Itinerary

July 11, Day 1: Participate in the Naadam Festival

Your guide and driver meet you at your accommodation and drive to the Naadam Festival stadium. The national holiday Naadam is not only famous among Mongolians but famous around the world. Many tourists, guests, and journalists come to Mongolia to take part. The Naadam Festival starts with a transferring ceremony of the nine white banners from the Government House to the Naadam Stadium, followed by a horse parade. Next, the magnificent opening ceremony starts at 11:10 AM, after the presidential speech at 11 AM. Traditional wrestling, archery and horse racing are main highlights. Moreover, you will see anklebone shooting and Naadam trade, starting from Naadam's main dish Huushuur to traditional Mongolian beverage Airag, souvenirs, traditional clothes and much more.

Accommodation: 3* hotel
Meals: Lunch, Dinner

July 12, Day 2: The festival continues, see horse race

In the morning, drive to the horse racing area, 30 km west of Ulaanbaatar. The horses race on the open steppes by age categories (6 age categories): from two-year-old horses to full-grown stallions. The racing distance depends on the horses’ age. For example, two-year-old horses race 15 km, while full-grown horses race 30km in the open field. Today, you can 4 years old horse race or 2 years old horse race.

Accommodation: 3* hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

July 13, Day 3: Tour to Baga Gazariin Chuluu

Start the tour to Baga Gazariin Chuluu, a zone of granite stone mountains; the highest peak is 1700 m above sea level. It has been keeping some historical remains, such as the ruin of a monastery, ancient tombs, and rock inscriptions. Challenge your imagination by seeing the unique features of the granite formations in Baga Gazariin Chuluu, discover the old monastery ruin, and enjoy the emptiness and calmness of the Gobi Desert.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Lunch, Dinner

July 14, Day 4: Tsagaan Suvarga colorful mud cliffs

Tsagaan Suvarga means "White Stupa.” It is one of the most famous highlights in the Gobi Desert. Tsagaan Suvarga is a spectacular natural formation of colorful, massive mud cliffs that look like stupas. Hiking through the cliffs offers the chance to take amazing photographs.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

July 15, Day 5: Gobi Gurban Saikhan Mountain National Park and hiking in Eagle Valley

The Gobi Gurban Saikhan means "Three beautiful mountains in the Gobi.” The Gobi Gurban Saikhan Mountain is a beautiful national park, rich in wildlife and scenic places. Among them, Yoliin Am/Eagle Valley is accessible by car. After our vehicle brings us to a designated parking area, we will walk through the gorgeous valley into the depths of a sheer rock canyon, which accepts no sunlight. Therefore, it has ice until the end of June. The hiking continues for 2.5 to 3 hours into the valley and back to the vehicle. Bearded eagles, elusive wild sheep, and ibexes are indigenous to the valley.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

July 16, Day 6: Khongor Sand Dunes, camel riding

Our journey will continue to Khongor, the tallest dunes. After reaching the dunes, you’ll go hiking along the green river shore, climb dunes, visit a nomad family, and ride a two-humped camel. If you can climb one of the tallest dunes, don't forget to spread the sand northwards against the wind to find out why locals call the dunes "Singing Sand.” The views are fantastic from the top of the dunes.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

July 17, Day 7: Flaming Cliffs

Tour to Flaming Cliffs, an area of red cliffs formed through the erosion of sand and rock over many thousands of years. It is also a site of several successful dinosaur excavations. Among them, a discovery that dinosaurs lay eggs after finding a dinosaur nest made the area the world known. Arrive at the ger camp by lunchtime. Free afternoon to relax and hide from the afternoon sun. You will spend the evening exploring the cliffs in search of dinosaur fossils you may find and photograph the cliffs in the evening sun.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

July 18, Day 8: Drive to Ongi Monastery on the open steppes

First, you visit the Gobi tree grove Bayanzag, which means “rich in saxaul trees.” This tree only grows in the Central Asian Gobi. Next, drive through slate mountains and on 80 km Ongi steppes heading to Ongi, one of the biggest seven monasteries in Mongolia. There were two separate monasteries consisting of more than 30 temples on the shores of the Ongi River surrounded by the Gobi Desert mountains; however, the temples were destroyed during the socialist purge of the 1930s. Now the ruins of the monasteries cover an expanse area. Visit a new active temple and a ger museum, explore the monastery ruins and climb a nearby mountain to have panoramic views of the surrounding areas.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

