Last updated: November 30, 2023
Itinerary
What follows is a general flow of events. Expect the unexpected and prepare to be flexible.
Sept 14
On arrival at the new international airport, Chinggis Khaan, you are met by your guide and driver. Welcome to Mongolia!
The drive to the hotel in Ulan Bator is about 1 hour depending on traffic. Once settled, we suggest a walk to nearby Sukhbaatar Square to see the parliament buildings and Genghis Khan statues. If you prefer to arrive a day or more early, additional activities can be arranged. (highly encouraged)
Accommodation: Shangri-la Hotel /Meals on your own.
Sept 15
Mongolia is huge, the population small, and the infrastructure for travel fairly modest. This day is devoted to flying across the nation from the capital to the western region. Details of this flight are uncertain but are predictable successful.
The most likely departure time for our scheduled commercial flight is early morning but airline schedules are not yet known. We will furnish details when they are.
The flight is two and a half hours to Ölgii, a largely Kazakh community and the furthest west airport in the country.
From here we drive east to Altantsögts, where a herding family will host us for the night and introduce us to the life of a nomad. In addition to being exceptional hosts they are eagle hunters and will give us an introduction to the art of falconry. This background will be important at the eagle festival later in the week.
Accommodation & meal plan: Homestay Ger / BLD
Sept 16
The adventure continues. Into the high country we go!
A few more hours by vehicle and we meet new hosts and their herds of bactrian camels camped in the shadow of the glacier carved peaks of Turgen and Harkhiraa. We join them here and will start to understand the cultural diversity of the region as we integrate into this buddhist camp.
Time for our first of many hikes in the mountains.
Accommodation & meal plan: Camp/BLD
Sept 17
Packing up a ger (yurt) camp is a sight to behold. Kitchen boxes, ger frames and colorful fabrics are ingeniously lashed to camels and horses. Before you know it our cozy camp is headed down the trail, around the lake and towards the cascades and canyons of the high mountains.
We have the day to hike and/ or ride to the next camp always scanning the mountains for wildlife while visiting with our guides and learning about the life which bonds people and wildlife to these mountains.
Accommodation & meal plan: Camp/BLD
Sept 18 - 19
We have two full days to explore the area with no need to break camp. There are excellent hikes both north and south of our camp and lots to do and see closer to “home” too.
With multiple guides we can split into smaller groups, some hiking further and longer, some riding horses, some relaxing. The time is yours, the landscape spectacular, and the chances of finding wildlife excellent.
Accommodation & meal plan: Camp/BLD
Sept 20
We descend. Hike and ride across the high plateau, rich with autumn scent, grasses dun and mountains white with fresh snow.
We meet the vehicles mid-day for the 4 hour drive to Ölgii, where we check into our hotel, clean-up from our “camping” trip, and watch the eagle hunters arriving from the country-side.
Accommodation & meal plan: Makhsum Hotel / BLD
Sept 21
The Altai Eagle Festival starts mid-morning with opening ceremonies. Eagle hunters will ride on horseback across the field dressed in traditional clothing with enormous eagles on their arms. One hunter would be impressive. When 50 of them ride together it is quite a sight!
Various competitive events follow with eagles released from the hills, hunting for a fox skin in tow behind a horseman. and later a horseback tug-of-war with a goat carcass! Games put riders skills to the test, like picking up objects from the ground in full gallop. It can be quite wild at times.
We will experience the eagle hunters’ traditional customs and culture and are made to feel welcome. This is an event not to be missed.
Accommodation & meal plan: Makhsum Hotel / BLD
Sept 22
If we want to spend more time amongst eagle hunters we can return to the Eagle Festival. Eagles fly, camels race. When we’ve had our fill of the fascinating chaos and dust of the festival grounds, we head south towards the Altai Mountains to immerse ourselves in the local culture and rugged landscape.
It is about 3 hours to Delüün Village where we leave the well traveled track and head into the wilds of Chigertei National Park. After another hour of bumping through pasture and prairie the vehicles park at our ger (yurt) camp in the company of nomads. Depending on the weather, the amount of snow in the high country, and the movements of nomads we may camp high in the mountains, or more likely near Chigertei Lake at the base of the mountains at about 8,000 ft.
Accommodation & meal plan: 360° Wilderness Ger Camp/BLD
Sept 23 - 24
The nomads here are Kazakhs, likely camped on the autumn pasture at the lake itself. They are Sunni muslims and unlike in Kazakhstan proper, here they remain as nomadic pastoralists and we will learn of their life-ways and migratory patterns.
Chigertei National Park, where we are camped, borders KekeTuoHai National Park in China. On the Mongolian side of the border there is ongoing carnivore research, including camera traps deployed for wolverines. The habitat supports Asian species such as the Pallas’s cat and snow leopards. In addition, there are lynx and grey wolves. The high country is little visited and we will explore the area with the aim to see some of the elusive wildlife of the region.
We have two full days to hike and/ or ride horses in the high country and/ or get the know the locals.
On one of our days, we have an opportunity to explore along the China frontier lands border zone where with luck we can see hundreds of Siberian ibex. Argali sheep are less numerous, but the largest wild sheep in the world. Both are key prey animals to snow leopards, wolves and lynx. We have arranged for a borderline permit ahead of time. The area is little visited and we will see what we will find!
With luck, there has been snowfall on the elevations of the surrounding ridges, which forces game downwards allowing another excursion into the heart of the best wildlife habitat. It is a 7 km hike to arrive at the inner sanctum, which is prime snow leopard habitat.
In addition to wildlife and great hiking there are numerous archeological sites in the area and we will have a chance to learn about the long human history in these high mountain valleys.
Accommodation & meal plan: 360° Wilderness Ger Camp/BLD
Sept 25
Today we will break camp and move deeper into the Altai to the Blue Goat Mountains. Our gers will be disassembled and transported by truck to the new location, then reassembled prior to our arrival.
We will spend the day making our way slowly north by land cruiser looking for (and at) wildlife including Siberian Ibex. With ample opportunity to hike and explore during the day we will arrive at our next camp in the evening ready to settle into the new surroundings in our now familiar ger camp.
Accommodation & meal plan: 360° Wilderness Ger Camp/BLD
Sept 26
Our last day in the Altai offers a memorable hike to the inner sanctum of the Ikh Yamaat valley, which is prime Snow Leopard habitat. A four mile hike brings us into an area with dense wildlife and we will keep our fingers crossed and binoculars handy in hopes of seeing animals in the steep and rocky landscape.
A final day in the wilds and a memorable hike not to be missed or forgotten.
Accommodation & meal plan: 360° Wilderness Ger Camp/BLD
Sept 27
A long day. We depart the mountains early with a fond farewell to our hosts, the sounds of livestock, and the stunning views of the mountains.
We then drive about 4 hours east across the vast Gobi plains. Then back into the modernity of the airport at the regional capital of Hovd. And eventually a 3 hour flight to the bustle of Ulan Bator. (Details of this day are likely to change depending on flight schedules and routes including the possibility of spending this night in Hovd.)
Accommodation & meal plan: Shangri-La Hotel / BLD
Sept 28
After making the adjustment to the city, we will find there is a lot of interest in Ulan Bator and plenty to do, especially that we know more about the country and it’s people.
The National Museum, the impressive Gandan Monastery with massive buddhas, and visits with renowned traditional craftsmen will fill a day which we end with traditional music and a private dinner.
Accommodation & meal plan: Shangri-la Hotel /BLD
Sept 29
International flights home.
