1. Day 1 Arrival in Ulaanbaatar

   We’ll meet at a designated spot in Ulaanbaatar to begin our adventure, contact your Tour Manager for information about airport transfers.

   Once you’ve had a chance to relax, we’ll head out into the city for a bit of light exploration before heading to our first group meal.

    

   Accommodation: Hotel 9, Ulaanbaatar

   Included Meals: Dinner

2. Day 2 Into the Gobi Desert to Visit the Flaming Cliffs

   This morning it’s up and out early as we head back to the airport to catch our flight south to the heart of the Gobi Desert, the city of Dalanzadgad. This city has a real ‘frontier town’ feel to it, a place where it seems the 70,000 residents must be continuously sweeping sand from their doorways.

   Dalanzadgad sits to the east of the beautiful Gurvan Saikhan mountains and is considered by many to be the gateway to the Gobi Desert. However, most tourists pass through without realising they’ve visited. There may not be too much to see in this Soviet-era throwback. Still, the dusty regional museum is worth visiting not just to catch the badly stuffed animals and dusty exhibits but to gain some semblance of the region you’ve arrived in.

   Following a little light exploration, we’ll stock up on a few snacks for the road for the coming days before stopping at a local restaurant for lunch. With our stomachs full, we then say goodbye to the tarmac as we drive out into the vast nothingness of the Gobi Desert.

   The Gobi Desert is vast, and our foray onto its plains today only gives us a snippet of its actual size, for the gobi desert reaches into six Mongolian provinces (aimags) and crosses into China. The Gobi is the sixth-largest desert globally and the second in Asia, a wide-open place of extremes; our first stop is one of these extremes.

   Our main destination for today, Bayanzag – (the Flaming Cliffs), is stunningly beautiful with its flame-coloured sandstone cliffs and canyons. Aside from its obvious wow factor, Bayanzag is also where American palaeontologist Roy Chapman Andrews first discovered the world’s first-ever recorded dinosaur eggs and a mightly haul of various other fossils. A walk along the cliffs here is a walk in the footsteps of the man whom Indiana Jones was modelled on!

   Once we have finished our exploration, it’s off to the nearby Ger camp where we can relax, drink, and maybe return to the cliffs to catch the changing colours as sunsets, making a perfect end to an exciting day.

    

   Accommodation: Gobi Oasis Ger camp

   Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

3. Day 3 Journey to Khongor Sand Dunes

   The adventure continues as we bid farewell to the Flaming Cliffs, board our vehicles and journey onwards through the wilds of the Gobi Desert to the Khongor Sand Dunes (Khongoryn Els) also known as the Singing Sands.

   Along the route, we pass some of the typical Gobi terrain, a loose mix of pebbles, gravel and fine sand; however, we will cross a fertile area of steppe where we’ll be sure to visit one of the traditional nomadic families who call this desolate region home.

   The Khongor Sand Dunes, as the name suggests, are a dune system found within the Gobi; as only around 3% of the Gobi desert is covered in sand, the sight of these 300 metre high gigantic dunes is something to behold. The shifting sands of Khongoryn Els stretch out for over 180 km, although we arrive in the most impressive area and stay at a Ger camp with views across these giants.

   Once we have eaten lunch and waited for the day to cool a little, we’ll continue our adventure and visit one of Khongor’s resident camel herder families. Although most of these herder families are now in this region to supply camels to tourists, we can think of no better way to approach these monstrous sandy giants. After arriving, we will have time enough to climb and explore the dunes; it may take a little longer than you think to climb the amazing giants.

   If you are fortunate, you may also experience why they have the name the singing dunes, as when the wind blows across the sand’s surface in the right direction, an eerie sound is emitted, sounding like an aircraft to some and a hidden being to others.

   Another day nearing its end, but with much of the Gobi Desert’s natural scenery, the Khongor Dunes come alive at sunset. Maybe view them from the top of the dunes or the comfort of our relaxing Ger camp while enjoying a cold drink after dinner.

4. Day 4 Yol Valley

   After enjoying a filling breakfast in our Ger camp, it’s back aboard our vehicles as we continue the adventure.

   This morning it’s bumpy going as we leave the Khongor area, making our way to today’s destination, the Yol Valley.

   As we travel, we will be sure to stop for photos along the way as the landscape transitions from a typical sandy desert, hard clay, rock, stone and eventually steppe summing up how diverse the Gobi Desert really is.

   We’ll eventually arrive at the Gurvansaikhan Mountains heading into the Yolyn Am Gorge. Yol Yolyn Am means ’Vulture’s Gorge’. Yolyn Am is a magnificent mountain valley 40 km long and offers those who want to walk an exciting path.

   We begin at the valley’s wide entrance, following the small river into the canyons, narrowing cliffs eventually. As the step-sided walls cut the sun from the canyon’s bottom, we will catch a glimpse of the locally famous frozen river. Over the winter months, the river builds up a thick layer of ice, which thaws slowly and, at times, remains long into the summer months. As you follow the winding path, eagles rise to circle in the thermals high above the canyon whilst wild goats can be seen perched on the high valley walls and picas scurry amongst the rocky terrain.

   For those who may have used all of their energy climbing the dunes yesterday, there are plenty of horses for rent at the entrance of the canyon.

   Once we have finished at the Yol Valley, we will drive to our accommodation for tonight, another well-appointed Ger camp where we will have a chance to chat about our adventures over a drink or two.

    

   Accommodation: Gobi Oasis

   Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

5. Day 5 Return to Ulaanbaatar

   Today our tour sadly finishes but not before we catch our early morning flight from Dalangzad back to Mongolia’s thriving capital, Ulaanbaatar.

   Once we arrive at the capital airport, the tour is officially finished, if needed, you can wait for outbound bound flights, or we will happily take you into the city.

   Should you wish, we can arrange further accommodation, or you are welcome to join us for more adventures across the wilds of Mongolia.

    

   Included Meals: Breakfast

Gers, Gers, Gers