Upon arrival at the airport we will be welcomed by your guide. He will bring us to your comfortable, centrally located hotel.
In the afternoon we will visit the Bogd Khan's Winter Palace, a series of beautiful traditional buildings in which the eighth Living Buddha and the last king lived. It is now a museum displaying fascinating artefacts and costumes associated with the last king as well as his collection of stuffed animals.
(Hotel, L, D)
After breakfast in our hotel restaurant, we will leave for the Mongolian countryside. Our first stop will be 250 km (6 hours driving) southward in the beautiful region of Bag Gazrin Chuluu. It is a huge granite formation in the middle of the Mongolian sandy plane. At the foot of the formation we will visit the remains of a small monastery named Delgeriin Chior.
End of the afternoon we will drive and hike around in the area. We will visit the picturesque ruins of a small monastery that are hidden in a nice little protected valley.
After a breakfast, we will start driving towards the Gobi desert. Today we will see the landscape changing dramatically from the fertile grassland to the inhospitably rocky land. The number of families and cattle we will see along the road will gradually reduce. Camels will slowly replace cows.
The next place we will stop is Tsagaan Suvarag.
Today we will take a ride through the beautiful gorges of the imposing Altai Mountain Chain. We will pass through the Yoliin Am and the Dungenee Am both located in the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park. Ancient rivers carved those green valleys. We may catch a glimpse of the wild Argali sheep, the Ibex, the desert gazelles or the Golden Eagles. We will also pay a visit to the little museum of the park.
Today we will head 200 km (6 hours) westwards to the Khongoriin Els. These are Mongolia's largest sand dunes. Those impressive dunes of 800 meters high in some places, stretch from East to West over more than 100 km. Behind the sand dunes we will see the impressive black rocky mass of the Sevrey Mountain.
We will have a full day to explore the beauties of the sand dunes. The most energetic of us will climb to the top of the sand dunes and enjoy one of the most amazing views of Mongolia. We will also have the opportunity to ride a camel
Via the small desert town of Bulgan we will drive north-eastwards to Bayanzag. Bayanzag also known as the "Flaming Cliffs" is the worldwide renowned place where palaeontologist Roy Chapman Andrews found dinosaur bones and eggs. The surrounding landscape is a beautiful combination of rocks, red sand and scrubs. Here we will spend some time exploring the cliffs.
From here we will head for Saigan Ovoo Sum. This little town is located along a small desert river (Ongiin Gol) at the entrance of a beautiful mountainous region. A little further southward along the river, we will find Hoshuu Monastery and spend the night here.
After the long and intensive trip of the day before, we will enjoy the peace and beauty of the Delger Khangai Mountains. We will explore the ruins of Hoshuu Monastery on one side of the river and the ruins of Ongiin Monastery on the other side of the river. We will hike around in this massive series of rocky hills cut by the river.
We will spend a second night here before facing a second driving intensive day back to the North.
Our destination today will be Khujirt village that is well known for its hot water spring. To reach this place, we will have to head nearly 300 km (8 hours) more northwards. We will pass through Arvaikheer, capital city of Ovorkhangai province and some other small countryside towns.
Today we will make a 70 km trip (3 hours) to the Orkhon waterfalls, which is located in the Orkhon valley. The area surrounding the waterfall is a green, with forest covered mountainous area. The valley is known as the cradle of the Mongolian civilization. Many ancient Mongolian as well as Turkish monuments lie within its borders. On the way we will see some ancient graves.
In the afternoon we will hike around the waterfalls. We will hike down to the bottom of the gorges.
In the evening we will reach Tsenkher hot spring resort. Managed by Japanese this resort has a large open-air pool at its customer's disposal. The hot water of the pool flows continuously in from the hot water spring. At the spring, the temperature of the water is over 80 ° C. A complex pipelines system regulates the water temperature.
Some will spend hours sitting in the pool talking to their friends while staring at the stars or scanning the nightly nature around them.
Today we will head for Tsetserleg, capital city of Arkhangai province (180 km, 7 hours). It is a lovely little town surrounded by forested hills. Here we will visit the Buyandelgeruulekh Monastery, the town main functioning monastery and the little Museum of Arkhangai located in Zayaiin Gegeenii Monastery. From the museum we will walk up to a small abandoned monastery and enjoy the beautiful view we have from there over Tsetserleg and the surrounding hills.
We will spend the night in a hotel or in a ger camp not far from Tsetserleg.
The trip's far west point will be reached today after a 5 hours drive (200 km) to Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake. It is one of the most beautiful lakes of the country. The lake is surrounded by extinct and craterous volcanoes, and was formed by lava flows from a volcanic eruption many millennia ago. As a result of the volcano eruptions the landscape is covered with black volcanic rocks.
Today we will relax around the lake. We will make an excursion to the top of Khorgo Uul Volcano and we will pass the gorges that lead from Tariat to the volcano.
We will stay a second night next to the lake.
We will leave the White Lake behind us and head eastwards through the fertile open valleys of central Mongolia, to reach in the evening the Tsenkher hot spring resort. Managed by Japanese this resort has a large open-air pool at its customer's disposal. The hot water of the pool flows continuously in from the hot water spring. At the spring, the temperature of the water is over 80 ° C. A complex pipelines system regulates the water temperature.
Some will spend hours sitting in the pool talking to their friends while staring at the stars or scanning the nightly nature around them.
We will overnight in the gers (Mongolian traditional tents) camp of the resort.
In the morning we will head for Kharkhorin (also called Karakorum, 350 km, 12 hours driving), site of the 13th century capital of the Mongolian Empire created by Chinggis Khan. Very little is left from this legendary city. In the 16th century, Mongolia's biggest Monastery was build from the ruins of Kharkhorin. Now Erdene Zuu Monastery are the remains of what once was a huge monastery of 100 temples and about 1.000 lamas residencing there.
We will explore the grounds of Erdene Zuu Monastery surrounded by its massive 400 m X 400 m walls. We will be guided around the 3 remaining temples: Dalai Lama, Zuu of Buddha and Lavrin Temple. We will also see the Turtle Rock and the Phallic Rock.
End of the afternoon we will drive to Khogno Khan Mountains. Khogno Khan Mountains is an impressive massif in the open steppes. Not far from here runs the Tasarkhai Els, a 100 km long sand dune.
After breakfast we will hike in the region of Khogno Khan Mountains, walk up the mountain and enjoy the incredible view over the plains, the sand dune and grasslands. We will also visit the nice little Uvgun Monastery.
End of the morning we will drive back to Ulaanbaatar.
(Hotel, B, D)
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for departure
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