The far west of Mongolia is a remote and unique geographical area with a population of nomadic people equally as interesting and diverse as the land they inhabit. The landscape includes high glacial mountain peaks, large lake basins, steppe grassland and desert sand dunes. One of the main minority groups in this area is the Kazakh minority who are as well largest in Mongolia, inhabiting the province of Bayan Olgii since the mid-1800s. Still maintaining their traditional customs and traditions, they live in large felt gers and hunt with huge, Golden eagles in the winter months to supply themselves with fur of the prey.

Day 1 Arrival in Ulaanbaatar – sightseeing and welcome dinner
You will be met at the airport and transferred to your 3-star hotel. After lunch at the hotel, there will be sightseeing in Ulaanbaatar, including the National History Museum and the Bogd Khan Palace, a series of beautiful traditional buildings where the last religious king of Mongolia resided. The Palace is now a museum displaying fascinating artifacts and costumes associated with the king, as well as his collection of European furniture and stuffed animals. There will be a welcome dinner in a local restaurant, before heading back to the hotel for the night. Dinner.

Day 2 Morning flight to Ulgii – visit Kazakh families
After an early breakfast at the hotel we will drive to the airport for the morning flight to Olgii. This is the center of Bayan-Ulgii province, and the only Muslim province in Mongolia. The flight takes 4 hours, including the stopover for fuel - your guide will accompany you on the flight. On arrival, you will be met by our local staff and vehicles, and driven to a nomadic settlement of Kazakh families. Their gers are slightly larger than Mongolian gers, and are decorated with brightly colored rugs. Their traditional dress is also slightly different to the Mongols as the men tend to wear large, black dels and small, bright hats. We will set up camp close to them. B, L, D.

Note: For August departures we will drive 80km directly to Achit Lake and camp on its shore.

Day 3 Visit Kazakh eagle hunting family – Achit & Uureg lakes, Uvs province – 105km
In the morning we will visit a Kazakh eagle hunting family. The eagles are kept near the Kazakh gers in the summer and then taken out to catch small animals in November and December, when the first snow covers the ground. The eagles are trained from a young age or caught when they are older having already developed the hunting instinct. At the age of 15 they are released back into the wild. We will look at the birds outside the gers and watch the Kazakh men with them. After lunch at the camp we will drive into Uvs province. The road will take us along Achit Lake and on to Uureg Lake. We will camp by the lake. B, L, D.

Note: For June departures there are no eagle hunting families available in the area.

Day 4 Altai Mountains – 125km
Today we will drive into the Altai Mountain range and camp in the valley of Turgen Mountain. This is one of the highest peaks of the Altai Mountains and has snow and a glacier all year round. The vehicles cannot drive any further up the valley, so we will drive to the southern foothill of Turgen Mountain and set up camp there. Towards evening our horsemen will come to the camp with horses. B, L, D.

Day 5-6 2 days horse riding - Kharkhiraa River
Two full days of horse riding down the mountain valley towards Tarialan soum along Kharkhiraa River. Each day we will ride 20-25km, our support vehicles will follow us and serve meals on the way. The scenery is full of grazing herds of livestock. We will arrive here around the time when those families move back to their seasonal settlement, and will be able to see how nomadic people move their gers using camels. Our final destination is the gorge of Kharkhiraa River. B, L, D.

Day 7 Gobi desert – 120km drive
Today we leave the peaks and horses behind and drive into the Gobi desert. Our way will lead us to Khyargas Lake where you can swim and sunbathes, just like on the seashore. We will camp near Khar Termes (Snake Spa). B, L, D.

Day 8 Gobi – Bayan lake
Today we drive to Bayan lake situated amidst the Mongol Els sand dunes. Here the flora and fauna are typical of deserts: vast open spaces; sand dunes; and bush plants, with camels grazing. We will reach Bayan lake and camp on its shore. Here we meet our camel men and camels. B, L, D.

Day 9 Camel ride across sand dunes – Zavkhanmandal soum
Today we will ride camels across the sand dunes towards the south until we see Zavkhanmandal sum. Those who don't wish to ride camels can stay in the vehicles and drive around the dunes, meeting the riding party on the other side of the dunes. We will have dinner and camp. B, L, D.

Day 10 Camel ride – drive to Uliastai – 160km
This morning we will ride camels for 2 more hours in the south eastern direction. After lunch we will drive to the south east to Uliastai, the center of Zavkhan province. B, L, D.

Day 11 Flight from Uliastai to Ulaanbaatar - dinner
We will drive into the town of Uliastai and catch a noon flight to Ulaanbaatar. On arrival you will be taken to your 3-star hotel for dinner and rest.  B, L, D.

Day 12 Sightseeing in Ulaanbaatar
A full day of sightseeing in the city including Gandan Monastery, the Fine Arts Museum, and the Natural History Museum. Lunch at the hotel. There will be time for art and cashmere shopping before the evening program of a folklore show, followed by dinner at a local restaurant. Overnight at the hotel.  B, L, D.

Day 13 Departure
After breakfast at the hotel you will be taken to the airport for you international departure. B.

NEW Visa Rules - If you are planning to stay in Mongolia for more than 30 days you must register (and de-register) with the Foreign Citizens Registration Office – the cost of this is negligible, but you may need to allow extra time for the two visits to the registration office.

If we have 6 - 8 riders GBP1300 - GBP1400 / USD2595
If we have 9 or more riders GBP1150 - GBP1250 / USD2312

Single supplement: GBP110 / USD200

Please note: The ‘single supplement’ refers to single room accommodation in hotels only. It does not refer to single accommodation in gers or tents. We endeavour to place single clients in their own ger or tent whenever possible.

The base currency is the US Dollar and payments in any other currency may need to be adjusted for exchange rate.

What is Included