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Overview

Adventure Travel in Mongolia

This adventure in Mongolia will take you to the highlights of this Central Asian country. You’ll discover legendary Gobi Desert, visit Erdene Zuu, the first and largest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, stand in awe of now-extinct Khorgo Volcano, and marvel at the beauty and clarity of Lake Khovsgol. Also on the program: archeological sites and rewarding encounters with nomads. At the end of this adventure, you’ll truly understand why this is called the Land of Contrasts!

Whether it’s in the wide expanses of the steppe or walking with the nomadic peoples of the plains, Mongolia never fails to seduce and surprise travelers on this adventure-filled journey of discovery.

Contact Uniktour’s Mongolia expert today for more information on this adventure to the land of contrasts!

Itinerary

Day 1| International flight

Day 2| Travel to Baga Gazriin Chuluu
Pick up at your hotel and travel to Baga Gazriin Chuluu for 5-6hours about 240kms, is a picturesque mountain at an elevation of 1,751 meters in the Granite Belt of Mongolia. On the way we will see Zorgol Khairkhan Mountain, giant rocky granite mountain as sacred by local nomads. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (L,D)

Day 3| Travel to Tsagaan Suvarga
Continue travel to Tsagaan Suvarga about 240kms for 5-6hours. This stunning area is 30 meters high white limestone formation and created over thousands of years by natural wind. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 4| Travel to Yol valley & trekking
Morning we will drive to Yol valley (Lammergeier's Gorge) about 220kms. This picturesque place is nestled between the beautiful peaks of the Gurvan Saikhan Mountain and shelters rich wildlife. Visit Gobi museum and trekking through the valley. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 5| Travel to Khongor Sand Dune
Travel to Khongor sand dunes for 180kms. Known as Singing sand dunes, the Khongor dunes are up to 300ms high, 15kms wide, and 180kms long. Afternoon we will walk through the Golden sand dunes. The view is incredible from top of the dunes. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 6| Visit to nomad family & camel riding
Today we will visit a nomad family and have a chance to see nomads' daily works, particularly the processing of dairy products; and milking of camel cows as experiencing nomadic life and culture in the Gobi. Enjoy camel riding for an hour. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 7| Travel to Bayanzag
Continue travel to Bayanzag for 170kms. Here you will see saksaul forest in the Gobi desert and red flaming cliffs, which formed by the erosion of the sand and rock over many thousands of years. This is the place where dinosaurs were lived 70 million years ago, and is internationally famous for its dinosaur remains of complete skeletons, eggs and hatchlings of the Cretaceous Period. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 8| Travel to temple ruin of Ongi & trekking
Travel to Ongi temple ruin for 140km. Walking along the area where the ruins are situated. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 9| Drive from desert to steppe
Drive to Orkhon valley for 5-6hours about 240kms. Today we will leave Gobi already and be entered to mountain and steppe zone. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 10| Visit to nomads & travel to Kharakhorum
Today we will visit to nomads who are living in the Khangai, steppe and mountain area. You will be invited to their Gers and offered to taste traditional dairy products like aaruul-dried curds, Mongolian salty milk tea-Suutei tsai, and biscuit-Boortsog and so on. You can talk with nomad people and see and realize some differences among life in the Gobi and Khangai area. Travel for 100kms to Kharakhorum. Visit the largest and first Mongolian Buddhist temple complex of Erdene Zuu. Then we will visit a local cooperative to attend a workshop for making felt items by hand. Optional horse riding is available in the evening. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 11| Travel to Taikhar rock
Travel to Tsetserleg town, the center of Arkhangai province for 130kms. Visit Zaya Gegeenii Khuree, a large old Buddhist monastery, remarkably intact, preserved as a museum-but with an active community of monks. Then we continue our drive to Taikhar rock, is 25 meters high a mysterious steep-sided pinnacle of granite. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 12| Travel to Lake Terkhiin Tsagaan
Travel to Lake Terkhiin Tsagaan for 180kms, is an astonishingly beautiful lake, which was formed by dam of lava flows from volcanic eruption many millennia ago. On the way we will see river Chuluut, flows through a sheer basalt canyon which extends 100 kilometers from the mouth of the Teel river to the Atsat. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 13| Trekking to Khorgo
Today we will trek to Khorgo mountain, is dead volcano which lies east of the lake Terkhiin Tsagaan. The volcanic crater of the mountain is 200 meters wide and 100 meters deep. The northern slope is covered with Siberian larch forest. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)


