Altai Tavan Bogd national park tour 2024 /10 days/
SHORT DESCRIPTION
Mongolia, the ancient realm of Genghis Khan, has emerged from the shadow of Communism and is now open to the world. Meet one of the last nomadic cultures on earth, where a traditional way of life endures as it did a millennium ago. Just three million people inhabit a country the size of Western Europe, half of them still living in portable felt tents called Ger and moving seasonally with their animals. The tour takes 8-9 days to cover the most popular travel destinations including Altai mountains, nomadic lifestyle, horse riding and hiking on the sacred mountains of Mongolia.
- CATEGORY: DISCOVERY TOURS
- AVAILABLE: MAY TO OCTOBER
- DURATION: 10 DAYS, 9 NIGTHS
- DESTINATION: WESTERN MONGOLIA
ESSENTIALS
GUIDE
A Chinese, English or Russian speaking Mongolian guide will accompany the group at all times. The guide will be a native Mongolian person with great local knowledge who can deal with any requests and ensure that your holiday to become one of the most unforgettable experiences of your life.
TRANSPORT
This trip you have a two choice. First one is a highest level, latest model, air-conditioned private 4WD vehicles for the maximum comfort on your touring days. And second choice is Russian 4x4 Van. Also with 20 years’ experience drives.
MEALS
In Mongolia, you will be dining at fine American, European and Asian cuisine restaurants. Mutton, beef, rice and noodles form the basis of the Mongolian diet, so your meals will be based around this. However, the trail rations may include vegetables, eggs, peanut butter, cheese and sometimes yak! On some days there will be lunchboxes from our cook.
PERSONAL THINGS TO BRING WITH YOU
Warm thin layers of clothing are the best such as bring a rain jacket, gloves and hiking booth. Don’t forgot first aid kit (medicine for headache, cold, diarrhea, runny nose; bandages; any medicine prescribed for you). All your camera equipment.
TOUR PACKAGE PRICE
Group size | Package Price/Pax |
3 to 10 pax | 2000USD |
1st round | 30th of July to 9th of August |
2nd round | 9th to 19th of August |
3rd round | 20th to 30th of August |
No | Include service | Exclude service | Include service of Meals |
1 | Vehicle with a driver. | Items of personal nature | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
2 | English speaking guide | Beverages, alcoholic drinks, bar bills, laundry | Per day 3 bottle water for per person /1,5 liter/ |
3 | Accommodation/Ger camps and Hotel/ | Travel and insurance | One time Mongolian traditional food /lamb with vegetables/ |
4 | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner | International transportation | |
5 | All cooking and camping gears. | Taxi | |
6 | Airport shuttle | Optional activities | |
7 | National park and border office permits (area you will go is close to China and Russia border) | Single supplement /For hotel or Ger camp/ | |
8 | Domestic flight tickets | Gratuity for the tour team |
TOUR ITINERARY
Day 1 - Ulaanbaatar city capital of Mongolia
Arrive in Ulaanbaatar, welcomed by Travel to Mongolia’s staff at Chinggis Khan international airport. Drive to your Hotel. After the lunch at Mongolian Nomads restaurant, we will see Mongolian National museum and visit to Gandan monastery. Drive back to Hotel after the dinner.
Distance | Route | Drive time | Accommodation | Food |
n/a | n/a | n/a | Hotel | Dinner |
Day 2 - Ulgii city, Bayan-Ulgii province
Arrive Ulgii city. on this day we will visit to local black market, local museum and hanging out day in Ulgii city. Over night at Hotel. Bayan-Ulgii is a unique place in Mongolia, home of the Kazakh ethnic group. The Kazakhs have a rich culture, close extended families, and many traditions that are still practiced today that are centuries old. Kazakh is the language of everyday communication, with Mongolian used for inter-ethnic interactions and official communication. Islam is the primary religion of the Kazakhs. Today, many Kazakhs in Bayan-Ulgii maintain traditional semi-nomadic herding by moving with their animals several times a year, and living in a Kazakh style ger (larger and taller than a Mongolian ger) during the summer.
Distance | Route | fly time | Accommodation | Food |
1280km | Air way | 2 hours | hotel | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 3 - Ranger station, Altai Tavan Bogd mountain
From Ulgii heading towards to Ranger station of Tavan Bogd mountain. 3000 meters height from sea level. Arrive at the Ranger station where many Tuvan nomads spend their summer. Experience differences of nomadic lifestyle. On your way you will stop to see Deer Stones and overnight in tent.
Altai Tavan Bogd National Park is located on the Western most point of Mongolia in Bayan-Ulgii Province. This vast mountainous park borders China and Russia with views of Kazakhstan from the highest peak in Mongolia.The people living inside the park are one of the main draws. Kazakhs and Tuvan nomadic herders live inside the park and visiting them is part of most tours. The Kazakhs are the most numerous and the ones that do eagle hunting. They are known for their colorful large ger with rich embroidered wall hangings and their warm hospitality. Tuvans occupy the Tsagaan Gol valley or White river valley and have different clothes, food, and language than Mongols. Tuvan men sing deep eerie long-songs using throat-singing, though very few Tuvans in this isolated pocket have mastered the art.
Distance | Route | Drive time | Accommodation | Food |
200km | Off-road | 5 hours | Camping | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 4 - Base camp, Altai tavan Bogd mountain
Today you will do half day of hiking and reach 20KM Long Potaniin glacier which is biggest glacier in Mongolia. Camping next to glacier. After lunch experience the glacier and come back at your camp. There are many glaciers in Mongolia on Altai range. Biggest glacier in Mongolia is Potanin Glacier on Altai Tavan Bogd national park. It’s 20 km long, and it hase huge ice rivers on it.
