8days/7nights
Tour grade: Easy
Style: Traveller
Jul 06. Arrival In Ulaanbaatar
Meet at the airport and transfer to the hotel after custom formalities. Welcome dinner at a Mongolian restaurant.
Accommodation
Holiday Inn Ulaanbaatar Hotel 4* or similar /standard check-in time is 2 pm/
Meals Included
Jul 07. Elsen Tasarkhai sand dunes
After breakfast at the hotel, we pack the vehicles and depart to the west toward Karakorum, the ancient capital city of Mongolia. Break our journey midway and transfer to camp near the Bayangobi (aka Elsen Tasarkhai) sand dunes.
Pay a visit to local nomadic family and witness their lifestyle, and take part in their daily activities including making dairy products and tending to the livestock. In the late afternoon, visit Khugnu Khan mountain park and Erdene Khamba monastery ruins. Dinner and overnight at the ger camp /or at a nomadic host family if you wish/.
Accommodation
Hoyor Zagal ger camp or similar
Meals Included
Jul 08. Karakorum
We visit legendary monastery Erdene Zuu, the first Buddhist monastery in Central Mongolia, founded in 1586, and the Turtle Rock and the Phallic stone etc. In the afternoon, we will visit the Museum of Karakorum which gives a good introduction to Central Mongolia, its’ history, as well as visit to the UNESCO world heritage site Orkhon river valley. In the evening, pay a visit to the newly established Erdenesiin Khuree Calligraphy center.
Accommodation
Urguu ger camp or similar
Meals Included
Jul 09. Hustai National Park
This morning, we drive to the east to one of the most popular national parks of Mongolia, the Hustai National Park. Upon arrival, we will trek through the beautiful national park and try to view the endangered Przewalski wild horses (one of the last remaining wild horses on earth). We will also pay a visit to the Ungut memorial complex /dating back to 6th-8th century AD/. Dinner and overnight at the ger camp /or at a nomadic host family if you wish/.
Accommodation
Hustai ger camp or similar
Meals Included
Jul 10. Ulaanbaatar, City tour
After breakfast, we will head to the Giant Genghis Equestrian Statue which is the tallest of its kind in the world. Visit the small museum and then climb to the horsehead for the panoramic view of the surrounding. Return to Ulaanbaatar and lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon, we will visit Central Square of Mongolia, named after Sukhbaatar – a hero of Mongolian people’s revolution in 1921. Transfer to the hotel. Rest and prepare for the Great Festival of the next day. This is a lifetime experience indeed as the saying in Mongolia goes “Stay healthy, so that you can see the next Naadam”.
Accommodation
Holiday Inn Ulaanbaatar Hotel 4* or similar
Meals Included
Jul 11. Naadam Festival Opening Ceremony
See the fantastic opening ceremony of Naadam festival and watch the first round of wrestling, and then archery and ankle bone shooting competitions. In the afternoon, visit Gandan Monastery, housing a 26-meter-high gilded statue of the Buddha and the Museum of National History, which has a number of fascinating displays of traditional Mongolian clothing and weaponry, as well as exhibits charting the course of Genghis Khan's empire-building.
Accommodation
Holiday Inn Ulaanbaatar Hotel 4* or similar
Meals Included
Jul 12. Naadam Festival horse race
We will drive to the horse racing place to observe the Naadam Festival horse races. In the afternoon, visit the Bogd Khan’s Palace Museum and see a traditional folk concert by magical Tumen Ekh ensemble. Meals at restaurants and hotel overnight.
Accommodation
Holiday Inn Ulaanbaatar Hotel 4* or similar
Meals Included
Jul 13. Departure From Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
You are transferred to the airport/train station after breakfast /standard check-out time is 12 pm/. Say goodbye to Mongolia!
Meals Included
2023 Tour Dates:
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Accommodation info on your Mongolia tours
Ulaanbaatar: Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, offers a variety of hotels ranging from basic guesthouses to high-end 5* hotel.
Some of our Mongolia tours do not include the hotel stays in Ulaanbaatar in the tour package, where clients can choose a hotel that suits their needs and budget. Please make sure to check your tour program`s Inclusions and Exclusions section to confirm if your hotel stay is included in the package.
If you wish us to book your hotel for you, your travel consultant will be happy to recommend and book an ideal hotel for you.
Here are hotels that are recommended by us:
Outside Ulaanbaatar: Outside of Ulaanbaatar where there are no hotels, tourist Ger (yurt) camps are the best accommodation for travelers. A Ger is Mongolian traditional dwelling made of felt layers and wooden construction, and the Mongolians have lived in Gers for thousands of years. Tourist Ger camps offer comfortable Gers with 1-3 beds with good bedding (1 Ger equals 1 hotel room), and also offer well-maintained public western style showers and WCs on their grounds. Some Ger camps offer en-suite bathroom facilities at additional charge, please ask your Selena Travel advisor for further details when booking your Mongolia tour.
Meals while you are on Selena Travel tours in Mongolia
In the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, a great variety of restaurants can be found and you will be eating at some of the best restaurants of Ulaanbaatar on your Mongolia tour while in the capital. Once you are outside the capital, Ger restaurants in Ger camps, local cafes in the small towns and sometimes nomadic families will be the places where you will be eating most of your meal. Ger restaurants often offer set continental breakfasts, set menu lunches and dinners consisting of salad or soup, main course and dessert.
While on the tour, during your longer driving days you will take packed lunch from Ger camps, often vegetable salad, main course such as fried chicken/noodles/dumplings and a small dessert, while hitting the road. Most of the food restrictions and allergies such as vegetarian, vegan, gluten free and many others, can be accommodated with easy on your Mongolia adventure.
Luggage allowance on Selena Travel tours
If you are on an overland only tour across Mongolia, the recommended weight of your luggage is 20kg per person (max). However, kindly note that domestic flight luggage allowance per person is 15 kg (10 kg for the check in luggage and 5 kg for the carry on luggage). It is possible to purchase extra luggage space which costs US$2 - 5 per 1kg.
DESTINATION & ATTRACTIONS BRIEF INFO
The Naadam festival is the biggest and most joyful celebration of the Mongols. It takes place on the 11-12th July annually.
Aug 10, 2012. Gobi & Karakorum Explorer tour Our recent "The Gobi & Karakorum Explorer" tour with you was excellent, everything exceeded our expectations! It was a super trip in our lives and we loved our Mongolia holiday so much. Our guide Joe was kind, well organised, accurate and informative, polite and caring and always provided us with timely information. And our driver Jack is super, very friendly, professional and always on time. We are wild travelers, having been to many places in the world - but Mongolia is still truly unspoiled and uncontaminated. Selena Travel's services were perfect right from the very first email. We would like to thank Selena Travel, our guide and our driver for having made this Mongolia experience a truly beautiful one with so many wonderful memories.
Rafaella, Benedetta, Lidia
Sending you some of our nicer pictures. Some are chosen for their beautiful scenery while the rest are just us happily playing and goofing around. There are a couple of shots of us doing some Mongolian wrestling, as suggested by Oyuna since we missed out on the mini-Naadam festival. She said since we missed it, we might as well organise our own festival by playing some Mongolian games. Haha... We had so much fun playing those games!!! :)OK, I hope you like the pictures we send you. Best regards to everyone at Selena Travel and thank you once again for all your assistance.
Margaret Suganda
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