As you read about Mongolia on our web pages, you’ll notice our deep fondness
for it. This active tour, lovingly crafted
by our ranking Mongolia enthusiast Michael
Steigerwald, gives us an unassumingly cushy
experience of the country, with stays in
some of the country’s best hotels and ger
camps, taking in three of its highest lights:
the Gobi Desert, magnificent
Lake Khovsgol,
and the Naadam festival.
We begin in the surprisingly cosmopolitan capital, Ulaanbaatar, visiting its resurgent Buddhist temples and proud museums (which stack up well against Lhasa’s). Then we fly to the heart of the Gobi. (“The heart of the Gobi” is the kind of phrase that got a lot of us itching to hit the road. You too?)
From our beautifully arranged ger camp, smack in the middle of the great desert’s ethereal landscapes, we’ll amble about looking for dinosaur bones (in the footsteps of the great Roy Chapman Andrews, who in the 1930s was the first finder of fossil dinosaur eggs in the famed Flaming Cliffs, which we’ll be sure to give a good amble). We’ll ride two-humped Bactrian camels, visit the wonderful Yol Valley in the Altai Mountains’ Gurvan Saikhan region, and take in Khongoriin Els (the “singing sand dunes”). After exploring the Gobi, we fly to Lake Khovsgol, set in a wilderness of clear lakes, lush meadows, and forested mountains. We’ll enjoy the serene environment around the shore, exploring by horseback and jeep, and perhaps meet some of the area’s Tsaatan people, nomadic reindeer herders who resolutely practice shamanism. We end with the very essence of Mongolia, the softly rolling, forest-draped hills of Gorkhi Terelj National Park, before flying back home.
We begin in the surprisingly cosmopolitan capital, Ulaanbaatar, visiting its resurgent Buddhist temples and proud museums (which stack up well against Lhasa’s). Then we fly to the heart of the Gobi. (“The heart of the Gobi” is the kind of phrase that got a lot of us itching to hit the road. You too?)
From our beautifully arranged ger camp, smack in the middle of the great desert’s ethereal landscapes, we’ll amble about looking for dinosaur bones (in the footsteps of the great Roy Chapman Andrews, who in the 1930s was the first finder of fossil dinosaur eggs in the famed Flaming Cliffs, which we’ll be sure to give a good amble). We’ll ride two-humped Bactrian camels, visit the wonderful Yol Valley in the Altai Mountains’ Gurvan Saikhan region, and take in Khongoriin Els (the “singing sand dunes”). After exploring the Gobi, we fly to Lake Khovsgol, set in a wilderness of clear lakes, lush meadows, and forested mountains. We’ll enjoy the serene environment around the shore, exploring by horseback and jeep, and perhaps meet some of the area’s Tsaatan people, nomadic reindeer herders who resolutely practice shamanism. We end with the very essence of Mongolia, the softly rolling, forest-draped hills of Gorkhi Terelj National Park, before flying back home.
Days 1 & 2: USA to Seoul • Day 3: fly to Ulaanbaatar
• Day 4: Ulaanbaatar • Day 5: fly to south Gobi, Bayanzag’s
Flaming Cliffs and dinosaur bones • Day 6: drive
to Khongoriin Els • Day 7: visit nomad family,
ride camels • Day 8: excursion to Yol Valley
• Day 9: fly to Ulaanbaatar • Day 10: fly to Lake Khovsgol
• Days 11 & 12: exploring Khovsgol • Day 13: fly to
Ulaanbaatar • Day 14: Gorkhi Terelj National
Park • Day 15: fly to Seoul • Day 16: return to USA.
The Mongolia Explorer
Trip Details
2008 Departures:
16 Days
Activity Type:
Touring
Trip Price:
2008: From $4595
2009: From $5095
- July 31 - August 15
- July 2 - July 17
- July 27 - August 11
16 DaysActivity Type:
Touring
Trip Price:
2008: From $4595
2009: From $5095
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