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Trip Rating Details
Easy: All nights in hotels or lodges, with any challenging physical activities optional. Easy walks, and comfortable driving distances over paved or moderate dirt 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)
- day pack
- head lamp/flashlight
- spare batteries/bulb
- personal medications
- towel
- hiking boots/shoes
- rain jacket with hood
- fleece jacket or wool jumper
- cotton t-shirts
- long sleeve shirts
- lightweight trousers
- shorts
- warm hat
- socks
- underwear
- sun hat
- sandals
- sun glasses
- sun cream
- spare glasses
- insect repellent
- resealing (ziploc) plastic bags
- binoculars/camera
- wet tissues
- watch/ alarm clock
- money belt/ pouch
- insurance confirmation copy
- emergency contact number
See our packing tips for detailed information.
Trip Information - Mysteries of the Gobi
Day 1. Arrival (D)
Arrival to Ulaanbaatar and transfer to hotel. Depending on time of arrival,
you may have a short city sight-seeing tour. Evening welcome dinner. Overnight
in hotel.
Day 2. Ulaanbaatar/South Gobi (B,L,D)
We begin the day with by exploring 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. A visit to the market is a colorful experience which
gives the visitor an insight to the everyday life of the people of Mongolia.
After lunch, we will catch the afternoon flight to the South Gobi. On
arrival we check into our ger camp, and you have free time to relax until
dinner. Overnight in ger camp.
Days 3 – 4. Gurvan Saikhan Camel Riding (B,L,D)
On this day we will be riding the desert ship - the two humped Bactrian
camel, across the Gurvan Saikhan mountain range. Camping overnight.
Day 5. Bayan Dalai/Noyon (B,L,D)
Leaving our camels saying goodbye to our camel guides, we drive from Bayan
Dalai to Noyon village. As we cross through the southernmost parts of
the Gobi, we will stop to see petroglyphs and the mirror rock. In the
early evening we arrive at Moon Valley. Camping overnight near the entrance
to Moon Valley.
Day 6. Moon Valley Hiking (B,L,D)
We will spend the day hiking along the bottom of moon valley, where a milky blue river flows out of the canyons to the north and we are shaded by high cliffs. Overnight camping next to a spring
in the valley.
Day 7. Moon Valley/Gurvantes Oasis (B,L,D)
Today we drive through the town of Gurvan Tes to a beautiful oasis, surrounded
by sand stone formations. Overnight camping next to the oasis.
Day 8. Gurvantes Oasis/Hermen Tsav (B,L,D)
From the oasis, we drive to Hermen Tsav, an impressive series of sandstone canyons in the southern-most
part of the Gobi desert, surrounded by interesting red rock formations and dotted with unusual desert plants.
Some of our guests have called this place the most beautiful part of the
Gobi desert. Overnight camping in Hermen Tsav.
Day 9. Hermen Tsav/Gurvan Tes (B,L,D)
From Hermen Tsav we return to Gurvan Tes, taking a route where it is possible
to see desert wildlife including wild ass, gazelles, and if we are lucky,
the very rare red Antelope.
Day 10. Gurvan Tes/Sevrey (B,L,D)
We drive from Gurvan Tes to Sevrey town, stopping on the way to visit
the Bronze Soldiers – a series of sandstone ridges that extend in ranked
formation for some 30 kilometers, and home to a large variety of wildlife,
such as ibex, wild goat and more. Viewed from afar, the sandstone ridges
look like an army standing in ranks. The only marble stele with runic inscriptions found in the Gobi desert is
located just south of Sevrey, and nearby is one of the largest Euroasian dinosaur cemeteries ever unearthed. Camping overnight.
Day 11. Sevrey/Khongoryn Els (B,L,D)
From Sevrey we drive to the Khongorin Els. This huge sand dune, spread
over a length of180 km and rising to up to 320 m high, is also known as
the Singing Sands. Extraordinary desert plants bloom here, and the dunes
shift constantly, forming sculptural shapes. We will take an easy hike
through the dunes. Overnight in a ger camp.
Day 12. A Day of Life in the Gobi (B,L,D)
Today we will spend the day with a herder’s family, learning about the
lives of the nomads that live in the desert. We will lend a helping hand
with the day’s chores, watering animals from the well, helping with the
milking and herding of animals, gathering fuel, and preparing food. You
will experience first hand what it means to live with the cycles of nature
in this harsh landscape. Dinner with the family and camping overnight
next to their home.
Day 13. Khongoryn Els/ Bayan Zag (B,L,D)
Known to westerners as The Flaming Cliffs, Bayan Zag (Rich with Saxaul)
is famed for its’ red sandstone cliffs which take on beautiful red and
orange hues during sunset. Sculptural Saxaul trees grow in the arid rocky
soil. The area is also recognized as one of the world’s largest dinosaur
graveyards. In 1921, the American Roy Chapman Andrews discovered here
some of the most important Paleontological findings of the last century.
Since then, hundreds of archeological expeditions have come to this remote
desert location, and even today with the assistance of local people dinosaur
fossils continue to be found in the area. Overnight in a ger camp.
Day 14. Yolin Am (B,L,D)
On this day we will explore Yolin Am canyon on foot. Yolin Am is part
of the Great Gobi National Park. The area is an oasis, attracting wildlife
from the area all around with water, good grazing, and sheltered canyons.
The wonder of this beautiful valley is the river of ice stretching across
the canyon floor, which survives the desert heat well into the month of
August every year, better known as the Gobi Glacier. A hike down the valley
offers us a great opportunity to observe wildlife, and enjoy the cool
waters of the stream that emerges from under the glacier.
Day 15. South Gobi/Ulaanbaatar (B,L,D)
Today we catch the first flight to Ulaanbaatar. After checking in at the
hotel, you will go on a sightseeing tour of the city which will include
a visit to the National History Museum, which holds a permanent exhibition
on the different civilizations that have inhabited the territory of Mongolia
from prehistoric times to the present, including a significant display
of objects from the era of the Great Mongol Empire. Afterwards, we will
take a stroll across the main square. Overnight in hotel.
Day 16. Ulaanbaatar (B,L,D)
In the morning we will visit Gandan Monastery, the center of Buddhism
in Mongolia. After lunch, we visit the Natural History Museum, where a
permanent exhibition of the flora and fauna of Mongolia is displayed,
including excellent examples of dinosaur skeletons excavated from the
Gobi Desert.Free shopping time in the afternoon. Mongolia is world renowned
for its fine cashmere and you will find this and many other souvenir items
in the city. Farewell dinner. Overnight in hotel.
Day 17. Departure (B)
Transfer to the airport for departing flight.
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