TOUR OVERVIEW
Dead goat polo, belt wrestling and eagle hunting – the Nomad Games are exactly what they sound like. Beginning in 2014 with only ten sports, this is the fifth time the event will have been held - the first three times being on the shores of Lake Issyk Kol in Kyrgyzstan, followed by 2022 seeing Turkey have a turn, before it's returning to its Central Asian roots in Kazakhstan's capital.
This time there will be over 40 sports, with 3,000 athletes from 100 countries taking part. There are all the countries you'd expect to be involved like Kurgyzstan and Mongolia, but you might be surprised to see teams from the USA, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland, competing in horseback archery, tug of war, falconry, dead goat polo, ordo, and taigan hunting, just to name a few.
Not only can you see some of the most obscure sports you'll ever have come across, but there'll also be a traditional nomadic village built nearby, where a large yurt village will be set up, based on the times of Genghis Khan, with hundreds of yurts and wooden constructions and loads of people in national dress. Various customs and traditions will be displayed – from the birth of a child and his first steps, to a spectacular equestrian show.
We will incorporate the Opening Ceremony into our tour - probably the most exciting individual individual event of the whole thing, along with a variety of different events, and of course some sight-seeing of Astana itself.
View the full itinerary
If you like the look of this tour but the dates don't work for you, or you'd like to do part of the tour, please
get in touch
and let us know. All our tours are able to be split into smaller sections, we're always scheduling new tours and your dates might work for one of them, or we can always organise an independent tour.
This tour can be done as it is, but it is also the start of a
5 Stans Tour
, for anyone wishing to see some more of Central Asia while you're here.
There is also a
Polygon Extension
directly preceding this tour, for anyone who wants to see another side of Kazakhstan as well.