Day 14| Travel to Shine Ider
Travel to Shine Ider soum of Khuvsgul province for 140kms. Today we will be exploring beautiful flowers covered the steppe. Reach a beautiful small lake Zuun, where we stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 15| Travel to Khuvsgul Lake
Travel to Murun town, the center of Khuvsgul province for 125kms. After lunch at local restaurant continue travel to the crystal clear lake Khuvsgul for 110kms. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 16| Enjoy walking day
Today we will spend enjoy walking around the lake, where we explore rare medical herbs and wildflowers. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 17| Travel to Murun town
Travel to Murun town and visit local market. Afternoon we will explore a famous site of deer stones as called Uushig. Continue drive to Ger camp. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 18| Travel to Uran Mountain
Early morning travel to Uran Mountain, natural reservation area for 290kms, where we can see an extinct volcano with a crater of 600m wide and 50m deep and explore surrounding natural beauty. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 19| Travel to Amarbayasgalant monastery
Travel to Amarbayasgalant monastery for 220kms, is one of the three largest Buddhist centers in Mongolia. Visit the monastery. In the evening you will have a special dinner of real Mongolian BBQ- Khorkhog. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 20| Travel to Ulaanbaatar
Travel to Ulaanbaatar city for 340kms drive mostly by paved road. Arrive in Ulaanbaatar and transfer to your hotel. End of the service. (B)

Budget

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Other fees

Accommodation in Mongolia
Every hotel in this program is clean, friendly, and includes a comfortable bar and restaurant. In Ulaanbaatar, you’ll be staying in a 4-Star hotel. All rooms have Western toilets, shower, IDD, cable TV with international channels, and a minibar. Many additional services are available, including a business center, laundry, and room service. As single rooms are in short supply, we strongly recommend booking in advance for the summer season.

Traditional accommodation: Yurts and Gers
The Ger is the traditional home of Mongolia’s nomads, and has been since the reign of Chinggis Khaan. These days, due to foreign influence, customs in gers aren’t as strict as they once were. This being said, it is still useful to familiarize yourself with the local code of conduct and to know what behavior is proper when living in a ger. Mongols are particularly generous and welcome all tourists coming into their country with open arms. Please keep in mind that you are in someone else’s home: it is therefore appropriate and courteous to respect their culture, lifestyle, and customs. Visitors are allowed to enter a ger without knocking at the door. They sit on the left side, while the host sits at the opposite end of the ger, facing the entrance. If the family offers you another place, you should accept it. After tea, dinner is served, often on a large dish placed in the middle of the ger from which everyone helps themselves. On special occasions, vodka or airag (fermented milk) are also served. If you want to move around inside the ger, go clockwise, and make sure you don’t walk directly across the ger. When you exit a ger, it is customary to give your host a small gift by way of thanks.

The ger is perfectly suited for this country’s harsh climate, offering protection from cold winter temperatures and strong winds blowing across the steppe. The word ‘Yurt’ is actually of Turkish origin and is a translation of ‘Ger’, the original Mongol name for these nomadic homes. A ger is made up of many layers of felt carefully placed on a wooden frame. It is erected directly on the ground and always oriented towards the south. Depending on its size, it takes about 1-2 hours to set up (the average yurt covers an area of roughly 18-20 square meters). Taking down a yurt and carrying it around is a relatively simple operation: all you need to do is put everything down on a cart, which will then be pulled by an animal. The ger’s interior symbolizes intimate space and is seen as a reflection of the cosmos. Nowadays, young Mongols prefer to live in the comfort of modern apartments in the city, spending their vacations in gers.

Beds in a ger are either traditionally decorated wooden frames (1.8 to 2 meters long and 1 to 1.2 meters wide) or standard hotel beds (1.8 to 2.1 meters long, 1 to 1.2 meters wide), and come with clean sheets, mattresses, pillows, and blankets. Hot water is always available. Most gers have enough room for 2-3 beds. If you stay in a ger on your own, there will be extra fees. The camp supplies restaurant and bar services, Western toilets, and showers.

Camping in Tents
During this adventure, you will also spend some time sleeping in tents. We will supply you with lightweight and spacious tents with enough room for two adults. Our team can help you set up your tent. A central tent will also be set up for groups of more than 6 travelers. Though each traveler will be given a mattress, we recommend that clients bring their own sleeping bag, for reasons of hygiene – this being said, note that we can also provide clean sleeping bags on demand, at no extra cost.

Staying with a Family
Staying with a local family is often the best way to discover Mongolia and learn all about its inhabitants, traditions, and customs. Some nomad families travel with a second ger, which they are happy to share with guests. You can opt to experience this rustic lifestyle for yourself by staying in a traditional home in the steppe. Your host family will provide you with traditional meals made from fresh local ingredients and will happily invite you into their ger to share some tea or airag. Immersing yourself in a local family’s lifestyle and participating in their daily routine is the best way to learn about traditional Mongolian life, allowing you to truly get a feel of what it means to be a nomad.

Overview

Though few travelers make it here, everyone has heard of Mongolia: horses galloping freely in the steppe, remote yurts, and the Great Gobi Desert: this is our universe, and we’re glad to have the opportunity to tell you all about it. Take a deep breath and let the freedom of the steppe fill your lungs. Traveling to Mongolia means choosing wide open spaces where the steppe stretches to the horizon and Mongol horsemen ride with the wind.

