Itinerary

Day 1: Arrive in Ulaanbaatar and transfer to the hotel

Your driver meets you at the airport/train station and transfers you to a hotel located in the heart of the city (within 5 to 20 minutes' walking distance to the attractions in Ulaanbaatar).

Accommodation: 3* hotel
Meals: not included

Day 2: Fly to Ulgii, visit eagle hunting Kazakh family and explore their unique lifestyle

The driver meets you at the hotel and transfers you to the airport for a flight to Ulgii, a central town of Bayan-Ulgii. Bayan-Ulgii is a province where the national minority Kazakhs reside. The Kazakhs are the only Muslim people in Mongolia and are well-known that they have been keeping their traditions at their origin compared to the Kazakhs of other countries. You will land in Ulgii after a 2.5-hour flight. Meet your local guide and driver. The journey continues to an eagle-training Kazakh family's home. Discover their unique lifestyle, try Kazakh foods and stay with the Kazakh family.

Accommodation: Eagle hunter family
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 3: Riding to mountains and seeing the Eagle Hunting

You will mount on a horse (driving is available if you do not have much horse riding experience) and go to the nearby mountain to see how the Kazakhs hunt with the Eagles. Hunting animals will require days sometimes. Therefore, they use baits for the eagle hunting demonstration. Continue the nomadic eagle hunter’s lifestyle discovery, hear stories, and see how they train and treat the eagle. If you are a fit and adventurous rider, you can ride among the mountains with the eagle hunters for authentic hunting for a whole day.

Accommodation: Eagle hunter family
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 4: Ulgii town sightseeing

This morning, continue to explore Eagle Hunter’s life and the photography if required. Return to Ulgii town and refresh from the nomadic adventures. After lunch, Ulgii town sightseeing - a visit to the local market and climbing a hill to see the panoramic view of the town.

Accommodation: Local Hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5: Fly back Ulaanbaatar and Hustai National Park

Fly back Ulaanbaatar. Continue the journey to Hustai National Park, where the last survivors of the world’s wild horses are roaming free. The wild horses once roamed freely on the Mongolian steppes and Gobi Desert but became extinct by the 1960s. A project to reintroduce wild horses in their native land has been implemented successfully since the beginning of 1990 in Hustai National Park. Today there are more than 330 Takhi or Przewalski horses in the national park. Seeing wild horses sometimes require some hiking.

Accommodation: Ger camp
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 6: Elsentasarkhai, semi-desert area and more nomad experiences

After breakfast, drive to and arrive at Elsentasarkhai, known as the northern edge of the Gobi Desert. The winter picture of Elsentasarkhai is a combination of rugged mountains, snow-covered steppes, and sand dunes. Visit a nomad family and spend the rest of the day experiencing nomad life. Visiting a nomad family in winter brings happiness to them as fewer people visit each other's homes during winter. In the evening, sample an authentic Mongolian barbecue for dinner.

Accommodation: Extra ger of a nomad family
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 7: Learn to cook a traditional dish, horse and camel riding

Mongolia is home to the Bactrian Camels/ two-humped camels. The camels are the most beautiful and marvelous in winter. You will ride a camel for about 1-3 hours on the snowy steppes of the semi-desert. In the afternoon, you ride a horse for 1-3 hours. Learn to cook traditional Mongolian dumplings in the evening.

Accommodation: Extra ger of a nomad family
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 8: Return to Ulaanbaatar, visit Gandantegchilen Monastery

You will arrive in Ulaanbaatar after 5 hours of paved road driving. Visit Gandantegchilen Monastery in Ulaanbaatar’s ger district area. Gandan is the largest active monastery in Ulaanbaatar, where you will see the giant indoor gilded statue of a Buddha in a temple and observe the Buddhist Mongolians. Transfer to the centrally located hotel.

Accommodation: 3* hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 9: See the giant statue of Genghis Khaan and dog sledding

You will leave Ulaanbaatar at 9 am to travel to Gorkhi Terelj National Park. Today, you will dog sled for 30 min to cover a 5 km area. Hiking along the granite stone mountains of Terelj National Park and seeing the legendary Turtle Rock is optional. Next, visit the giant statue of Genghis Khaan. This 40 m tall statue is considered the tallest statue of an equestrian in the world. Return to Ulaanbaatar and have free time for shopping or optional activities.

Accommodation: 3* hotel
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 10: Departure

The driver transfers you to the airport/train station.

Meals: Breakfast

Price & Date

Background

This moderate Mongolian winter tour includes outdoor activities in the cold temperature, authentic local family stays, hiking in the snowy mountains, riding with an Eagle Hunter, 5 km dog sledding, and horse and camel riding at your favor and pace. The tour does not contain any demanding physical activities. All activities and sightseeing are optional. Traveling in Mongolia always requires long driving through changing landscapes. Although, we tried to plan the trip to have as little driving as possible. The approximate daily driving is 3-5 hours. The itinerary includes some light activities, such as 1-3 hours of soft hiking and horse and camel riding with the help of local wranglers. Stay in a fire heating ger, where no running water and WC is an experiential part of the tour. The most important thing is warm clothes. If you wish, you can borrow our traditional dress deel for added warmth (free of charge).

You can take the tour between 1 November and 15 March. Those are the time the eagles are trained and used for hunting. The rivers will be frozen when doing dog sledding. You can check the Mongolian monthly weather and pick the best month for you. Whether the climate is harsh or cold, you feel warm with the heartwarming hospitalities of nomads, the care of our travel team, and in the fire-heating traditional dwelling gers. To keep you warm and comfortable, the host families will make fire frequently in the gers. If you wish, we will supply the deel upon request. Please check the winter tour packing list for your winter tour preparation.

On tour, we will stay centrally located 3* hotel for 3 nights in Ulaanbaatar, 4 nights with nomad families, 1 night in a ger camp, and 1 night in a local hotel. WC and shower are available when staying at a hotel but not available when staying with the nomads.

Guides

Kazakh and English-speaking guides serve you during your western Mongolian experience. Kazakh guides can communicate with the Kazakh Eagle Hunter well and interpret you. Though, Kazakh guides tend to have more regional knowledge. If you wish, you can take a guide from Ulaanbaatar, which increases your tour price due to the domestic flight and accommodation fee in Ulgii. The advantage of traveling with a guide from Ulaanbaatar is they speak fluent English but tend to have a language barrier when communicating with the Eagle Hunters. We also have some guides who speak German, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese. They are all based in Ulaanbaatar. All guides are friendly and helpful. The majority of them were born and grown in the countryside. During horse and camel trekking, local wranglers will support you.

Tour Vehicles

Our winter tours are designed with four wheels driving Japanese cars driven by experienced, friendly, and good mechanic drivers. Different car types are available on request, and you may check the travel vehicle details at Mongolia transportation.

Rewiews