Great to hear that you’re already in planning mode for WNG2018! As for finding a small group, you could contact one of the Kyrgyz travel agents in Bishkek as they might be organizing special trips for the games. I also know that G Adventures sometimes has special tours around events or festivals- you could inquire with them as well.

I’d suggest 3-5 days for the full WNG experience as this will give you some time at the stadiums watching kok boru and wresting, as well as an opportunity to explore the jailoo/Kirchin for the “nomadic universe” with all the yurts, cultural events, and eagle hunting/falconry.

Learning to read the Cyrillic alphabet and knowing a few words of Russian would be useful, but you should be fine at the World Nomad Games even without that. There are many volunteers working who speak English and they will go out of their way to help you with whatever you need. One volunteer even gave us her phone number in case we needed her help for anything during the games. Great to hear you’re already planning for WNG 2018!

Thanks, Leyla, for your kind words! It was fun to run into you at the World Nomad Games – what a great time it was!!

All the sporting events at the World Nomad Games are free, as is Nomad Universe up at Kyrchyn Gorge. However, the opening and closing ceremonies required paid tickets.

Marie, so great to read your comment and thank you for following our travels all these years since that talk in Scranton. An honor.

And yes, the World Nomad Games were a lovely reminder of how crazy, diverse, unexpected, fun and still full of “I couldn’t have planned this if I had tried” moments. We feel so fortunate to have been able to experience these games and meet all the people that we did there. What a week it was!