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Overview

Small Group Travel in Mongolia

Glaciers stretching out into deserts, impressive dinosaur cemeteries, vast Mongolian plains, and the imposing sand dunes of the Khongoryn Els are just a few of the incredible sites you’ll discover on this small group tour of Mongolia. Of course, this incredible journey will also take you to the heart of the Great Gobi Desert, one of the world’s least explored and most extraordinary natural wonders.

This original small group tour of Mongolia is worlds apart from other package tours, giving you the unique opportunity to meet nomad families and experience their ancestral lifestyles and traditions, for a completely unforgettable trip. Discover the surprising natural and historical diversity of the Mongolian steppe, Orkhon Valley, and Karakorum, once the capital of Chinggis Khaan’s empire. This journey to the ends of the earth allows travelers to truly experience the immensity, rich colors, and dramatic forms of one of the world’s most beautiful destinations.

Contact Uniktour’s Mongolia expert for more information on this small group tour!

Itinerary

Day 1| International flight

Day 2| Travel to Khustai National Park
Pick up at your hotel and travel to Khustai National Park, 110kms to the south west of Ulaanbaatar, the area of 50.620ha reserve protects wild Mongolian horses famed as Takhi (Przewalski's Horse). Visit the park to see wild horses. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (L,D)

Day 3| Move to Khognokhaan Mountain & walking
Continue travel to Khognokhaan Natural Reserve, the unique combination where mountains, forest and Gobi-type landscapes are all in one location. Time for relax. Walking around the sand dunes is possible. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 4| Visit Erdenezuu & Horse riding
Drive to Kharakhorum for 90kms. Visit the largest and first Mongolian Buddhist temple complex of Erdene Zuu monastery. Visit other interesting sites around Kharakhorum. Then we will visit a local cooperative to attend a workshop for making small felt items by hand. Optional horse riding is available in the evening. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 5| Visit nomad family
Travel for 3 hours to the direction of Bat-Ulziit, is a central village of local area. Visit to nomad families. Enjoy tasting traditional dairy products, seeing a part of daily works and talk with them as being friends. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 6| Travel to Ongi temple
Today our trip will head to old temple ruin of Ongi. We will drive for 140kms to Arvaikheer town, center of Uvurkhangai province and more 130kms drive through open steppe as feeling Gobi Desert-scarce vegetations, dry and hot air, horizon that stretched so far. Evening we will walk to the ruin of old temple. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 7| Travel to Bayanzag & walking
Travel to Bayanzag for 140kms, where you will see saksaul forest, red flaming cliffs which formed from the erosion of the sand and rock over many thousands of years. Late afternoon we will walk to flaming cliffs. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 8| Travel to Khongor sand dune
Drive to Khongor sand dunes for 180kms. Afternoon we will walk through the Golden sand dunes. Known as Singing sand dunes, the Khongoriin Els dunes are up to 300ms high, 15kms wide, and 180kms long. The view is incredible from top of the dunes. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 9| Visit nomad family & camel riding
Day to experience nomadic life and culture in the Gobi! When we visit a nomad family you will have a chance to see nomads' daily works, particularly the processing of dairy products; and milking camel cows. Optional camel riding is available. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 10| Travel to Yol valley & trekking
Morning we will drive to Yol valley (Lammergeier's Gorge) about 160kms. This picturesque place is nestled between the beautiful peaks of the Gurvan Saikhan Mountain and shelters rich of wildlife. Visit Gobi museum and trek for 2hours through the valley. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 11| Travel to Tsagaan Suvarga
Continue travel to Tsagaan Suvarga about 220kms for 5-6 hours. 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 12| Travel to Baga Gazriin Chuluu
Travel to Baga Gazriin Chuluu for 5-6 hours about 240kms, is a picturesque mountain at an elevation of 1,751 meters in the Granite Belt of Mongolia. Stay overnight in Ger camp. (B,L,D)

Day 13| Travel to Ulaanbaatar
Travel back to Ulaanbaatar. Arrive in Ulaanbaatar and transfer to your hotel. End of the service. (B)

Budget

**Rates published on this website are for information purposes only and are not legally binding (since departure dates are not given). Prices on this website are known to fluctuate frequently in relation to changes in currencies and hotel pricing. In order to obtain a definite quote, please click here.

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.