My Guide to Visiting Mongolia

Congratulations, you are planning to visit one of the most adventurous and off the beaten path destinations in the world that is not an active war zone. Despite a beautifully preserved culture, influential history and name recognition, Mongolia has never really appeared on the tourist trail. While this helps the country preserve its authenticity In sure many adventurous travelers want to know how to and where to visit in this blank space on the map between China and Russia.

General Info
Mongolia is unique in its size and by extent remoteness. Internet is scarce and “cities” as it were are few and far between. Besides the bustling capital Ulaanbaatar, most Mongolians live to this day a nomadic life following around their animals throughout the year.

For planning’s sake, it is best to think of Mongolia as 5 regions: central, north, east, Altai (west) and Gobi (south). Each part would take about a week to travel through minimum. I, like everyone, visited the central region and then visited the more remote and infamous Gobi after. The central region is where Ulaanbaatar is located so most people will start from here if they fly in. To visit the country by public transit is nearly impossible as most places to visit are remote, natural sites that require 4wd and prior planning. This means that hiring a driver is necessary to explore outside of the cities. Believe me I am one of the most skeptical people for guides and drivers but there is no other feasible way to visit Mongolia and I actually appreciated the opportunities that a local guide was able to provide for granting insight to local nomadic life.

What to See?
This question really depends on the time you are willing to spend here and what regions you are planning on. Most importantly is an experience with nomad families which is probably best with a multi day horse trek which will give you the best chance to experience authentic Mongol culture. I will say that the natural vistas are stunning but really the best reason to visit Mongolia is to experience the nomadic Mongol lifestyle that has remained familiar to the times of Chinggis Khan. Some things to peak your interest should be: wild horses, nomad festivals, reindeer nomads and the wild Gobi desert. The busiest polars of the year is around the Naadam Festival in July which is like a mini Mongolian Olympic Games.

Itinerary
It is really tough to describe an itinerary like exists in any other country so I will break this up into regions and how many days to dedicate to each.

Day 1: Arrive in Ulaanbaatar
Assuming you’re flying in or taking the railroad, you must start in UB (short for Ulaanbaatar).

6 Days (+2 Days for Naadam Festival): Central Region
In terms of sightseeing, in the central part, Ulaanbaatar is worth a few days for its cosmopolitan life and historical sites but it is best to visit during the Naadam Festival in July. Beyond the capital: a day in Terelj National Park, seeing the world’s last wild horses in Hustai National Park, onwards to historic Kharkhorin and the Orkhon valley are all worth a visit. I did 4 days of horse riding from the Orkhon Waterfall to Naiman Nuur National Park which would add that many days to your itinerary but honestly you could do this in many places and it will be stunning. I highly recommend doing a multi day horse trek with a nomad guide at some point in your trip. In UB the Naadam Festival is a national event with press and everything that consists of an opening festival and the “three manly sports” of wrestling, archery, and horse riding. It is like a small-scale national Olympics but good luck getting a ticket to the opening ceremony from the scalpers on the morning of the event. You’ll need the luck and about 90$ USD!

5 Days: The Gobi (South):
The Gobi has desert landscapes similar to the southwestern United States such as Tsagaan Suvargan, andBayanzag but more unique sites include the ice canyon of Yolyn Am, towering sand dunes at Khongor and the legacy of the communist genocide at the ruins of the Ongi Monastery. If you don’t want to go back to Ulaanbaatar, Gaya’s guesthouse and other tour operators can have you continue from Kharkhorin.

I never got to the other three regions of Mongolia but fellow travelers I met were able to explain their itineraries to visiting these places.

6 Days (+ 5 Days Minimum for Reindeer Nomads): The North
The north has Amarbayasgalant Monastery which may be the largest in Mongolia, the hub of Mörön and the dark blue Khuvsgul Lake. Perhaps most significantly and most difficult to reach are around 700 remaining reindeer nomads who ride these animals as mounts if you know where to look for and reach them.

