Luxury trip Terelj National Park and Central Mongolia
(9 days)

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Bogd Khan Palace Gate
day 1
HR Khentii 7.1 o
day 2
Nomad Boy
day 3
Takhi Horses
day 4
Camel 600x400 146
day 5
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day 6
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day 7
ulaanbaatar hotel
day 8
Ulaanbaatar
day 9

Detailed description

one

Arrival in Ulaanbaatar

Upon arrival at the airport you will be welcomed by our team. We will bring you to your comfortable, centrally located hotel. Afternoon is time to relax after long flight and recover from jet lack. Your guide will be at your disposal the whole afternoon. You will enjoy afternoon tea & coffee with fellow passengers and with your guide while discussing details of upcoming adventures. In the evening we will watch beautiful cultural show enjoy the colourful & rhythmic Mongolian dance, throat singing and admire the contortionists. After the show all together will go to have a first taste of Mongolia.

(Shangri-La 5* hotel D)

Bogd Khan Palace Gate
two

Terelj National park

After a good breakfast in our hotel we will leave for Terelj National Park located about 80 km Northeast of Ulaanbaatar. It is a part of Gorkhi-Terelj National Park. The park is a deep valley surrounded by forested mountains with its granite rocks, pine trees, a river and streams a picturesque area perfect for scenic hiking & horse riding trails. They valley is covered by wild flowers, plants and peacefully grazing herds of yaks, horses, goats & sheep. On our way to Terelj we will be visiting the Genghis Khan Monument. The Genghis Khan Monument is a vast aluminium monument of Chengis Khaan on his horse. It’s possible to climb to the top of the monument from where you have a great view of the surrounding area. A little museum that gives a good overview of great Mongol empire history with its great Khans succession lines and their invasions. We will further visit 100 monks cave. This tiny little cave was once used by 100 monks as hiding place during communist persecution. You can see the cave wall blackened as a result of fire and smoke.

Turtle rock and Aryaval meditation monastery at the foot of mountain.  Scenic view over the park.

After visiting sightseeing places we will drive further into the park and arrive in our comfortable hotel located at the bank of Tuul River. We will end our day over dinner table on the terrace of our hotel while enjoying the magnificent view over green valley, river, nomad’s settlements and their animals. It is a rare glimpse to take in.  

(Terelj Hotel 5* hotel B, L, D)

HR Khentii 7.1 o
three

Terelj National park

Our day begins with a visit to nomadic horse breeding family. Your guide will help to forge contact with nomads and you will have better knowledge of their unique way of life. We will get involved in many variety of daily activities of herders pursue. Milk sheep, goat, cows and horses. Process the milk to make butter, cheese & yogurt. Savour delicious, fresh dairy products you help producing. Fresh yak cream & yogurt with wild blueberry jam produced locally are the best you have ever tasted anywhere in the world. Not to miss as well is fermented mare milk. A talented horseman will show his techniques to catch horse from freely roaming herd with Uurag – long wooden stick with ropes fixed at the end. Afternoon is free time. Take one of the hiking trails nearby of your hotel that leads to hills and enjoy the scenic view of over the park. It is a typical Siberian landscape. The mountain ranges is home to deer, wolves, moose, bears and countless species of birds. You will hear and see ever more ground squirrels, marmots and birds. Keep your eyes open!

(Terelj Hotel 5* hotel B, L, D)

 

Nomad Boy
four

Khustai National Park to Karakorum

After breakfast in our hotel we will head to Khustai National Park. Przewalski’s Horse (Equus ferus przewalskii, also known as the Takhi horses) is a rare and endangered subspecies of wild horse native to the steppes of central Asia. The Takhi became extinct in the middle of the 20th century. They then could only be found in the zoos. Special breeding programs increased their numbers. At one time extinct in the wild, it has been reintroduced to its native habitat in Mongolia at the Khustain Nuruu National Park, Takhiin Tal Nature Reserve and Khomiin Tal. Khustai or Khustain Nuruu National Park was declared reserve status (category III) for over 50,000 hectares of the Hustain Nuruu area in 1993 but after significant scientific field researches into the area it was upgraded to a national park in 1998. Hustai Nuruu National Park is located about 100 km southwest from Ulaanbaatar. It protects today Mongolian’s Takhi wild horses. Today there are around 350 Takhi horses in Khustai.

The park is home to 459 species of vascular plants, 85 species of lichens, 90 species of moss and 33 species of mushrooms. 44 species of mammals have been recorded, including Red deer, Mongolian gazelle, Roe deer, Wild boar, Wild sheep, Ibex, Mongolian marmots, Grey wolves, Lynx, Pallas’ cat, Red fox, Corsac fox and Eurasian badger. The 217 species of birds include Golden eagle, Lammergeier, Great bustard, Whooper swan, Black stork, Daurian partridge and Little owl. There are 16 species of fish, 2 species of amphibians, and 385 species of insects (including 21 species of ants, 55 species of butterflies, 10 species of bush crickets and 29 species of grasshoppers).

After lunch we will meet the staff of the park and be introduced to the project. We will explore the beauties of the Park by jeep, on foot or on horseback. Evening by dinner time we will reach Karakorum, the ancient capital of Genghis Khan.

