• Category: Classic journey

• 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 – Shine Ider – Khuvsgul lake – Murun town – Uran Mountain – Amarbayasgalant – Ulaanbaatar

• Activities: Visit to nomads, sightseeing, trekking

• Duration: 18nights/19 days

• Covering distance: 3400kms

• Number of participants: Min-2, max-18

• Season: June –September

• Date of departures (ex. Ulaanbaatar):

2010: CM01 26Jun; CM02 17 Jul; CM03 14 Aug; CM04 11 Sep

2011: CM01 25 Jun; CM02 16 Jul; CM03 13 Aug; CM04 10 Sep

Day 1 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. LD

Day 2 Travel to Tsagaan Suvarga

Continue travel to Tsagaan Suvarga about 220kms 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 3 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 wildlife. Visit Gobi museum and trekking through the valley. Stay overnight in Ger camp. BLD

Day 4 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 5 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. BLD

Day 6 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 7 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 8 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. BLD

Day 9 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 10 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 11 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 12 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 13 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. BLD

Day 14 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 15 Visit to Tsaatan family & horseriding
Today we will spend half-day for horseriding around the lake, where we explore rare medical herbs and wildflowers. Afternoon we will visit a Tsaatan-Reindeer family and see their unique lifestyle and culture. Stay overnight in Ger camp. BLD

Day 16 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 17 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. BLD

Day 18 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. BLD

Day 19 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

Included: All activities described in the itinerary, stay in Ger camp (18 nights) in countryside, English speaking guide service, entrance fees to Protected Areas and sightseeing costs, all transfers 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,  hotel stay in Ulaanbaatar, mineral (bottled) water and alcoholic drinks, tips and gratuities, laundry and items of a personal nature.

Note:
• We are happy to arrange your hotel and transfers in Ulaanbaatar, private car transportation to our destinations at discounted rate.
• International and domestic flight and train tickets would be arranged due to the clients' requests and wishes with our pleasures.
• City sightseeing tours are offered as optional.
• Private departures are available on request.