RIDE ITINERARY
Experience the contrasts of Mongolia on horseback
in one trip, riding in the dunes of the Gobi Desert
and the steppes of Central Mongolia .
In addition to a unique diversity of landscapes, dive into
the nomadic lifestyle, combining all the traditional
means of transport of Mongolian nomads:
- horseback riding with pack camels in
the dunes of the Bayan Gobi desert,
- horseback riding with pack yaks in the
steppes of the Orkhon Valley,
- a journey through the Gobi desert with a
camel ride in the Khongor Els sand dunes...
Day 1 : Ulan Bator
Arrival at Ulan Bator airport where you are welcomed by your English speaking translator.
Lunch downtown and visit of Gandantegchinlin Monastery.
Built in 1809, the Gandantegchinlin Monastery - formerly known as the Gandan Monastery is a Tibetan-style Buddhist monastery located in Ulan Bator. Its name of Tibetan origin can be
translated as "Great site full of Joy". Several hundred monks currently reside there.
It contains a statue of Megjid-Janraiseg (Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara - called Chenrezig in
Tibetan) by 26.5 meters high.
The original statue, made of copper, was erected in 1911 and was dismantled in 1937 by Soviet
troops (the remains of the statue were subsequently used to make bullets during the siege of
Leningrad). Following the fall of communist regimes, it was rebuilt in 1996 with donations of gold
from Nepal and Japan.
Adorned with gold and nearly 2,286 precious stones, the statue weighs over 20 tons and is
covered with nearly 100 kg of silk clothing.
Visit of the National Museum of Mongolian History.
The National Museum of Mongolian History tells the story of the country, from prehistoric times
to today. In this museum there is also an ethnographic section with costumes and jewels from
various ethnic groups of countries: Kazakhstan, Buriats, Üzemchins...
Dinner downtown and overnight at the hotel (2*).
Day 2: Ulan Bator - Bayan Gobi Desert
Breakfast and departure with our 4x4 vehicle to the Bayan Gobi Desert, the "rich Gobi."
Lunch on the way.
We meet the nomadic herder who will be our equestrian guide for the next three days of horseback
riding in the wilderness of Bayan Gobi , between dunes and steppes.
We set up our first camp in the wilderness, in a sparsely populated area on the southern edge of the
Bayan Gobi Desert.
Each rider sets up his/her own tent (single tent provided at no additional charge on request before
departure). A shower tent and a large tent for the preparation of meals make our camp comfortable.
Dinner and overnight in tents
Days 3, 4 and 5: Horseback Riding in the Bayan Gobi Desert (with pack camels)
We leave for 3 days of horseback riding in the wilderness of Bayan Gobi .
In this environment of dunes, mountains and steppes, our pack camels will be very useful to carry
luggage, tents and supplies.
Be aware that this horseback tour in the Bayan Gobi Desert is the only opportunity of riding a horse in a
typical landscape of the Gobi Desert, as there are no horses deep in the southern Gobi, only camels.
This area is truly the heart of Mongolia.
It is first of all the geographical center of Mongolia.
It is also located at the junction of three major mongolian ecosystems: two of the main mountain ranges
in the country - the Khangai and Khentii - and a northern edge of the Gobi Desert.
Mount Batkhan overlooks this area and gives rise to several rivers which mix their waters with the sand
dunes of Elsentasarkhai - the "sand break" - forming a changing and spectacular scenery.
Every night after riding between dunes, rivers and steppes, we set up the camp, carried by pack camels.
The afternoon of day 6 we reach the Khogno Khan cliffs, where we visit Ovgon Khiid monastery, set in a
dramatic scenery.
Dinner and overnight in a ger camp nestled at the foot of the cliffs (2-4 riders per yurt in individual beds,
showers and toilets in a separate building).
Day 6: Bayan Gobi Desert - Horse riding in the Orkhon Valley
After breakfast, a 2 hours drive takes us to the Orkhon Valley.
We meet the nomadic herders and horses who will be our companions during the next 8 days.
The change in environment is striking: after the desert and sandy expanses of Bayan Gobi, we are now
in a mountainous area, a maze of green valleys with forested slopes.
We start our first day on horseback in the mountains bordering northern Orkhon Valley.
