TRIP OVERVIEW:

Tour length: 10 days
Group size: 4-15 people
Tour prices:

TOUR ITINERARY:

Day 1 Ulaanbaatar
Arrive in Ulaanbaatar and transfer to hotel. City tour including a visit to the National History Museum, where you will see artifacts from Mongolia and Central Asia from the Stone Age to the present, and the excursion to the Zaisan Hill War Memorial to get your bearings with a panoramic view of the whole city. Evening folk dance and music performance. Dinner and overnight at the hotel.

Day 2 UB-Middle Gobi (260 km)
After an early breakfast leave UB for our camp in the Middle Gobi. On the way visit Baga Gazriin Chuluu Lake and the ruins of the 10th century Sum Khukh Burd temple on an island in the middle of the lake. Overnight stay in ger camp.

Day 3 Middle Gobi-South Gobi (340 km)
Breakfast at the camp. Continue to drive towards the South Gobi. On the way visit the Sangiin Dalai temple in Erdenedalai, one of the few monasteries and temples that survived the communist purges of the 1930s. Arrive at our camp in the Gobi in the late afternoon. Visit the stunning Yoliin Am Valley (Lammergeyer Valley) National Park for hiking and opportunities to photograph the gorge, the Gobi Glacier and the diverse local wildlife. Overnight stay in ger camp.

Day 4 South Gobi/ Khongoriin Els (200 km)
Drive to Khongoriin Els Sand Dunes, also known as the Singing Sands for the noise the sands make in high winds. Spend the day exploring the dunes and hiking in the area. Overnight stay in ger camp Khongoriin Els.

Day 5 Khongoriin Els-Ongiin Kid (275 km)
Start driving towards Karakorum. On the way visit the famous Flaming Cliffs (Bayan Zag), the site of numerous fossil discoveries by paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews and others. Stop for the night near Ongiin Kid Monastery. Overnight stay in ger camp.

Day 6 Ongiin Kid-Karakorum (250 km)
Continue driving to Karakorum, with a packed lunch on the way. Arrive at the ancient city of Karakorum in the late afternoon. Overnight stay in ger camp.

Day 7 Karakorum / Erdene Zuu /Hushuu Tsaidam/ Bayangobi (200 kms)
Visit Erdene-Zuu, once one of the largest monasteries in Mongolia and almost totally destroyed in the 1930s. Tour of the monastery grounds and several chapels with excellent examples of Buddhist iconography dating from the 16th century. Visit to the symbolic ruins of Karakorum, the 13th century imperial capital of the Mongol Empire. After lunch drive to Hushuu Tsaidam 50 kilometers to the north of Karakorum in the Orkhon valley. Visit to 3 m high inscribed monument of Kultegin enroute, which is one of the remainder of Turkic khaganate. It was raised in AD 732 and is inscribed in runic and Chinese script. Overnight stay in ger camp in Bayangobi area.

Day 8 Bayangobi / Hustain Nuruu / Ulaanbaatar (300 km)
Drive back to UB with an excursion to Hustain Nuruu national park, where the last true wild horses in the world – Przewalski horses are being raised in semi-captive park. Dinner. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 9 Ulaanbaatar
Full day city tour in Ulaanbaatar with visits to the Natural history museum and Zanabazar fine arts museum and shopping at Gobi cashmere factory outlet and bustling Narantuul market. Overnight in hotel.

Day 10 Ulaanbaatar
Transfer to airport for departure.