(Ikh Khorum hotel 3* hotel B, L, D)

Takhi Horses
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five

Karakorum

Today a big cultural day ahead of us. Karakorum is the site of the 13th century capital of the Mongolian Empire created by Genghis Khan. The founding of Karakorum started on the ruins of Turug and Uigur cities in the Orkhon valley at the eastern end of the Khangai Mountains in 1220 by the Genghis Khan’s order. It was completed 15 years later during the Ugedei Khan’s reign. The town was a very cosmopolitan and religiously tolerant place.

The silver tree, part of Möngke Khan’s palace has become the symbol of Karakorum. The highest peak of its prosperity was from 1220 to 1260. The specific feature of this stage is that Karakorum existed as the great capital of the Euro-Asian Empire with Mongolia as its core and as the centre of politics, economy, culture, religion, intellect, and diplomacy and the prominent tie of international relations. Between 1260 and 1380 Karakorum lost the status of the Great Mongolian Empire and became the capital of Mongolia. When Kublai Khan claimed the throne of the Mongol Empire in 1260, as did his younger brother, Ariq Boke, he relocated his capital to today’s Beijing. Karakorum was reduced to the administrative centre of a provincial backwater of the Yuan Dynasty.

In 1368, the rule of Mongolian Yuan Dynasty collapsed and the centre of Mongolian government was shifted to its homeland after 110 years since Kublai Khan moved the Empire capital to China in 1260. It gave Karakorum a chance to prosper again. In 1388, Ming troops under General Xu Da took and destroyed the town. Today nothing is left from this legendary city.

In 1580, when Abtai Sain Khan together with his brother, lord Tumenkhen, visited the 3rd Dalai Lama and expressed their wish to build a temple in Mongolia, he advised them to reconstruct one old temple in Karakorum. The temple in Takhai ruins that was restored in 1588 according to the Dalai Lama’s recommendation is the Main Zuu temple of Erdene Zuu monastery. Now Erdene Zuu Monastery is all that remains of what once was a huge monastery of 100 temples and about 1.000 lamas residing 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.

Another place we will visit will be Karakorum Archaeological Museum. It is a small museum but housed in a modern well-run building with good lighting and display cases with clear English labels. The exhibits include dozens of artefacts dating from the 13th and 14th centuries which were recovered from the immediate area, plus others that were found from archaeological sites in other parts of the provinces, including prehistoric stone tools. You’ll see pottery, bronzes, coins, religious statues and stone inscriptions. There’s also a half-excavated kiln sunk into the museum floor. Perhaps most interesting is the scale model of ancient Karakorum, which aims to represent the city as it may have looked in the 1250s, and is based on descriptions written by the French missionary William of Rubruck. Another chamber exhibits a most recent addition, a Turkic noble tomb with wall paintings and artefacts, including gold items and jewellery. There is a short video of actual burial site.

We will also see the Turtle Rock and the Phallic Rock, visit little market behind walls exposing local arts by locals.

(Ikh Khorum hotel 3* hotel B, L, D)

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Luxury trip
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mongolia monasteries 101

Khar Balgas Citadel and Tsenher Hot Springs and Hot Spa

Our first stop will be Khar Balgas Citadel. This citadel was founded in 751 as the capital of the Uighur khanate. It was destroyed by fire, approximately 100 years later during the invasion Kirghiz invaders. Today only fragments of the outer walls and the Buddhist stupa remain. It is now in a small museum close the place it originally stood.

After visiting the citadel, we will be driving westward in the direction of Khangai Mountains. On average, the Khangai Mountains are 2500-3000 M above sea level and are composed of mainly granite, intrusive chert and sandstone belonging to Palaeozoic era. The Khangai Mountains is about 800 km long, ranging from Zavkhan province territory to Tuv province. They function as the continental divide of the world water system.

The green mountainsides and the network of smaller and larger rivers offer excellent pastureland for the herds of horses, yaks and cows.

In the afternoon we will reach Tsenkher hot spring resort. 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.

(Ger camp B, L, D)

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seven

Khogno Khan Mountains and Elsen Tasarkhai to Ulaanbaatar

Today we will head back to Ulaanbaatar. Our last driving day will take us through 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.

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. After visiting we will drive back to Ulaanbaatar. Our team will take you directly to your hotel. Enjoy your evening back in comfort of your hotel.

(Shangri-La B, L, D)

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eight

City tour in Ulaanbaatar

Ulaanbaatar is fast-growing modern city with more than 1.3 million habitants. Today it is a day to explore Ulaanbaatar. City sightseeing includes Bogd Khan’s Winter & Summer 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.

We will stop at the Gandantegchinlen Monastery. It is the largest and most important monastery of Mongolia. We will scroll through the different monasteries and see the magnificent statue of Migjid Janraisig, an 82-food high statue gilded in gold and covered with silk cloths.

We will finish city tour with Zaisan hill to have a view of whole Ulaanbaatar. The city sightseeing tour takes about 4 – 5 hours. You may enjoy the free afternoon to catch up all the places you haven’t visited yet or go shopping. In the evening we will have a farewell dinner and share some unforgettable moments of the trip.

(Shangri-La B, L, D)

ulaanbaatar hotel
nine

Departure

You may depart anytime. Time to say final good bye to the land of blue sky. (B)

Ulaanbaatar

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NOT INCLUDED