Classified in 2004 as World Heritage by UNESCO as the cradle of nomadic Mongolia, the
"cultural landscape of the Orkhon Valley", about 121 967 hectares, covers an extensive area of
pastureland that stretches approximately 80km from long and 15 km wide on both banks of the
Orkhon river.
The site also includes Karakorum.
Grasslands are still used today by Mongolian nomadic herders, and many families keep
perpetuating the traditional way of life. In the valleys and around the rivers are nestled yurts that
house the nomadic families. In the wild, herds of horses, yaks, sheep and goats are moving in
these protected areas.
The Orkhon Falls are actually the Ulaan Tsutgalan River Falls. The river falls into a spectacular
canyon formed after an earthquake and a volcanic eruption more than 20 000 years ago, forming
a cascade of 20 meters high and 10 meters wide.
The site is enchanted by the contrast between the whiteness of the foam and the black rock that
forms the canyon walls. Going down along the walls to the foot of the fall, you will discover trees
and flowers (wild peonies) that take advantage of the abundance of water to grow.
Picnic lunch brought by our vehicules, nothing to carry on the horses, so we can enjoy many canters!
After the ride, we set up camp in the wilderness for dinner and overnight.
Day 7: Horseback riding tour in the Orkhon Valley (Tovkhon Monastery)
After breakfast, we ride another day in the Khangai Mountains.
Picnic lunch brought by our vehicules, nothing to carry on the horses, so we can enjoy many canters!
In the afternoon, we climb to Tovkhon Monastery.
Tovkhon monastery towers the Orkhon Valley, at an altitude of 2400 m.
It includes several small temples, the oldest of which was built in 1654 for Zanabazar, who was
the first spiritual leader of Buddhists in the line of Gelugpas in Mongolia.
Zanabazar brought a new start to the region on issues related to spirituality, including theology,
language, art, medicine and astronomy. He composed sacred music, mastered the art of bronze
and painting, and invented Soyombo writing in 1686.
You have to hike to access the monastery, about one hour climbing through a beautiful mountain
forest. You can visit the temples and caves which are related to beliefs, like that of a spiritual
rebirth after a stint in a very narrow pipe carved in the rock.
The view from the top extends over tens of kilometers beyond the mountain ranges surrounding
the Orkhon Valley in long undulating waves, sometimes covered with dark forests, sometimes
lined with lush green meadows.
After the ride, we set up camp in the wilderness for dinner and overnight.
Day 8: Horse riding tour in the Orkhon Valley (Orkhon Falls)
After breakfast, we ride down the mountains to the Orkhon Valley. The views are astonishing ont the large
valley with wooden mountains in the background.
Picnic lunch brought by our vehicules, nothing to carry on the horses, so we can enjoy many canters!
We ride to the famous Orkhon Falls.
After the ride, we set up camp in the wilderness for dinner and overnight.
Day 9: Horse riding tour in the Orkhon Valley
After breakfast, we continue our ride in the upstream part of the Valley where the landscape becomes
wilder and wilder.
This volcanic region has black ancient lava flows which contrast with the white running water of the
Orkhon River.
Picnic lunch brought by our vehicules, nothing to carry on the horses, so we can enjoy many canters!
On horseback, we reach the forest with the impressive Naiman Nuur mountains in front of us.
After the ride, we set up camp in the wilderness for dinner and overnight.
Day 10: Horseback adventure in Naiman Nuur Park (with pack yaks)
For the next 3 days, the ride will have a totally different pace: after the wide open spaces, we now ride in
very wil and remote landscapes: the Naiman Nuur Natural Park, which means "the 8 Lakes Park".
Pack horses or yaks carry the equipment and your personal belongings for these three days as this
beautiful and isolated area is not accessible to vehicles.
We pack the luggage and camping equipment on the yacks and start our steep ride to the mountains.
Picnic lunch enroute.
After the ride, we set up camp on a lake shore for dinner and overnight.
We will stay 2 nights at this camping site, to avoid having to ride with the pack yacks tomorrow, and
therefore enjoy a quicker horse riding pace.
Day 11: Horseback ride in Naiman Nuur Park
Today, we ride in beautiful forested mountains, discovering the wonderful scenic lakes of the Park.
