A Taste of Mongolia

On arrival in the capital of Mongolia, you’ll be met and assisted with the transfer to your centrally located hotel. The rest of the day will be free to relax.

This will be your day to acquire a good background of the cultural, religious, and natural history of Mongolia. Your tour of Ulaan Baatar includes a visit to Gandantegchinlen Monastery, the largest and most significant monastery in Mongolia, and one of Ulaan Baatar’s most interesting sights. Built in the mid 19th century, it is the only monastery where Buddhist services continued during the communist years, and the temples are thronged during religious services. Also tour the Megjid Janraisig Temple, the most important part of the monastery. This temple, also known as Avalokiteshvara Temple, was built in 1911-1912 to celebrate the end of Manchu domination in Mongolia and it is said to have cured the great and revered Bogd Gegeen Khan of blindness. Visit the newly-renovated Museum of National History to learn about Mongolia’s history from the pre-Mongol Empire to 20th-century history.

You’ll have some free time this afternoon to do what you like. Consider exploring around Sükhbaatar Square (previously known as Chinggis Square) where you will find a large seated bronze statue of Genghis Khan and an equestrian statue of Damdin Sükhbaatar, one of the leaders of Mongolia’s 1921 revolution.

In the morning, you will fly to the Gobi Desert (approx. 1.5 hr), one of the most famous and exotic areas in the world. The Gobi occupies about one-third of Mongolia and consists of sand dunes and dry mountain ranges. As one of the harshest environments on earth with extreme temperature and seasonal changes, the Gobi is surprisingly full of wildlife such as white and blacktail gazelles, wild *** or “hulan” in Mongolian, wild camel or “havtgai”, antelopes, ibex, and argali sheep, the biggest wild sheep on the planet. The majority of Mongolia’s population of Bactrian camels live in this area, and you can take a camel ride if you like. Upon arrival, transfer to the base camp at the Gobi. From the airport, you’ll make the drive to Bayan Zag, also known as the Flaming Cliffs, to explore the Gobi “Cemetery of Dinosaurs” and the trail of Roy Chapman Andrews. You will also stop at the Petrified Forest, where you will find the remains of mammals, in particular, the skeleton of a hornless rhinoceros, the largest known mammal in the world. Accommodations will be in a “ger” a traditional dwelling of the Mongolian nomads. This round tent-like structure is held up by a wooden frame and covered by wool felt making it very easy to collapse and assemble again and easily transported. The gers are basic, but clean and comfortable. Each ger contains two to four beds and a wood-burning stove, which is lit for cold nights. Toilet and shower facilities are generally in a separate modern building with men’s on one side and women’s on the other.

After breakfast, drive about four hours to Khongorinn Els Sand Dunes, the largest sand dunes in Mongolia. These dunes lie in the Gobi Gurvan Saikhan National Park. The drive takes you through incredible desert scenery with flat, stony plains; outcrops of vegetation; hills of interesting rock formations; and herds of wild antelope racing across the plains. The roads are flat and fairly even, so the drive will take only around four hours. The dunes are also known as “Singing Sand Dunes” due to the shifting sand blown by the wind, causing a sound that sounds like someone singing. Visit a camel breeding family, with the option of riding a camel through the dunes. You also visit a beautiful oasis near the dunes for excellent photo opportunities.

In the morning, you’ll drive to the Yol Valley National Park for a morning trek with opportunities to photograph the stunning landscape, “Gobi Glacier”, and intriguing wildlife. Yol (Lammergeyer) Valley is the narrow canyon of river that flows through Zuun Saikhan Mountain (alt. 9,236’). Its gorge has sheer rock walls, and, during the rainy season, rain falls at the summit of the mountain and flows down into the sheer canyon to form waterfalls. A small museum marks the entrance to the protected zone and provides information on the petrified trees and flora and fauna of the Gobi. You will have the opportunity to do some horseback or camel riding or if you like, trek to the gorge.

Today you catch a flight back to Ulaan Baatar and drive to Terelj National Park where you see Turtle Rock and visit the Temple of Meditation. There is horse and camel-back riding available in the park. Many nomads live right in the park where there is plenty of lush fields for their livestock to graze.

After a leisurely breakfast, head out on the drive to Hustai National Park (approx. 62 miles), the site of a unique re-introduction of Przewalski’s Horse (Equus Przewalskii), called “takhi” by the locals. It became extinct in the wild in 1969 and since 1992, has been successfully re-introduced in Hustai from zoos around the world. This has been an international effort monitored by the Foundation for the Przewalskii Horse, based in the Netherlands and MACNE (Mongolian Association for Conservation of Nature and the Environment.) The park extends through the Khentii Mountains and includes the western edge of the Mongolian steppe. It contains large patches of birch and aspen forests and visible remains of Neolithic graves. Other wildlife found here include red deer, the wolf, and Mongolian gazelle. Overnight at a Ger Camp.

After breakfast at the camp, transfer to Karakorum (approx. 80 miles). Situated on the banks of River Orkhon, the site of the imperial capital, Karakorum was chosen by Genghis Khan in 1220. The city, capital of the largest land empire the world has ever known, served as a supply point for the Mongol armies and was a cosmopolitan and multi-cultural place in its time. Today almost nothing remains of the once-great city, but the sense of its grandeur and importance can still be felt by the visitor. Karakorum was located on trade routes and was surrounded by walls with four gates, each with its own market. The nearby Erdene Zuu Monastery was the first Buddhist monastery built in Mongolia, constructed using stones and bricks from the ruins of the ancient city in 1586. During the communist purges of the 1930s, many of the temples in the monastery complex were destroyed, but the remaining temples and stupas are some of the best examples of Mongolian Buddhist architecture. Erdene Zuu is now both a museum and a functioning monastery. Also visit Shanh Hiid, the local active Buddhist temple, which, along with the Erdene Zuu, is the only monastery in the region to have survived the 1937 purge. Overnight in a Ger at the Karakorum base camp.

On your drive back to Ulaan Baatar, visit the Bogdo Khaan Winter Palace Museum. The Bogdo Khaan Winter Palace is the home of the last Mongolian King, Javzun Damba Khutagt VII. The museum contains a number of Buddhist artworks and the private collection of Bogdo Khaan, composed of gifts from rulers and kings from all over the world. The artworks displayed here were made by the top Mongolian, Tibetan, and Chinese master- sculptors of the 18th and 19th centuries and represent the gods of the Buddhist pantheon. If you did not have time on your earlier trip through Ulaan Baatar, visit the Museum of National History.

Transfer to the airport for your onward flight back to the U.S., or perhaps add on an extension to Seoul, South Korea.