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Trip Rating Details
Challenging: Includes expedition style camping or stays with local families, where formal washing and toilet facilities may not be available. May include full-day hikes or rides (4 to 6 hours) over moderate terrain and occasional steep trails, or long driving distances on rough roads.
Packing List
This is a suggested packing list, which you should feel free to adjust to suit your needs. Please refer to our travel guide for more detailed information.
- backpack or soft bag
- sleeping bag (-5C)
- waterproof bag cover
- day pack
- head lamp/flashlight
- spare batteries/bulb
- personal medications
- towel
- riding boots
- rain jacket or poncho (see info)
- waterproof pants
- fleece jacket
- chaps
- riding helmet
- cotton t-shirts
- long sleeve shirts
- lightweight trousers
- shorts
- warm hat
- long underwear
- socks
- underwear
- sun hat
- gloves
- sandals
- sun glasses
- sun cream
- spare glasses
- walking shoes
- insect repellent
- resealing (ziploc) plastic bags
- binoculars/camera
- water bottle
- wet tissues
- watch/ alarm clock
- money belt/ pouch
- insurance confirmation copy
- emergency contact number
See our packing tips for detailed information.
Trip Information - In the Hoof Prints of Chinggis Khan
Day 1. Ulaanbaatar (D)
Arrival to Ulaanbaatar and transfer to your hotel. Depending on time of
arrival, you may have a short city sight-seeing tour. Evening welcome
dinner. Overnight in hotel.
Day 2. Ulaanbaatar/Nugaar (B,L,D)
After breakfast, we visit the museum of national history for a brief familiarization
with Mongolian nomadic culture and history. We will leave the city in
the late morning and drive to the valley of Nugaar, stopping for a picnic
lunch on the way. In the mid-afternoon we arrive at the summer camp of
a nomadic family where we will spend the night. Your guide and the family
will introduce you to the Mongolian horse, and the traditional equipment
used by Mongols for riding and caring for the horses. Dinner with the
family and overnight in tents near the family’s camp.
Day 3. Nugaar/Tsenkhermandal/Omnodelger (B,L,D)
We leave Nugaar in the morning and head across the valleys of Hentii province,
stopping to see Bronze Age tombs along the way. Arriving in Omnodelger,
we will visit a typical countryside market and explore the town. Dinner
and overnight in a hotel in Omnodelger.
Day 4. Omnodelger/Duurilag Nars/Chinggis Wall
(B,L,D)
Today we drive across large open river valleys, reaching the ruins of
Duurilag Nars, an ancient city, in the early afternoon. Here we will have
a picnic lunch and a chance to stretch before exploring the ruins. Road
conditions permitting, we will continue to the Chinggis Wall. Extending
across several hundred kilometers over Eastern Mongolia and across part
of China into Siberia, the wall is an enigmatic structure referred to
in local lore variously as a wall, a road, or a dam. Overnight camping
with a nomadic family.
Day 5. Chinggis Wall/Dadal (B,L,D)
We will drive into Dadal, the birthplace of Chinggis Khan, and meet up
with our horse guides today. You will have in introduction to the horses,
and we will do an equipment check and make any necessary adjustments to
your gear. We have a short check-out ride, then visit the village of Dadal
the birthplace of Chinggis Khan, returning to our ger camp for dinner
and an overnight in gers.
Day 6-8. Riding Along the Onon River (B,L,D)
We set out shortly after breakfast for two days of riding along the Onon
River, which features richly in the epic of Chinggis Khan’s life as a
young man. Following the river, we ride through a river valley which will
be dotted with the summer camps of herders at this time of year. We will
be camping for two nights near the river, arriving in the afternoon of
the third day in Binder. Dinner and overnight in a ger camp.
Day 9. Rest Day in Binder (B,L,D)
Today the horses have a rest day and free grazing time. The rest of the
group will explore Binder village, then go to look for the site of some
ancient ruins at Borbulag. You will see many wildflowers, and there are
sometimes wild strawberries in the foothills of this area. Dinner and
overnight in a ger camp near Binder.
Day 10. Binder/Batshireet (B,L,D)
On this day, we ride over the mountains from Binder into Batshireet, following
a very beautiful route through forests and meadows. Arriving in Batshireet,
we will have time to explore the village a bit, to visit with some local
people, and to sample the local Buryat bread and cream, excellent in late
summer. Overnight in Buryat cabins.
Day 11. Batshireet/Oglogchiyn Herem (B,L,D)
After breakfast, we ride out from Batshireet to Oglogchiyn Herem, an archeological
site locally referred to as the Almsgivers Castle. The world’s media erupted
with sensational headlines about this walled burial ground, when a research
team announced that the site may contain the remains of the Mongolian
khans and nobles, including those of Chinggis Khan. We will explore the
site, believed to have been originally built during the Hun period or
3rd century BC. A 3.2 km long, nine foot high stone wall encloses about
100 hectares of sparsely forested rocky mountain in which may lie up to
60 graves of Mongolian khans, princes and other nobles. The valleys around
the site are well known for their spectacular wildflowers and rock formations.
Overnight in gers or cabins nearby.
Day 12. Oglogchiyn Herem/Bereeven Khiid/Hangal
Nuur (B,L,D)
Today we say goodbye to our horses and local guides. Continuing by vehicle,
we drive through river valleys dotted with Bronze Age tombs and their
stone markers, heading south on the trail of Chinggis Khan as he rose
to power and began building an alliance of clans. We will stop at Baldan
Bereeven Khiid, an ancient monastery that has only recently become the
subject of renovation, and have a picnic lunch here. We spend the night
in a ger camp beside a small lake at the foot of the Hentii Mountains.
Day 13. Hangal Nuur/Har Zurhen/Kherlen River
(B,L,D)
Crossing some low mountain passes, we arrive at Har Zurhen at Hukh Nuur
(Blue Lake), the spot where the young Temujin was titled King of the Mongolian
United Tribes and named Chinggis Khan. Here we will enjoy some light walking,
and a picnic lunch before continuing to the Kherlen River. We will camp
overnight near the banks of the Kherlen, and have a traditional Mongolian
BBQ dinner.
Day 14. Kherlen River/Ulaanbaatar (B,L,D)
In the morning we will drive back to Ulaanbaatar on paved road, arriving
in time for a late lunch. After checking into the hotel and a having our
meal, we will go to the main square of the city for a short stroll, and
see the monuments recently put up in front of the parliament building
recognizing Chinggis Khan as the father of the Great Mongolian State.
In the late afternoon, we will visit the Black Market. This huge market
contains every single item a Mongolian might need, whether they are nomads
or urban apartment dwellers. Goods brought from all corners of Mongolia
are here for sale. Farewell Dinner. Overnight in 4 star hotel.
Day 15. Departure (B)
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your departing flight.
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