Contrasts of Mongolia

A trip offers many of the highlights of Mongolia. You will enjoy the legendary Gobi desert, first and biggest Mongolian Buddhist monastery Erdenezuu, extinct volcano Khorgo and crystal clear lake Khuvsgul in once travel…

Length: 20nights / 21days
Tour starting: 22th of June
Price: start from 3850$ per person

HIGHLIGHT

• Category: Discovery tours Mongolia

• Places to visit: Ulaanbaatar – Baga Gazriin Chuluu – Tsagaan Suvarga – Yol valley – Khongor sand dune – Bayanzag – Ongi temple ruin – Orkhon valley – Kharakhorum – Taikhar rock – Terkhiin Tsagaan lake – Khorgo volcano – Jargalant – Khuvsgul lake – Murun town – Moilt Ecolodge – Amarbayasgalant – Ulaanbaatar

• Activities: Visit to nomads, sightseeing, trekking

• Duration: 20nights / 21days

• Covering distance: 3400kms

• Number of participants: Min-3, max-12

• Season: June –September

A trip offers many of the highlights of Mongolia. You will enjoy the legendary Gobi desert, first and biggest Mongolian Buddhist monastery Erdenezuu, extinct volcano Khorgo and crystal clear lake Khuvsgul in once travel. Visiting archeological sites and meeting remote nomads are part of activities. Then you will be experienced with the real meaning of “the Land of Contrasts”.

ITINERARY

Day 1 Welcoming day
Arrive in Ulaanbaatar the capital city of Mongolia. Transfer to your hotel. Evening enjoy traditional art performance and Welcome dinner. Stay overnight in the hotel.*** D

Day 2 Travel to Baga Gazriin Chuluu
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. BLD

Day 3 Travel to Tsagaan SuvargaContinue 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. BLD

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. BLD

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. BLD

Day 6 Visit to nomad family & camel riding
Today we will visit a nomad family and have a chance to see nomadic life in the Gobi. You can taste traditional dairy products as made of camel cows’ milk. Optional camel riding is available. Move back to Ger camp. Stay overnight in Ger camp. BLD

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. BLD

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. BLD

Day 9 Drive from desert to steppeDrive 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. BLD

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. BLD

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. BLD

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. BLD

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. BLD

Day 14 Travel to Jargalant
Travel to Shine Jargalant soum of Khuvsgul province for 90 kms. Today we will be exploring beautiful flowers covered the valley, where we stay overnight in Ger camp. BLD

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. BLD

Day 16 Walking around the lake
Today we will spend enjoy walking around the lake, where we explore rare medical herbs and wildflowers. Also you can climb up a surrounding mountain to get a panoramic view over the lake. Stay overnight in Ger camp. BLD

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. BLD

Day 18 Travel to Moilt EcolodgeEarly morning travel to Moilt Ecolodge 250kms. In the evening you will have a special dinner of real Mongolian BBQ- Khorkhog. Exploring around the area to see petroglyphs. Stay overnight in Ger camp. BLD

Day 19 Travel to Amarbayasgalant monastery
Travel to Amarbayasgalant monastery for 260kms, is one of the three largest Buddhist centers in Mongolia. On the way we will see Uran Mountain, an extinct volcano with a crater of 600m wide and 50m deep and explore surrounding natural beauty. Continue travel to the monastery via Bulgan town and Erdenet city. Arrival at Amarbayasgalant. Visit and explore. Stay overnight in Ger camp. BLD

Day 20 Travel to Ulaanbaatar
Travel to Ulaanbaatar city for 340kms drive mostly by paved road. Arrive in Ulaanbaatar and transfer to your hotel. Shopping. Farewell dinner. Stay overnight in hotel. BLD

Day 21 Departure
After breakfast transfer to airport for departure. B

PRICE & DATE

• Tour starting (start in Ulaanbaatar):

2015:
CM01 22 June
CM02 13 Jul
CM03 10 Aug
CM04 07 Sep

Price from:
USD 3850 per person 

Included: All activities described in the itinerary, twin/double basis hotel accommodation*** (2 nights) in Ulaanbaatar and stay in Ger camp (18 nights) in countryside, English speaking guide service, entrance fees to Protected Areas and sightseeing costs, all transfers by minibus in the city and by 4WD Russian minivan in the countryside. Meals of breakfast, lunch /picnic/ and dinner as mentioned per day itinerary.

Excluded: International transportation to and from Mongolia, travel insurance, mineral (bottled) water and alcoholic drinks, tips and gratuities, laundry and items of a personal nature.

TOUR INFO

An advantage of this trip you can travel through different zones and enjoy vast open spaces with natural contrasts within several days. During the trip, approximately it takes 4-7 hours driving from one to next destination. Each 1-1.5 hours, we have short stop frequently for photographs, toilets, stretch and meet with local nomads. In the countryside, we use 4WD vehicles, specially, Russian minivans and Japanese jeeps. Normally, 2-3 people are in one jeep with luggage. The minivan has capacity of 7 people with luggage. All vehicles used in our tours are insured and carefully prepared before departures. Our drivers are also good mechanics, have many years of experience for driving through unmarked, unpaved bumpy roads in countryside.

Overnight we stay tourist camp. It is very enjoyable for the guests to stay in tourist camps when they are in countryside. Most of the tourist camps supply the Mongolian traditional dwelling “Ger” as guest’s accommodation. Ger is a very convenient dwelling as moveable, dome-shaped and constructed of wooden framework and felt cover. Tourist Ger is heated by a wood stove and furnished with traditionally painted wood-framed beds (with full sized mattresses 137x190cm) or hotel standard size beds with clean sheets, comforters, pillows and blankets. Normally, three or two beds are in one Ger. If client want to stay alone in a Ger there will be an additional charge. The camp provides restaurant/bar, western-style toilet, washing facilities and showers. The numbers of low-impact eco Ger camps are increased and many business people started in practicing for environmentally friendly concepts in last year’s. We prefer and cooperate with Ger camps that follow this core responsibility and able to provide best services for our clients.

When you stay in Ger camps, the camp provides meals of mostly western cuisine and also we can enjoy Mongolian traditional cuisine. Sometimes there are not many choices for meals in tourist Ger camps due to their remote location. Mostly we have picnic lunch from ger camps. It is also available to have and taste traditional dairy products such as yogurt /Mongolian name is tarag/, dried milk curds /aaruul/, milk tea /suutei tsai/, fermented mare’s milk wine /airag/, sour cream /tsotsgii/ and cheese /byaslag/ when you visit to nomad herder families.

Generally, in Mongolia water quality is good. But you are advised to buy mineral water. Bottles of Mineral water are available from shops, food markets and kiosks in capital and many of the provinces centers and tourist Ger camps in countryside. Mineral or bottled water usually exclude in our offers since we try to produce as less garbage as possible. But other hand we provide well plenty of drinks like tea and coffee during our tours.