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TOUR ITINERARY DETAILS:

 

Day 1: Arrival in UB

Our tour guide will pick you up from airport and take you to your hotel, then present you the detailed program of our entire trip. Upon your arrival we will visit Gandantegchinleng Monastery, the first temple was built in 1835 and was center of Buddhist learnings in Mongolia. Then climb up to Zaisan Memorial Hill beneath the Bogd Khan Mountain, where you can see entire panaromic view of Ulaanbaatar city. The Buddha park is just next to the Zaisan and you will see a huge statue of Buddha reaching 23 meters in height. Our next stop will be a Museum of Bogd Khan Palace which was the residence of the last emperor - blade of Mongolia. The museum contains a rich collection of the King & Queen’s unique items used in their daily life, a gifts received from foreign dignitaries and many more interesting exhibits. 

In the evening, dinner at Mongolian Barbeque!

 

 

Day 2: UB - Hustai Natioanl Park - Sand Strings

Khustain Nuruu National Park, where herds of wild horse (Przewalski horse/Takhi) are re-acclimatizing since 1993. Takhi is the last subspecies of wild horse survived through the 21st century, first discovered in western Mongolia in late 1870s by Russian explorer named N.M. Przewalski. During your leisure hiking in the surrounding mountains, you may find wild horses, sunbathing lazy marmots, wild rabbits and deers. We'll go back to UB after lunch and see traditional music & dance performance of Mongolia. After lunch, we will head to the Sand Strings, a rare sight of sand hills with rivers and lake. The length of the sand string continuous over 150 km and is sodden under its surface, so shrubberies such as willow, elm and dogwood, grow in the area.

Overnight, stay at gher tourist camp.

 

Day 3: Sand Strings - Kharakhorum – Tsenkher Hot Spring  

Today, we will explore Karakorum city ruin, it was the ancient capital of Great Mongolian Empire built during Ugudei Khan's rein in 1220s. In the center of town youwill find Erdene Zuu monastery. The four stone turtles that originally marked the boundaries of ancient Karakorum still exist nowadays. After lunch off to “Tsenkher”, a natural hot spring flows out year-round from ground at 85 Celsius degree and it has a high mineral content which composed of calcium, sodium and sulphuric etc. Hot spring shower and hot spring bath will be waiting for you to relax and chill. 

Overnight, stay at ger tourist camp.

 

Day 4: Tsenkher Hot Spring - Terkh white lake

In the morning we will drive to the Tsetserleg town, capital of Arkhangai province and visit Zay Gegeen Temple- Museum dated back to 1750s. Then continue our journey to Taikhar rock inscription where you find many kinds of scripts dated III-XVIII centuries such as Turkic, old Mongolian, Chinese character, Tibetan and modern Mongolian cyrillics. After lunch continue to drive to Chuluut river, flows through a sheer basalt canyons which is formed by a lava craters. 

Overnight, stay in gher camp.

 

Day 5: Terkh White Lake

In Terkh national park, we will hike up to "Khorgo" extinct volcano, surrounded by crates and trees. There is a small pond in center of the volcano, when hiking into the mountains you will see ground cave with year-round ice, the stone shelters formed by explosions of lava. After lunch, walk by the beach of the lake and wander around the area while horseback riding. 

Stay overnight in gher camp.

 

 

Day 6: Terkh White Lake - “Otgontenger” Sacred Mountain

After breakfast, we will start our trip to the highest peak of Khangai mountain range which is 4021 meters above sea level.

Overnight in tents. 

 

Day 7: “Otgontenger” Sacred Mountain - Khar Lake

We will continue to the Khar lake which is surrounded by sand dunes and high mountains. 

Overnight, stay in tents.

 

Day 8: Khar Lake - Khar Us Lake

Moving on to the Khar Us lake which is the second largest freshwater lake with size of 72 km long and 26 km wide, but with an average depth of only 4m. It has more than 10 islands in the middle and some trees and tall grasses near the shores. The biggest island is called Agshab and it's 30 km wide and is elevated in 272m above the lake level. It looks as if dividing the lake into 2 pieces: north and south. 

Overnight, stay in tents.

 

Day 9: Khar Us Lake - Ulgii city

Today, we will drive to Capital of Bayan-Ulgii province and visit a local Kazakh family, where we will enjoy Kazakh folklore and see how they make their fantastic colorful embroideries. The Kazakh people have a very unique nomadic lifestyle, strongly influenced by a Islamic culture. The famous local eagle hunters offer us a chance to see their fascinating way of hunting by their golden eagles.

We will stay in hotel in Ulgii.

 

Day 10: Tsagaan gol (river) and Shiveet Khairkhan Mountain 

After breakfast we will drive to Tsagaan gol. From the summit or lower north slopes of Shiveet Khairkhan mountain, where you can see an extraordinary view of the Tavanbogd Mountain. Shiveet Mountain is very sacred to the Tuvan people and boasts many ibex and it's quite possible to see the ibex with binoculars. Each year the Tuvans climb to the mountain summit to make offering ceremony for the local ghosts. Overnight, stay in tents.
 

Day 11: Altai Tavan Bogd

In the morning we leave the vehicle behind and load up the camels and start hiking approximately 15 kilometres to our base camp on the edge of the Potanin Glacier at the foot of Malchin Peak. The hiking takes us over to a lush alpine tundra with breathtaking views directly across from the glacier to our objective peaks. Overnight, stay in tents.

 

Day 12: Malchin Peak Ascent

From our base camp at 2900 meters, we make an acclimatization climb of Malchin Peak (4037m.), which rises directly behind the base camp. Climbing up to the peak won't be so easy, however technical equipments aren't required. From the peak, astonishing views over Russia to the north and across the glaciated peaks of Altai Tavanbogd to the south.

Overnight, stay in tents.

 

Day 13: Back to Tsagaan gol

Today we trek back to our camp in the White River valley. This time we will walk downhill and it will be easy to stroll. It is a chance to take glance into every single valley of the "Tavan Bogd" massif and observe how the glacier melt develops into torrents of the White river. Upon returning to our camp, one of delicacies of the Kazakh cuisine - "besbarmak" will be served to us, a delicious assortment of stewed meat, vegetables and flour eaten by hands.

Stay overnight in tents.

 

Day 14: Drive back to Ulgii Capital

We will visit Muslim Mosque and see local open market.

Overnight stay at hotel.

 

Day 15: Fly Back To UB

In our city tour, we will visit Museum of Choijin Lama Monastery, one of the few remaining intact monasteries in UB which preserves the elaborately decorated interiors, rich collection of Mongolian Buddhist sculpture and painting. It has several gilded bronze sculptures of Zanabazar and a striking array of Papier - Mache masks that are used for Tsam Dance ceremonies. After lunch, you'll have all the free time to yourself for shopping or visit coffee shops etc. Those who interested, can go to the open market of Naran Tuul. 

In the evening, farewell dinner at Mongolian Barbeque will complete our long journey!

Overnight, stay at hotel.

 

Day 16: Departure

 

 

 

GROUP SIZE:  2 - 16 pax