Gobi Desert tour and Naadam festival for 10 days 9 nights

We’ll drive to the Hustai National Park, located on the north side of the Tuul River, about a two-hour drive west of Ulaanbaatar. Although located in the central grasslands, Khustai means “with birch” because birch trees and aspen groves are plentiful in the area. It is a hilly terrain, with the Tuul River forming the southern boundary. The national park was originally set up in 1993 as a nature reserve for the first reintroduction of the Przewalski’s Horse (Equus przewalskii) into Mongolia. After lunch, We’ll to drive to Mount Khogno Khan Nature Reserve in the afternoon. On reaching the mountain after a couple of hours you will arrive at a nomadic family ger in front of this beautifully forested rocky mountain. The mountain is home to hundreds of birds, deer, and gazelle. You’ll be able to go hiking around the area or to the small sand dunes nearby called ” Elsen tasarkhai”. 

We’ll drive to Kharkhorin, an ancient capital of Mongolia. The Erdenezuu Monastery was the first Buddhist monastery in Mongolia. Its construction began in 1586, but the monastery was not totally finished until 300 years later. The building of the monastery was done with stones from the ancient capital Kharkhorin only. Around 60 temples used to be inside its walls, but the Stalinist purges destroyed many, and only 18 of them remained untouched. Nowadays, the monastery is reopened for Buddhist monks and also for visitors. 

We’ll drive to Gobi desert and Ongiin khiid, where you can see the ruins of a big monastery on the bank of the Ongiin River. This monastery had about 1000 lamas and it was destroyed during the Stalinist purges in the 1930s. The Ongiin khiid was one of the biggest temples in Gobi’s area of Mongolia.

We’ll drive to Bayan-Zag. Bayan-Zag means “rich in Saxaul Shrubs” and is more commonly known as the “Flaming Cliffs” of Bayan-Zag, famous for its discovery of dinosaur fossils. 

After breakfast, we’ll drive to the Khongoryn Els Sand Dunes (150kms). The Khongoryn Els is some of the largest and most spectacular sand dunes in Mongolia. We’ll see beautiful views, huge sand dunes and a cold water spring with a river that leads to two small ponds. 

We’ll climb and hike to the top of the biggest sand dunes. There is an oasis near Khongor creek at the northern edge of the sand dune. The dunes make a sound like a plane engine on a windy day so it’s named as “Singing Dunes”. Also, if you wish, you may walk alongside the creek for about 10 kms. We arrange a camel riding trip on the real sand dunes.

We’ll drive to Yoliin Am in the middle of the Gobi desert National Park which is a strictly protected area, covering 70sq.kms. The mountains here are the highest in the Gobi Desert and the rocky scenery is quite interesting, especially until mid July while the ice in a gorge remains. We’ll walk 3kms through a narrow valley, then 3 kms back to the car.

We’ll drive to the scarp of Tsagaan Suvarga which is located in Ulziit soum, Dundgovi province. It is interesting to see the sheer slope, facing east, which from the cliff is 30 meters high and 100 meters wide. Over thousands of years the wind has created this amazing structure.

After breakfast, We will go to Chinggis Khan big statue and Terelj National park. Terelj National park is one of the beautiful national parks. National park is located 70 kilometers north east of Ulaanbaatar, in the Khentii mountain range and borders the Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area. Terelj is famous for its beautiful natural scenery, interesting rock formations. We will do horseback riding and visit a small meditation temple.