Of course, there’s more to Mongolia than the vast expanse of the steppe: kissing the sky, the Altai mountains make for an interesting visit, as do Dornod plain, the verdant landscape around Selenge, and of course, the arid world of the Gobi desert.

With a current population of about 2,750,000, Mongolia is one of Asia’s least populated countries. About 60% of the Mongolian population is urban, with more than half living in Ulaanbaatar. The population for this city is estimated at around 1,150000 people, half of which live in apartment building in the city enter.

Ulaan-Baatar’s population almost doubled in the last five years, due to mass rural exodus from provincial towns and the countryside, particularly following the two years of dzud. Most of these migrants now live in yurt communities set up around the capital.

Seventy percent of the population is less than 30 years old and life expectancy is about 65-70 years. Close to 36% of the population lives in extreme poverty, living on less than 0.68 USD per day. Public services are constantly deteriorating, particularly in the health and education sectors. Statistically, population density is 1.52 persons per square kilometer, making it the world’s lowest. Yet 38.3% percent of the population lives in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, where population density reaches 211.6 persons per square kilometer.

One third of the population is considered nomadic (or semi-nomadic), living in traditional felt tents called Ger, following the movements of their herds and resettling at least twice a year in search of greener pastures. In the winter, most of them migrate to the nearest city.

In terms of ethnicity, Mongolia is a rather homogenous country. The most notable ethnic minority are the Kazakhs who live in Western Mongolia and make up about 5% of the total population.

Though Mongolia is a free and democratic country, its economy was greatly scarred by the collapse of a once-dominant communist system. It is now largely dependent on a wide variety of semi-domesticated herds that outnumber humans by a ratio of 10:1. Thousands of sheep, horses, camels, goats, and yaks graze freely in this immense territory. The terrible winters of 2000 and 2001 had a horrible impact on the country, many nomad families losing all their cattle and forced to move to the city. Most people fled to the capital, whose population jumped from 850000 to over a million in the last two years.

Considering centuries of Russian and Manchurian rule, it’s almost a miracle that this country managed to stay independent and that their way of life and culture remained unchanged for so long. Renewing interest in their unique blend of Buddhism and animism, proud of their history and their glorious past, Mongols live in perfect harmony with their powerful neighbors. Mongolia is opening up to the world, despite its geographical isolation. Most Mongols hope their country continue widening its international presence, seeing this potential change as a chance to test the strength of their identity, and, perhaps, as an opportunity for the powerful winds of the Steppe to breathe a message of harmony and tolerance into the world.

Tourism

Language
The official language is Mongol. Mongolian language is a blend of various Ataic languages, with a grammar and syntax that closely resemble that of Turkic. There are two main dialects: Oriat in the West, and Khalkh dialects in the east. The latter is the dominant one, being the language of the Khalkh Mongols, who represent 79% of the total population. The rest of the population is divided into twenty or so ethnic groups of Mongolian and Turkic origin.


It should also be noted that more than 4 million Mongols live in Inner Mongolia (China), and another 500 000 Mongols live in Russia, mostly in small towns in Siberia and the Khalimags.

Traditional written Mongol reads vertically from left to right. In 1946, the Cyrillic alphabet was declared the official way of writing Mongol and imposed on the population, while traditional handwriting was forbidden.

Geography

In the heart of Central Asia, Mongolia is sandwiched between two large nations: Russia and China. In the north, the Russian border stretches for 3485 kilometers, while the southern border with China is even longer, at 4670 km. The great Altai Mountains rise in the West, while the north is covered in Siberian forests. The east presents a flat landscape: the Mongoliin Tal is a flat steppe that stretches for hundreds of kilometers. World-famous Gobi desert is in the country’s South.

Culture

Despite its seemingly endless deserts and desolate landscapes, practically all of Mongolia is inhabited: Mongols have been traveling all over this vast land for centuries and know every last isolated corner of the country. These warm and friendly people have come to love and cherish their homeland’s inhospitable and untamed nature, on which they depend for their survival.

Half of the two and a half million inhabitants freely roam the steppe, mountains, and deserts as nomads, living off their cattle and the few natural resources available in these lands, following ancient centuries old traditions. Though ‘urban’, the other half of the population still never turns down an opportunity to wander through the infinite steppe, whether it’s for pleasure, or by necessity. Mongols are nomads at heart, but, contrary to other traveling cultures, they way of life is naturally recognized by their leaders and countrymen, and there is no lack of space and fresh air here – yet.

Climate

Mongolian climate is continental: very dry and cold in the winter, warm in the summer. Summer and fall are the best seasons to visit. In the summer, the further south you travel, the warmer it gets, while temperatures remain relatively cooler in the North and Northwest. Peak climbing and trekking season in the high mountains of Altai and Khangai runs from June to August: come September and October, we recommend heading south to the Gobi desert.

Despite being threatened by natural hazards and the excesses of modernity, the country’s fauna and flora are extraordinarily diversified and exuberant, especially in the peak travel seasons.