Dinner and overnight at the same camping site.
Day 12: Horse riding tour in Naiman Nuur Park towards Orkhon Valley (with pack yaks)
Today, we leave the Naiman Nuur Park with our pack yaks, to go back to the Orkhon Valley.
We ride through steep mountains, and will appreciate our sure footed horses and the ability of our yak
drivers!
We set up camp close to the yak breeder's yurt.
Dinner and night under tents.
Day 13: Full day with a nomad family
We spend this last day in the Orkhon Valley with the family of the nomads who guided us during this ride.
They became our friends as we shared so intense equestrian - and human - emotions, and it is always a
wonderful experience to discover their wives and children, and the way they live in their yurts with their
herds.
The day is devoted to the discovery of the traditional lifestyle of the nomads of Mongolia.
Each yurt camp is home to a family whose daily lives are punctuated by the care of herds:
milking mares, sheep, goats and dris (female yaks), caring for sick or debilitated animals, moving
animals to new pastures...
Women also take care of children, they cook, prepare different milk products (butter, cheese,
fermented mare's milk, drinking milk ...) and maintain the interior of the yurt.
The men look after animals, maintenance of hardware and harness horses. They also cut wood
for cooking.
We can participate in these activities, and become acquainted with the various family members.
During the day, we can still spend a few hours in the saddle, helping them to round up the herds, or just
going for a ride to explore the region.
In the evening, our hosts will prepare a traditional specialty, the Khorkhog, the "Mongolian barbecue".
The Khorkhog is a traditional nomadic specialty of the Mongolian steppe. You will almost never
find it in a restaurant.
To prepare the Khorkhog, nomads cut mutton or goat into pieces, keeping the bones. Twenty
stones the size of a fist are heated in the fire.
When hot enough, they are placed in layers with the meat in a metal container, which is often a
milk can.
Other ingredients are added over the stones and meat, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, seasoning ...
Water is added in sufficient quantity for all of the ingredients to be cooked both by the steam
and the heat of stones. The container is closed and placed on the fire for an hour to an hour and
a half.
At the opening of the container, the Khorkhog is ready to eat.
The family takes out the meat and vegetables, and the stones which turned black, both because
of the fire and the fat that they have absorbed.
These stones are still warm and the guests keep them in their hands because Mongols consider
them as beneficial to health.
We usually eat the Khorkhog with fingers, with the help of a knife to cut the meat.
This night, we will sleep in a "guest-yurt" close to our nomad family's yurts.
The comfort is more simple than in the yurt camps as there are no showers, but you will
experience the real nomadic way of life...
Day 14: Orkhon Valley - Ongi Monastery
After the breakfast, we start our journey to the southern part of the Gobi desert. It will take 2 days until
we reach the heart of the Gobi. Picnic lunch en route.
We stop at the Ongi Monastery for the night.
Located in the province of Dundgovi (Central Gobi), the Ongi Monastery was one of the largest
ones in Mongolia. Founded in 1660, it consisted of two complex spread over the northern and
southern shores of the Ongi river .
In its heyday, it housed nearly 30 temples, four major Buddhist universities, and more than 1000
monks.
In the 30s, the Communist army destroyed the monastery, over 200 monks have been executed
and most of the survivors were imprisoned or had to join special forces of repression. Others,
who managed to escape, became nomadic herders or workers.
In 1990, after the democratization of Mongolia, three monks returned to the monastery where
they had received their religious education over 60 years ago.
A temple and a small museum have been rebuilt.
Visit of the monastery.
Dinner and overnight at the yurt camp (2 to 4 persons per yurt, with single beds, showers in a separate
building).
Day 15: Ongi Monastery - Bayanzag Flaming Cliffs (Southern Gobi Desert)
After breakfast, we drive to the south and the Bayanzag "Flaming Cliffs", one of the most famous sites of
the Southern Gobi Desert.
Picnic lunch en route.
Bayanzag "Flaming Cliffs" are located in the province of Ömnögobi ("South Gobi").
Their name means "rich in saxaul", an endangered Central Asian tree 2 to 9 m high, whose roots
are precious to protect soil from erosion.
