Discover Mongolia - Eagle Festival

Our adventure starts in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital city. There are no activities planned for today to allow for different arrival times. If you have time to explore some of the sites we recommend visiting Sukhbaatar Square, the National Museum and the landmark State Department Store. Around 6pm, say hello to your tour leader and fellow travellers, when we gather as a group for the first time to get to know each other and learn more about the adventures ahead. Your tour leader then ensures a big welcome by arranging a group dinner at a nearby restaurant. Want more time in Ulaanbaatar? Secure pre-tour hotel nights through your sales representative.

In the morning we head west out of Ulaanbaatar towards Karakorum, making a detour to the KhustainNuruu National Park, 2 hours west of Ulaanbaatar. KhustainNuruu is famous for the re-introduction of Mongolia's wild horse. The Takhi Horse or Przewalski's horse was once native to Mongolia and almost became extinct earlier this century, though thanks to the efforts of several Mongolian and international organizations, these magnificent wild horses now roam once again on the steppes of KhustainNuruu National Park. We will visit the Project Information Centre and take a guided hike to see the wild horses before spending our first night in a traditional Mongolian Ger.

After breakfast we continue our journey westwards towards Karakorum along an asphalt road. Today's destination, the Mongol Els or 'Little Gobi Desert' as it is known, is a unique belt of sand dunes in the steppe. Arriving at lunchtime, we check into a nearby ger camp and after lunch head out to explore the surrounding region. It is an incredible sight to witness the Bactrian camels wandering the desert dunes whilst horses graze on the green steppe nearby. We will also visit Mt Khogno Khan, the small temple at its base. This region is also renowned for its birdlife, including steppe eagles.

We start the day with a (90km) transfer to the 13th century capital of the Mongol Empire - Karakorum. Karakorum was established by Ogedei Khan and remained the Mongols power base until Khublai Khan established Beijing as the capital. Here we will visit the Erdene Zuu Monastery (meaning Hundred Treasures), this is the largest Monastery in Mongolia, built in 1586 under the direction of Abtai Khan on the ruins of the ancient capital. Much of the monastery was destroyed during Stalin's purges of the 1930's but an impressive wall with 108 stupas and a number of temples still remain.

We drive on a paved road to Arvaikheer, the capital of Ovorkhangai Aimag and on the northern edge of the Gobi. On the way to Arvaikheer we visit Shankh Monastery, once the home of the great Mongolian theorist Zanabazar. We should arrive at Arvaikheer during the middle of the afternoon and check into our hotel. In the afternoon there will be time to visit the local museum, which contains nature collections, stone figures and Turkic scripts.

After an early breakfast we start towards Orog Lake via Bayanteegsoum, a coal-mining centre. Passing over Taats River, the majestic Ikh Bogd Mountain should be visible in the distance, the highest mountain in the Gobi Altai Mountain Range. We stop for a picnic lunch and then skirt the eastern edge of Mt Ikh Bogd, travelling a further 80km southwest to the Gobi Camels Ger Camp where we spend the night.

We start our journey southwards with a short drive (2-3 hours) to the Bayan Mountain Range to view petroglyphs (Rock Art), called Bichigt Khad. The rock inscriptions and pictures here date back to 3000 BC; we will see paintings including depictions of ibex, argali and men riding horses. It is possible to see some of these from the vehicles (better so with binoculars) but for those who wish, it is also possible to hike up to the cliffs for closer inspection of these Bronze Age works of art (the main cliff is a steep climb for 50-60m and walking poles are required so we usually visit the smaller cliff, which is more accessible). Our journey then continues through classic Gobi desert scenery of flat stony plains mixed with small rocky outcrops and patches of sand across the Khatan Suudal Steppe. We stop for a picnic lunch on the way, with views of the Bogd Mountain to the north. After lunch we head off to our ger camp in the Kongoriin Els sand dunes and should arrive there in the late afternoon.