What does a typical day on a Rara Avis tour actually look like? From morning tea to sunset dinner, hour by hour, as a Khangai horse trek day would unfold.
Bayartsogt Ganbold
Pre-dawn light. Your guide lights the ger stove if autumn or spring. A thermos of hot suutei tsai appears at the ger door. The horses, hobbled the evening before, are grazing quietly within view.
Breakfast at the central dining ger: traditional Mongolian porridge, boortsog (fried bread), clotted cream, blueberry jam, tea. Plus eggs, bacon, toast if you prefer. Our cook rotates menus daily.
Your saddle bags are packed by the ger door. Personal items, water, sun kit, layers, camera. The horses are caught and saddled by the horse master. Introduction to your specific horse for the day.
Mount up. Ride out of the valley in single file, guide in front, horse master at rear. The first hour is warming up the horses and the riders.
Short rest at a sacred ovoo (stone cairn). Circle three times clockwise, place a stone. Stretch, water, a handful of raisins. Continue.
Lunch. Usually at a planned picnic spot with shade and water for the horses. Hot tea from a thermos, khuushuur (fried mutton pies), fresh yoghurt, summer fruit. An hour's break lets horses graze.
The afternoon ride. Often includes a mountain pass, a river crossing, or a stretch of long flat steppe where the guide offers a canter if the group is comfortable.
Reach the afternoon's destination. A new ger camp, a host family, or tonight's wild camp. Horses are unsaddled and hobbled. Your gear is already waiting at your sleeping ger (brought ahead by our support vehicle).
Hot shower if available. Rest. Some guests read, some nap, some walk the local countryside. A glass of wine at sunset is customary.
Dinner at the central ger. Three courses: soup, main (often a traditional Mongolian dish), dessert. A guide tells a story about the landscape you rode through today. Questions answered.
Stars appear. Almost everyone spends time outside before bed. Summer: 10 pm is still twilight. Winter: full dark by 6 pm.
Most guests are asleep. Tomorrow starts at 6:30.
Festival days start earlier. Gobi days have different meal schedules. Reindeer expedition days include long walks between ger clusters. Luxury urban days are much more European-paced.