July 19, Day 9: Kharkhorin, ancient Monastery Erdenezuu

This day’s tour takes place in the transition zone from the Gobi desert to the mountain steppes. Kharkhorin, formerly known as Kharakhorum, was the capital of Chinggis Khaan's Great Mongol Empire in the 13th century. After the move of the Mongolian capital to Beijing, and the fall of the Empire, Karakorum was abandoned and then destroyed by Min soldiers in 1388. Today, in the vast valley of the Orkhon River, the awe-inspiring ancient monastery Erdenezuu coexists with Kharkhorin town. See some valuable religious artifacts in the monastery museum, view its stunning architecture, and visit the Kharakhorum Museum display remnants of the ancient city.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

July 20, Day 10: Visit nomads, horse riding and return to Ulaanbaatar

Today is the last day you spend in the beautiful countryside of Mongolia. Leave the ger camp early. On our way to Ulaanbaatar, we will visit a horse-herding nomad family and ride horses. Arrive in Ulaanbaatar, and transfer to the hotel.

Accommodation: 3* hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

July 21, Day 11: Transfer to the airport/railway station

The driver transfers you to the airport/railway station.

Meals: Breakfast

Tour Price

Background

Great Naadam and Gobi Desert Tour includes overnight stays in ger camps in the countryside and a hotel in Ulaanbaatar. The tour does not include any challenging physical activities. Traveling in Mongolia always requires long driving through changing landscapes and steppes with scenic views. Even though we planned the trip to have as little driving as possible. The approximate daily driving will be 3.5-6 hours. The itinerary includes some light activities, such as 1-3 hours of soft hiking and horse and camel riding with the help of local wranglers. The most challenging experience is climbing the Khongor dunes, which is not mandatory. You can enjoy the sand dunes and Gobi Desert view while climbing one of the lower sand hills.

Tour meals are included as indicated in the itinerary. In the countryside, ger camps serve occasional European but mainly Mongolian meals. Meat is the main ingredient for meals and is served for lunch and dinner with vegetables, salads, and soups. There will be more meat in traditional Mongolian meals. A typical breakfast is tea or coffee, bread, jam, butter, eggs, and sausage. There are some cookies, cheese, cereals, pancakes, and more at some ger camps for breakfast. For lunch, meals include salads, Mongolian soups, main course (pasta, rice, vegetables, beef/mutton/chicken/fish near lakes/rivers), dessert, and tea. Ger camps serve salads, the main course, a dessert, and tea for dinner. With nomads, you will try authentic Mongolian meals. Different types of meals offered simultaneously are not customary in Mongolian tradition. If you are a vegetarian or have other dietary restrictions, please inform us in advance, and we will make arrangements accordingly. We will supply two 0.5L bottles of water a day. Providing one large bottle (1.5 liters) of water instead of 2 small water bottles is available upon request. More information on Mongolia meals

We developed the tour to let you stay at cozy and beautiful accommodation gers of the ger camps for 8 nights and 2 nights stay in a centrally located hotel in Ulaanbaatar. Please get more detailed information about the Ger camps

The majority of our company's guides are English speaking. German, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese-speaking guides are available upon request. All of our guides are friendly and helpful. The majority of them were born and raised in the Mongolian countryside. Therefore, they have good knowledge about every aspect of Mongolia. During horse and camel riding, local equestrians will support you.

Regarding land transport, most of our tours were designed for four-wheel drive Japanese off-road vehicles driven by experienced, friendly, and knowledgeable mechanic drivers. You may check the travel vehicle details at Mongolia transportation.

July is the hottest month of the year. In particular, the Gobi Desert is the warmest region in Mongolia. The annual temperature is usually 2 -10°C higher than in other parts of Mongolia. The average day temperature is +28°C, the hottest is +39°C, and the night temperature could drop to +12°C, although some nights could be sultriness. July receives a relatively higher prescription than other months. The temperature could drop to +12°C if it rains. The rain period starts from the beginning of July when observing the annual average, but not constant. The rain could be a short-term shower or drizzling rain. For your pre-departure preparation, you may check the packing list of the discovery tours.

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