Ice Festival, Khuvsgul

In early March Lake Khuvsgul is a sheet of ice a metre thick and a hundred kilometres long, and the town of Khatgal holds a festival on it. There is horse racing on the lake, ice sculpture, shamans in full dress, a wrestling ring marked out on the ice and, for the brave, a swim through a hole cut in it. Trucks drive across to the far shore. The sound of the ice settling at night is something you do not forget.

This is winter Mongolia at its clearest: blue sky, white lake, larch forest black against the snow, and very few visitors. It is cold, minus twenty in the day and colder at night, and it is completely worth it with the right clothing, which we bring.

We combine it with two nights with a reindeer herding family near the taiga edge if the snow allows, and a stay at a wooden lodge on the lakeshore with a wood stove in every room.

Day 1: Fly north

Ulaanbaatar to Murun, then two hours by Land Cruiser to the lake. Settle in at the lodge.

Days 2 and 3: The festival

Races, sculptures, ceremonies, the swim if you dare. Evenings by the stove.

Days 4 and 5: Reindeer families

Into the taiga edge by vehicle and horse to a Dukha winter camp. Two nights in their urts.

Days 6 and 7: Back through the valley

A slow return with a hot spring stop, the flight to the capital and a last dinner.