Pioneering Through the Wild West - Mongolia Eagle Festival

Arrival in Ulaanbaatar

 Sightseeing and Welcoming Dinner

You will be met at the airport and transferred to your 4-star hotel. After lunch at the hotel, there will be sightseeing in Ulaanbaatar, including the National History Museum and the Bogd Khan Palace, a series of beautiful traditional buildings where the last religious King of Mongolia resided. The Palace is now a museum displaying fascinating artifacts and costumes associated with the king, as well as his collection of European furniture and stuffed animals. There will be a welcome dinner at a local restaurant, before heading back to the hotel for the night.

Flight to Donoi – the Start of our Great Horseback Adventure and later The Mongolia Eagle Festival

Today we will get a flight to Uliastai town either in the morning or afternoon depending on the domestic flight schedule. On arrival in Uliastai town, we will me our local staff and driver and drive to the Zavkhanmandal soum, where the great sand dune, Mongol Els ( also known as Mukhar River)lies. Dinner will be served and we will have our first tented night in the wilderness in this area. Today we spend the day exploring the area. We will take a hike through the sand dunes to see the source of the river Mukhart River. Later we will meet our horseman and horses

Horse Riding along the Sand Dunes

After breakfast, we saddle our horses and for the next 2 days, we will ride from the Mukhart Gol River past the enormous and picturesque sand dunes. The Bor Khyaryn sand dunes are about 100 miles long and 8 to 10 miles wide. These are some of the biggest sand dunes in Mongolia. Our goal is to reach Zavkhanmandal by the end of the second day. Those who don’t wish to ride, can stay in the vehicles and drive the same direction, meeting the riding party at night.

Overland by Jeep to the Remotely Located Khyargas Lake

Today we will drive to Khyargas Lake located in the far northwestern aimag Uvs – named after the largest lake in Mongolia, Uvs Lake. Parts of the region are within the mountain basin Ubsunur Hollow protected as a World Heritage Site for being “one of the largest intact watersheds in Central Asia where 40,000 archaeological sites can be found from historically famous nomadic tribes such as the Scythians, the Turks and the Huns.”  Khyargas Lake is a 543 square mile saltwater lake up to 154 feet deep and with a 3300 foot elevation. The sunsets are spectacular here.  We camp by this lake tonight.

Overland by Jeep to Turgen Town – Preparing for Our Horse Riding Adventure!

After breakfast we head towards the small town of Turgen.  This is the traditional Autumn place for local nomads. We meet our horses and horseman here and test our horse riding skills to make sure we are matched with the right horse.  We camp by a local river

Today We Start Horse Riding Towards the Remotely Located and Stunning Uureg Lake! 

We have two full days of horse riding down the mountain valley towards the stunning Uureg Lake. Each day we will ride 13-16 miles, our support vehicles will follow us and serve meals on the way. The scenery is full of grazing herds of livestock. We will ride through here around the time when those families move back to their seasonal settlement and will be able to see how nomadic people move their gers using camels. The second night we will camp by the gorgeous Üüreg Lake. Surrounded by tall mountains it is a 92 square mile saltwater lake in an endorheic basin–” a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but converges instead into lakes . . .”  If we get here on time, we can take a refreshing swim.

Overland by Jeep towards the Beautiful Achit Lake

Today we drive toward Ulgii town via Achit Lake. It is the largest freshwater lakes in Mongolian Altai Mountain Range, covering 311 square kilometers. The length of lake is 30km, width is 16km and it lies at 1,464 meters above sea level. The lake is home to a few unique Mongolian fish that can typically only be found in the Altai region. The lakeshore is covered with steppes, mostly hilly but also swampy on the northwest and northeast. Late afternoon you will arrive in Ulgii town check in to local ger accommodation.

Attend The Mongolia Eagle Festival

After a relaxed breakfast, we drive to Ulgii, Parade of 250 Kazakhs on horseback with their eagles. Each hunter will demonstrate how well his bird is used to his command by calling him. Eagles are placed on a cliff nearby and are then called from below by the owners. In the afternoon there will be a race of amblers-an an exciting scene. In the evening watch a Kazakh concert consisting of traditional songs and dances. 

Their traditional dress is also slightly different to the Mongols as the men tend to wear large, black dels (the traditional Mongolian coat-dress) and small, bright hats.

The Mongolia Eagle Festival

Golden eagles display their speed and agility as each bird has to land as quickly as possible onto a fox skin that is being dragged by a horse. Now is the time for you to freely participate in the excitement of some traditional Kazakh games, such as ‘aitis,’ a poetry duel, ‘kyzkuar,’ a dating game played on horseback and ‘kokpar,’ a wild game played on horseback with a goatskin

Return Flight to Ulaanbaatar

We will drive to the local airstrip of Ulgii town for the flight to Ulaanbaatar. On arrival you will be taken to your 4 star hotel for dinner and rest.