I was at this exact event and had the most amazing time! If anyone is watching this wondering whether they should visit the world nomad games, please don’t let this influence your decision. It was an incredible exchange of culture, tradition, and sport that I feel lucky to have witnessed. I stayed for all four days of the event and every day I saw things/met people/had experiences that I’ll never forget. If you’re flexible and curious, it is totally worth it.
Hey Claire! Wow! Really wish we had had the same experience. We would love to give the WNG's another shot but definitely not in Turkey. Thanks for watching!
Thank you! I know it can come off as divisive but this was just our experience at the event and I think sometimes our expectations are often our biggest enemy when it comes to traveling.
So you go especially to Turkey for the world nomad games, then spend only one day there (out of four), and even spend part of that in the hotel room. Then you get frustrated that things run there as they do in Turkey, with delays, budget limitations, and free entrance, instead of how they do in the US.... Honestly, it doesn't seem like you really wanted to enjoy it. Or wanted to be in Turkey.
Hey Nitzan! Thanks for watching and commenting! We just wanted to show case our experience at the games. Obviously things run differently everywhere, and even if the video doesn't highlight it, it's actually one of my favorite parts of travel. That being said most of my frustration with the event really came around how hard it was to plan for it given they released dates so late and the schedule only a day before it actually started. Turkish airlines actually cancelled our flight which left 2 days later which would have allowed us to see most of the games so we ended up only getting that one day so our short time there wasn't part of the original plan. As for wanting to enjoy it, I wouldn't have spent a month of our trip waiting for anything, anywhere, unless it was something I was incredibly excited for and this was one such thing. Perhaps the build up of that month left me with impossible expectations. Delays, free entrance, budget limitations are all fine and it's amazing that it was open to the public. I just wish there had been a bit more clear communication about the timelines and the opening ceremony so we could guarantee our seats (which we had earlier in the day but left to get food). Should I expect the same level of organization everywhere? Definitely not. Does that mean I can't be frustrated with my experience? I don't think so. The random gates being set up blocking people from the opening ceremony was a bummer and it wasn't clearly communicated when and why it was happening. With only one day at the event it was the thing I was most excited for. Anyway the Turkish people are amazing and donee kebabs are my favorite food in the world so if you get a chance absolutely go to Turkey. We did have great experiences there which we highlight in our other videos. Take care and have a great rest of 2022 and a good start to 2023!
IMAGINE planning your worldwide trip and waiting 30 days in the country to experience your top-of-the-bucket-list event but INSTEAD of appreciating it's scale and the fact that it was a completely free event for spectators, INSTEAD of appreciating that it was a unique extravaganza of food, music and culture set up in the backdrop of beautiful iznik lake, INSTEAD of appreciating the wide participation of people of both gender across all age groups from different parts of turkey and central asia who mingled and learnt from each other, INSTEAD of appreciating the history, tradition and spiritual endurance behind different nomadic games... let's rant about how we were not allowed to get into the opening ceremony, how the games didn't start on time and how people kept on walking in front of us. If someone indeed had done one's research on previous rounds of nomadic games in Kyrgyzstan, getting into opening ceremonies was never a sure thing and games don't usually start on time. There is a reason the games are called nomadic! It was a fabulous event. Already planning Kazakhstan 2024 and it would be okay if I won't make it to the opening ceremony again!
Hey, thanks for your comment. Although the video was cut to highlight some of our frustrations with the event we absolutely did have some good experiences with the athletes, seeing/appreciating the cultural exchange, and admiring the beauty of Iznik. I would actually like to see them again, but probably in Kyrgyzstan next time. Traveling isn't the same for everyone and we all come away with different impressions from our experiences so even though it fell short of my (probably too high of expectations), I'm glad you had a good time. Also thanks for watching our video!
