of Genghis Khan and his grandson, Kublai. Culturally, they still prize physical strength as a masculine virtue, along with exceptional horsemanship.
My own people, the Irish, are also said to like a fight and a good ride, but I've always been more the bookish type.
I made sure to read up on the country before taking a nine-day jeep tour of the Gobi Desert with my girlfriend. I know that wrestling is both an ancient folk art and a modern national sport. But how does this information help me when a huge Mongol horseman challenges me to a tussle? Answer: it does not. The horseman's name is Ganbaa, and he is the patriarch of an extended nomad family in the central desert."
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