Mongolia is a difficult country to travel independently, due to lack of tourist infrastructure and very limited public transport. The country is big, the distances are long and descent accommodation is not so cheap. Considering this I decided to book a tour that would allow me to explore places where independently I would not be able to.
The country is divided in five regions, the South predominantly covered by the Gobi desert, Eastern Mongolia where the capital is located, North & Central Mongolia covered by few national parks and the Western Mongolia, the most untouched region.
Tours with good price generally cost around 60 USD per day including transport, food and accommodation. To discover the entire country, 15 day tours would cost about 900 USD. Due to budget constrains I decided to focus in West and East, coming overland from Kazakhstan. I booked a 7 day shared tour in Western Mongolia for 50 USD a day all included with Dingil Tours. (Dingil.forever@gmail.com / 89113447) The full price for the tour was around 1600 USD but I shared with other 5 travelers, reducing substantially the cost. After I took a local bus to the capital Ulaanbaatar where I flew out of Mongolia.
And here was the itinerary of 7 days mixed tour:
Day 1: Driving to Ranger Station of Altai Tavan Bogd National Park (Set 31)
After big breakfast, we drove to Altai Tavan Bogd National Park Ranger Station by 4×4 Russian van. On the way we visited Shiveetkhairkhan mountain which is a shaman worship sacred mountain where we saw petroglyphs, and wild goats. Overnight in Ger.
Day 2: Altai Tavan Bogd hike (Oct 1)
After hiking for several kilometers we saw Tavan Bogd where 5 peaks are named Malchin peak, Khuiten peak, Nairamdal peak, Ulgii peak and Burged peak. The highest one is Khuiten peak (4374m). The Nairamdal peak is triple border point of Mongolia, China, and Russian Federation.
After seeing five peaks and glaciers we trek 15km back to Ranger Station of National Park. Overnight in Ger.
Day 3. Meet with eagle hunter (Oct 2)
On the third day we met with eagle hunter and his Golden Eagle. In the afternoon we headed to the Tuvan Family where we stayed overnight.
Day 4. Going to waterfall on horseback (Oct 3)
After breakfast early morning, we had horseback riding lessons by our horse guide. Mongolian horse is easy to control. After the lesson, we saddle up on horse then started our trek on horseback to the Ger.
From there we ride to Baga Turgen Waterfall, located in the Turgen Uul mountain range, the 36meter high Baga Turgenii Khurkhree waterfall is segmented in two-stage. The first part is 23meters and the second one is 13meters. The Turgen river originates from the glacial snowmelt. Overnight at Ger.
Day 5: Meet with Throat Singer (Oct 4)
After driving about 5 hours, Tuvan Throat Singer were waiting for us with Musical Instruments in Tsengel Village. We had one hour live concert at house of Throat singer. Overnight in Tsengel Village.
Day 6: Golden Eagle Festival (Oct 5)
After breakfast we prepared for heading to Eagle Hunting Hill to attend Golden Eagle Festival -2019.
In the festival we experience real Kazakh traditional games including (coil pick up un horseback, kissing women on horseback when horses are running, calling eagle on arm from 200m distance etc).
When the organizers announced it is lunch time, we had our lunch at the tent. Then again go to the spot of festival to experience with Kazakh traditions and interesting games. At night we had concert at Drama theatre in center of Ulgii. Overnight is Guesthouse.
Day 7: Departing to Ulaanbaatar (Oct 6)
While others headed again to Eagle Hunting Hill to see the last day of festival I took the bus to Ulaanbaatar. The highlight of the capital was the Gandantegchinlen Monastery featuring the biggest Buddha in Monoglia, 26.5 meter high. It currently has over 150 monks in residence.
