Seven days, ten days,
or two weeks.

Day 1: Ulaanbaatar to the desert edge

Depart Ulaanbaatar by road, south across the middle steppe, or take the optional domestic flight to the south Gobi and let your crew meet you there. By evening the grass has given way to gravel plain. Night at a private ger camp, and a first taste of desert quiet.

Day 2: Yolyn Am

Drive into the Gurvan Saikhan mountains to Yolyn Am, a deep, narrow gorge where ice can hold on the shaded valley floor well into summer. Walk in on foot, watching for lammergeier and ibex on the cliffs above. Afternoon at the small natural history museum by the gorge mouth, then back to camp.

Day 3: Khongoryn Els, the singing dunes

West along the mountain front to Khongoryn Els. Settle into camp, then climb the ridge in the late afternoon when the sand cools. Near the crest the dunes begin to sing under your feet. Sunset from the top, with the desert laid out flat and endless below.

Day 4: Camels, then the Flaming Cliffs

Morning with a camel-herding family beside the dunes: ride Bactrian camels along the sand and share salted milk tea in the family ger. Then drive northeast to Bayanzag in time for the evening light, when the red sandstone cliffs earn their name. Night at a private ger camp nearby.

Day 5: Bayanzag and the road north

An early walk along the cliff rim among the saxaul trees, over ground where dinosaur eggs were first uncovered a century ago. Then turn north, breaking the return journey at the granite formations of Baga Gazriin Chuluu. Final desert night under a heavy sky of stars.

Day 6: Return to Ulaanbaatar

Complete the drive back to Ulaanbaatar, or fly from the south Gobi if you chose the flight option. Arrive in the afternoon with time for a proper shower, a good dinner, and the city's noise sounding strange after the silence.

Day 1: Ulaanbaatar

Arrive in Ulaanbaatar in the days before the festival. The city is already humming: flags going up, wrestlers in training, families arriving from the countryside. Settle into your hotel, walk Sukhbaatar Square, and hear how the games work over dinner with your guide.

Day 2: Opening ceremony and wrestling

Reserved seats for the opening ceremony at the National Sports Stadium: horsemen in ceremonial dress, the nine white banners carried in, and the first wrestling rounds. Your guide keeps score with you and explains why the crowd gasps when it does. Evening free in the festival city.

Day 3: Archery, ankle bone, and the horse races

Morning at the archery field and the ankle-bone shooting tents, close enough to hear the judges' chant. Then out to Khui Doloon Khudag, the race steppe west of the city, for the finish of one of the great horse races. Meet jockeys and trainers, and watch the winning horse showered with airag.

Day 4: Out to the steppe

Leave the city and drive into the open grassland. Stop at Khustain National Park to look for the takhi, the wild horse returned from extinction in the wild, coming down to water in the evening. Night at a private ger camp.

Day 5: Countryside naadam

A local naadam in a steppe valley: wrestling on the grass, a horse race that starts somewhere over the horizon, families picnicking beside their motorbikes and horses. You attend as guests of a local family, with your guide translating the commentary and the jokes.

Day 6: A day with a nomad family

An unhurried day with a herding family. Ride out with the horses, help with the milking, learn to make khuushuur properly, and drink airag from the family's own mares. Sleep in a guest ger beside theirs.

Day 7: Return to Ulaanbaatar

Morning drive back to Ulaanbaatar. Time for the National Museum or last shopping before your transfer to the airport.

Day 1: Ulaanbaatar

Arrive in Ulaanbaatar. A private transfer brings you to your hotel. Depending on your arrival time, walk Sukhbaatar Square and visit Gandan Monastery, where morning chanting still fills the main hall. Evening briefing with your guide over dinner.

Day 2: South into the Gobi

Leave the city behind and drive south across the middle steppe. The land empties by the hour. Stop at the granite outcrops of Baga Gazriin Chuluu, then continue to a private ger camp on the desert edge. First night of true silence.

Day 3: Yolyn Am

Into the Gurvan Saikhan mountains and the narrow gorge of Yolyn Am, where ice can linger on the valley floor into summer. Walk the gorge on foot, watching for lammergeier overhead and pika underfoot. Night at a private ger camp nearby.

Day 4: Khongoryn Els

Drive west along the mountain front to Khongoryn Els, the singing dunes. In the late afternoon, when the heat softens, climb the ridge. The sand hums under your feet as it slides. Sunset from the crest, then down to camp for dinner.

Day 5: With the camel herders

An unhurried morning beside the dunes. Visit a camel-herding family at their camp, ride two-humped Bactrian camels along the sand, and share tea in the family ger. Afternoon free for a second climb or a rest in the shade.

Day 6: Bayanzag, the Flaming Cliffs

Drive to Bayanzag, where the red sandstone cliffs burn at sunset and dinosaur eggs were first found a century ago. Walk the rim among the saxaul trees. The colour deepens as the sun drops. Night at a private ger camp.

Day 7: North along the Ongi

Turn north out of the desert, following the Ongi river to the ruins of Ongiin Khiid, a monastery destroyed in the purges of the 1930s. Walk the ruins with your guide. The land begins to green. Night by the river.

Day 8: Kharkhorin and Erdene Zuu

Continue north to Kharkhorin, site of the Mongol Empire's capital. Visit Erdene Zuu Monastery, built from the old city's stones, and the small museum that maps what stood here. Evening in the Orkhon Valley.

Day 9: The Orkhon Valley

Drive deeper into the valley to the Ulaan Tsutgalan waterfall, where the river drops through old lava fields. Walk the gorge below the falls. Optional riding with local horsemen in the afternoon. Night with a herding family or at a private ger camp.

Day 10: A day with the family

No driving today. Live alongside your host family: milking, herding, rounding up horses, making aaruul in the sun. Help where help is welcome, and sit still where sitting still is the proper thing. This is the day guests remember.

Day 11: Khustain and the takhi

Drive east through the steppe to Khustain National Park, home of the reintroduced takhi, the world's last truly wild horse. Evening drive into the hills to watch the harems come down to water.

Day 12: Terelj

Continue past Ulaanbaatar into Gorkhi-Terelj National Park. Granite spires, larch forest, and the walk up to Aryabal meditation temple. Pass Turtle Rock on the way to your final ger camp. A quiet last night under the pines.

Day 13: Return to Ulaanbaatar

Morning drive back to Ulaanbaatar. Time for the National Museum or cashmere shopping before your transfer to the airport, or stay on: we are glad to extend.