Significant paleontological discoveries have been made there, especially by American
paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews in 1920: fossilized dinosaur eggs and specimens of
Velociraptor.
Their nickname of "Flaming Cliffs" is due to the orange-red rock the mountain is made of.
Short hike to the cliffs.
Dinner and overnight at the yurt camp (2 to 4 persons per yurt, with single beds, showers in a separate
building).
Day 16: Bayanzag Flaming Cliffs - Camel ride in Khongor Els singing dunes (Southern Gobi
Desert)
Breakfast and drive to the Khongor Els sand dunes.
Picnic lunch en route.
100 km long by 20 km wide, Khongor Els sand dunes are one of the most spectacular scenery
of the Gobi Desert. They can reach 200 meters high and the sounds they produce under the
influence of wind gave them the nickname of "singing dunes".
They are crossed by the Khongor river, which creates contrasting green oases in the middle of
the desert sand.
Camel ride in the "singing dunes". There are no horses in the southern Gobi Desert, that's why we have
to experience another kind of ride: camel ride!
Dinner and overnight at the Khongor Els gercamp (2 to 4 persons per yurt, with single beds, showers in
a separate building).
Day 17: Khongor Els singing dunes - Yoliin Am canyon (Southern Gobi Desert)
We continue our journey to the East.
We stop at the Yoliin Am canyon (40 km) for a hike through the gorge.
Yoliin Am , whose name means "Valley of the Vultures" is a deep and narrow canyon in the
Gurvan Saikhan Mountains, south of Mongolia.
It is located in the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park ("3 Beauties" in reference to three
mountain ranges that make it up), in the heart of the Zuun Saikhanii Nuruu range ("Beauty of
the East").
This region, like the rest of the Gobi Desert, receives little rainfall, but the canyon is famous for
its ice field which reaches several meters thick and several kilometers long at the end of winter.
In the past, the icefield remained throughout the year, but in recent years, it tends to disappear
during summer.
Nearby, the Dungenee Canyon is particularly spectacular, being very narrow, sometimes hardly
wider than a car.
Picnic lunch en route.
Dinner and overnight at Yolii Am gercamp (2 to 4 persons per yurt/ger, with single beds, showers in a
separate building).
Day 18: Gobi Desert - Dalanzadgad - Flight to Ulan Bator
After breakfast we drive to Dalanzadgad airport for our return flight to Ulan Bator.
Lunch according to flight schedule.
On arrival, transfer to our 2* hotel in the city center.
This hotel is perfectly located 200 m from Peace Avenue between Sukhbaatar Square and the State
Department Store, which gives you a large choice of restaurants and the opportunity of last minute
shopping at the department store which remains open late.
Dinner downtown and night at the hotel.
Day 19: Ulan Bator
Breakfast at the hotel.
Visit of the Choijin Lama Temple and Museum, whose traditional architecture offers a surprising
contrast with the Blue Skye glass tower.
Visit the Bogd Jhan Winter Palace. The Bogd Khan had several palaces but the other ones have
been destroyed by Russians.
Consisting of 6 traditionnal buildings, you will also see many objects that reflect the magnificence
of court life at that time.
Lunch downtown.
The rest of the afternoon is dedicated to shopping in stores downtown, where you will find traditional
clothing and objects of daily life.
In the late afternoon, you will attend a show with traditional dances, music and songs from Mongolia,
especially the amazing Khoomei.
The Khoomei is an overtone singing (throat singing) in which the singer produces two
distinctively audible pitches at the same time, including a low pedal note, or drone, derived from
the fundamental frequency of the vocal cord vibrations, and higher melodic notes that result
when the singer's mouth acts as a filter, selecting one note at a time from among the drone's
natural overtone series pitches.
The sound is reminiscent of the Jew's harp.
This type of song is recorded in Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2010.
Dinner downtown and overnight at hotel.
Day 20: Ulan Bator
Breakfast (depending on your flight schedule) and transfer to airport for your flight back home.
No lunch included as most flights depart in the morning.
Recommended riding experience
This horse riding tour in Mongolia is for experienced riders only.
You have to be able to control your horse in wide open spaces, at the walk, trot and canter.
Maximum weight: 95 kg.