6 Days: The Altai (West)
The western Altai region has towering mountains at the Altai Tavan Bogd National Park and the Olgii Eagle festival where the mostly ethnically Kazakh population have trained eagles to hunt. The regional hub is Olgii which would be worth it to fly to from UB rather than the 24+ hour bus ride

? Days: The East
No one I met had been to the mysterious East so maybe this would be the best place to go if you really want to discover something new.

Final Day: Depart Ulaanbaatar

Food
This is a vegetarian’s and especially vegan’s nightmare: every dish will be a meat (usually mutton), dairy and fat heavy meal. Tsuivan is the noodle dish of meat and noodles, buuz are the steamed meat dumplings and khuushuur are the fried empanada-looking dumplings. A common greeting is with milk tea which is sometimes salted and curd which is like sour hardened yogurt. The amount of things the Mongolians do with milk is honestly impressive: there are things I barely know how to describe. Airag is fermented mare’s milk (not my favorite) and arkhi is the vodka equivalent (much better and more refined). Sometimes dumplings are even served in the milk tea! Just remember “Mongolian barbecue” is a Taiwanese invention with no connection to the country it is named for. Instead a stewed root vegetable and meat dish called khorkhog which is cooked with heated stones in a pressure cooker is the prime barbecue here. Extremely limited seasonings and few vegetables means it is all hardy and somewhat plain food. Central Asia and Mongolia should be avoided by anyone trying to cut down on red meat consumption.

Accommodation
This really depends where you are in the country. In UB and other regional capitals and “cities” there are guesthouses available that operate like hostels and are going to be a traveler’s best friend. They can set up the necessary logistics to get a driver and establish an itinerary or help you figure out really any logistics for travel. In Kharkhorin, Gaga’s guesthouse is one such example. Beyond the cities most of the time you will be staying in gers. In most other countries these temporary round structures are known as yurts. These come in a few general layouts. The high end tourist camps will have permanent structures which just mimic the nomadic tents. Some gers are set up just for tourists and yet others are in all practicality just a spare ger from a nomad family. They are usually concentric around a fireplace and chimney to stay warm and have 2 posts in the middle with beds and curio cabinets on three walls with the fourth having an elaborately carved door. It is not uncommon for there to be a distillery set up in the middle or other facilities for dairy processing. There are small stools and usually tables to pull out for eating but it is common to just use the beds as benches as well. Usually guest gers won’t have running water facilities (I went five days without a proper shower) and bathrooms are a hole in the ground somewhere; sometimes without any walls so be prepared and their electricity comes from solar panels and car batteries. Most tourist camps both high and low end will have a water tank for showering and power has scheduled hours if the facilities are working properly.

Transportation

Besides a bus I took to Kharkhorin all travel I did was either with a driver or a horse. Please consider how few roads exist in the country between the natural sites. Only 10% of roads are paved and the possibility of getting lost is high so unless you are extremely confident do not drive by yourself. If you are like me and adverse to having a guide, just remember that this is the best way to experience life here. Your driver will unlock doors to the lifestyle here and they can make your experience here great. Unfortunately this means that any trip here is going to be expensive so find people doing similar things and split the price or join on group tours advertised at the guesthouses during the busy summer season. Remember how large the country is; this means long drives every day which is usually around 7 hours. Some of the ex-Soviet vans look really cool and were actually designed for military use but their 4x4 capabilities and large capacity have made them the vehicle of choice for many drivers for tourists in Mongolia.

Safety
Mongolia is wild, and all the concerns that would stem from camping in the extreme outdoors exist. Winters are straight up deadly and storms can appear out of nowhere in the summer. A horse trek can be fun and I highly recommend everyone to do it but I was bucked off in the first half an hour and I’ve ridden several animals (including horses) for several days in multiple countries. This goes to demonstrate the stubbornness of the horses that have grown up semi wild due to their free roaming nature. Car issues could be a huge problem as service stations are as sparse as cities which also means getting lost could be a concern. I will go further into why self-driving is not recommended in the transportation section below. That being said crime is relatively low and what does exist is in UB with a problem of alcoholism but standard precautions for any big city there would apply.