Experience Mongolia as you explore two of the country's most iconic landscapes: Terelj National Park and the Gobi Desert. Hike, ride horses, and explore nomadic life and culture.
Meet your guide at Ulaanbaatar’s airport and check into the five-star Novotel Ulaanbaatar in the heart of Mongolia’s cosmopolitan capital. (D)
Monday, June 22Oasis in The Gobi Desert
Fly to Dalanzadgad, the capital of South Gobi Province, located in the shadow of the Three Beauties Mountain Range. The mountains provide shelter and sustenance to nomadic herders, their herds and myriad wildlife. Hike through Yolyn Am Canyon. The high rock walls, covered in juniper and wild rhubarb, form an oasis home to Lammergeier bearded vultures and Siberian ibex. Settle into a ger at Dream Gobi Lodge for your two nights in the desert. The lodge is the desert’s premier resort, a community-based oasis of excellent food and service in the stillness of the Gobi. (B,L,D)
Tuesday, June 23Flaming Cliffs
Start the day by meeting a family who raise the Gobi’s most iconic animals: two-humped Bactrian camels. Learn more about these remarkable animals on a camel ride through the gently undulating Molstog Els Sand Dunes. Then, explore the red sandstone Flaming Cliffs. The cliffs, rich in dinosaur fossils, are renowned for the world’s first discovery of dinosaur eggs, uncovered in 1923 by an American Museum of Natural History expedition led by zoologist Roy Chapman Andrews. (B,L,D)
Wednesday, June 24Terelj National Park
Fly back to Ulaanbaatar, and travel east to Terelj National Park, a mixed area of steppe, forest and dramatic rock formations. Mount one of Mongolia's famed horses and explore the area on horseback. Spend the night at a ger camp in Terelj. (B,L,D)
Thursday, June 25Genghis Khan
From Terelj, take a day trip to visit the towering 131-foot tall Genghis Khan Statue, built in 2006 for the 800th anniversary of the Mongol Empire. (B,L,D)
Friday, June 26Ulaanbaatar
Return to the city and join your tour leader on a walking tour of Mongolia’s capital city. Visit Sukhbaatar Square, walk through the country’s history at the new Chinggis Khaan National Museum, and visit Gandantegchenlin Monastery, the center of Mongolian Buddhism. Enjoy a folk music and dance performance by the renowned Tumen Ekh Ensemble, followed by a farewell dinner with your fellow travelers. (B,L,D)
