The best of Mongolia : 10 days/9 nights

Ulaanbaatar / Nomads / Gobi / Kharkhorin / Ulaanbaatar

Day 1 Drive from Ulaanbaatar in 150-170 kms to a place around Tuul river. Visit the nomadic family. Witness nomadic life, taste Mongolian food. Engage in everyday activities like milking goats, mares, hearding sheep and, if the host family is moving, you will also be engaged in constructing Mongolian ger . Overnight in nomadic ger or tent, which ever you prefer.

Day 2 Spend another day with nomads. Ride horses. In the afternoon drive towards Baga gazryn chuluu. Spend a night in tent

Day 3 Drive to a place around Zorgol hairkhan mountains. Afterwards visit Baga gazryn chuluu in another 130-140 kms from the family camp. Visit Baga gazryn chuluu, it has very unusually shaped stone formation right in the middle of sandy grass lands. Visit what remains from a small monastery Delgeryn choir. In the afternoon we will drive towards Mandalgobi, the center of Dund gobi province, which is located in some 80 kms. Tent accommodation.

Day 4 Drive towards Tsagaan suvarga. This is also understood to be an ancient ocean bed, with unusual rock formations. It will be a long ride of almost 180 kms kms. Over night in Tsogt Ovoo. Tent accommodation.

Day 5 In the morning we will set towards Eagle valley or Yolyn am in Mongolian language. After an extensive ride for another 140 kms we will reach it. On the Eastern side of the Gurvan Saikhan mountains there is a place called Eagle Valley . It is located in Gurvan saikhan mountains. The mountains are located in the central part of Onmogobi province and goes from West to Southeastern direction. The highest point of the Eastern part is Mount Tahilgat (2846m), of the middle part - Erdenetsogt (2824m), and Western part - Bogd (2511m). It is surrounded by rock formations as high as 2600m above the see level. During the winter the small spring in the valley freezes, but during the summer due to the lack of sun locked by surrounding rocks the spring barely flows. The local legend says that in ancient times an old noble decided to marry a beautiful young woman. However, she was in love with a young man and in order to part them the old noble sent the young man to Eagle valley to hunt down young eaglets. When young man went down to the valley, the old noble cut the robes using which the young man went down and left the young man die. Then the old noble brought the young woman to his house. But before the wedding ceremony the young woman managed to run away and threw herself from the rocks surrounding the Eagle valley. Since then the place is called Eagle valley and rocks that surround the valley Okhiny hutul, meaning the young girls mount. Spend an night in tourist camp ger.

Day 6 In the morning we will reach Moltsog els, sand dunes. This is a good photo ops. Then drive towards Bayanzag, or Flaming cliffs as called by tourist companies. The Gobi has one of the world's most acclaimed excavations of dinosaur fossils. Dinosaurs became extinct more than 65 mln years ago and of the 12 different types 8 existed on the territory of current Mongolia . This is the place that was visited by Roy Chapman Andrews and where he found the dino fossils. In the evening we reach Moltsog els, sand dunes. Spend a night in tent.

Day 7 After visiting the ruins of the monastery and surroundings, drive towards Kharkhorin. This is going to be a long ride of almost 350 kms to reach Kharkhorin. So we will spend a night on the way in some distance from Khakrhorin after passing Arvaikheer, the province seat. Tent accommodation.

Day 8 In the morning drive towards Kharkhorin reach it before noon . After lunch visit the sites here. Situated in between the river of Orkhon and in the valley of Khangai mountains, Kharkhorin was the capital of one of the most powerful and extended nomadic Empires - the Empire of Chinggis Khaan. The construction was started by Chinggis Khaan himself and in 1220, during the reign of his third son Egedei, it was named the capital city. Major constructions were finished by 1236. The city was surrounded by rectangular walls approximately 4x4 kms. Four gates were located on each side and on the eastern gates trade was conducted on grains, vegetables, on western gates - sheep and goats, on southern gates - carts, bulls, handcrafts and, finally, horses market was on the northern gate. Closer to the northern end was the castle of Egedei Khaan , named the Khaan of Ten Thousand Prosperity. Today only the basement walls of the castle are remaining. According to old legends four turtles were created to protect the city from floods. One of them is still intact near the gates. Many foreign guests visited the city and left their writings about the city. One of them writes that in the center of the city a golden fountain was erected that during the festivals and other occasions was discharging milk, vine, vodka, honey and airag. A woman's figure playing on the flute was a the summit of the fountain. A French designer created the fountain. The city has existed for a relatively short time and in the mid-13th century Khubilai Khaan moved the capital to Kaiping (currently know as Beijing ). In one hundred year after that the city was burned by Chinese troops and in 16th century it was completely ruined during in-fighting between Mongolian nobles. The remains of the city were found in the 1940s. Visit Erdene dzuu monastery is one of the oldest monasteries on the territory of Mongolia . It was created in 1586 in the location just opposite Kharkhorin by the most influential noble of the time Avtaikhaan. The construction began in 17th century and continued until the early 19th century. When erecting the monastery the stones from the remains of Kharkhorin were used. Most of the work was done under the supervision of the Mongolian architect Manzshir. It is believed that not a single nail was used in the construction of the monastery. The territory of the monastery was surrounded by 400x400 meter walls connecting 108 surbagan (the stone constructions erected on the occasions of important events or the burials of nobles). 10 thousand lams inhabited the monastery at the its peak and more than 60 praying houses were in inside. The praying houses that remain now contain Mongolian, Chinese, Arabic and Tibetan writings dating back to 13th and 14th century. There are various monasteries remaining throughout the territory of the Monastery. Most notable among them are Gurvan dzuu (Three Dzuu) - central, western and eastern. They contains most remarkable religious artifacts. The monastery was badly damaged in 17th and 18th century during the in-fighting between Mongolian nobles and struggle against Manchu aggressors. It was also damaged very seriously in the 1930 during anti-religious purges. The monastery was restored several times and the latest restoration took place in the 1990s.

Day 9 Visit Hegnekhaan and its small monastery. Visit Khustain nuruu park see the wild horses of Prsewalski.

Day 10 Drive back to UB.