Activities with glacier are: You can walk on the glacier with expert tour guide, take photos, experience it, camp just next to glacier! (sunset on Glacier)
Distance | Route | hiking time | Accommodation | Food |
15km | n/a | 5 hours | camping | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 5 - Mt. Malchin/4050m/
Do hiking up to Malchin peak/4050m/. Malchin peak is the one of the highest mountains in Mongolia that bordering with Russia. You will have unreal views of Altai mountains. Come back to your camping spot.
The Tavan Bogd /five saints/ is a mountain massif in Mongolia, near the triple border with China and Russia. Its highest peak, the Khüiten Peak formerly also known as Nairamdal Peak, is the highest point of Mongolia at 4374 meters above sea level. The Tavan Bogd massif is located mostly within the Bayan-Ulgii Province of Mongolia its northern slopes are in Russia’s Altai Republic, and western, in China’s Burqin County. Besides the Khüiten Peak, the Tavan Bogd massif includes four other peaks: Nairamdal, Malchin, Bürged /eagle/ and Ulgii /motherland/.
Distance | Route | Drive time | Accommodation | Food |
n/a | n/a | n/a | camping | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 6 - Ranger station, Altai Tavan Bogd mountain
From glacier side start hiking and back to Ranger station. The place where Tuvan Nomads staying. Have rest. Enjoy healthy meal of your cook.
Distance | Route | hiking time | Accommodation | Food |
15km | n/a | 4 hours | camping | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 7 - Khoton lake, Altai Tavan Bogd national park
Drive from Ranger station heading to Khoton Khurgan lakes area where many Kazakh nomads stay during the summer time. Stop by snake river valley and see ancient burial mounds, petroglyphs and dear stones. Continue to drive to the lakes. Arrive at the Kazakh nomadic family. Settle down there for the next couple of days camping. Overnight in yurt. Lakes area is with trees, snow capped mountains, pristine lakes and mineral water rivers. Today we will slaughter a sheep and invite all other Kazakh neighbors and have five fingers feast. Sing songs and have fun with nomads. Slaughtering a sheep is a tradition of Kazakh when they have important guests at their yurts.
Khoton and Khurgan lakes are Located in the northern part of the Altai mountain range, near the Chinese border, in Bayan-Ulgii, the westernmost of the provinces of Mongolia, Khurgan and Khoton are 2 lakes situated at an elevation of more than 2.000m. The road to the lakes, located in Altai Tavan Bogd National Park, is gravel. It’s narrow, steep, and impassable in winters. Do not travel this pass in severe weather conditions. Avalanches, heavy snowfalls and landslides can occur anytime, being extremely dangerous due to frequent patches of ice. From October the surface of the lakes starts to freeze, creating then 1.3-1.6 m ice thickness.
Khurgan Lake lies at an elevation of 2,072m above the sea level, and Khoton Lake at 2,084m. It has a well-deserved reputation for being dangerous because of unpredictable snowstorms and blizzards, and driving under these conditions, can be extremely challenging. One of the most challenging parts of the route is a small wooden bridge over the lakes, with a length of 100m. This bridge tests the skill, and courage, of any driver. It’s definitely not for anyone suffering from vertigo and there’s little room for error on this section.
Distance | Route | Drive time | Accommodation | Food |
200km | off-road | 4 hours | camping | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 8 - Eagle hunter family, Altai Tavan Bogd national park
Hike to Ikh Turgen valley to see the beautiful waterfall coming from glacier mountains on big rocks. Hike back to the nomadic family. Stop by Eagle hunter’s family on the way back. See golden eagles and share eagle hunter’s lifestyle. Same day you will do short driving to the west side and camp next to khoton lake.
Baga Turgen waterfall is In Altai Tavan Bogd National Park located very easy accessible waterfall in Baga Turgen valley around Khoton and Khurgan Nuur area. This waterfall formed from small glaciers up the Altai range mountain and flows through local Kazakh nomads. This is very beautiful spot with gorges mountains and different lifestyles around. As easy to get there it is very good for short hiking through local Kazakh nomads meet their everyday activity, visit the waterfall, enjoy the perfect landscapes and even swim under that waterfall.
eagle hunter is a traditional form of falconry found throughout the Eurasian Steppe, practiced by the Kazakhs and the Kyrgyz in contemporary Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as well as diasporas in Bayan-Ulgii Provinces Bayan-Ulgii, Mongolia, and Xinjiang, China. Though these people are most famous for hunting with golden eagles, they have been known to train northern goshawks, peregrine falcons, saker falcons, and more. In both Kazakh and Kyrgyz, there are separate terms for those who hunt with birds of prey in general, and those who hunt with eagles. In Kazakh, both qusbegi and sayatshy refer to falconers in general. Qusbegi comes from the words qus bird and bek lord, thus literally translating as lord of birds. In Old Turkic, kush begiwas a title used for the khan’s most respected advisors, reflecting the valued role of the court falconer. Sayatshy comes from the word sayat falconry and the suffix -shy, used for professional titles in Turkic languages. The Kazakh word for falconers that hunt with eagles is búrkitshy, from búrkit golden eagle, while the word for those that use goshawks is qarshyghashy, from qarshygha goshawk. In Kyrgyz, the general word for falconers is münüshkör. A falconer who specifically hunts with eagles is a bürkütchü, from bürküt golden eagle.
Distance | Route | Drive time | Accommodation | Food |
20km | off-road | 1 hours | camping | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 9 - Ulgii city, Bayan-Ulgii province
Drive back to Ulgii city. Stay at local hotel.
Distance | Route | Drive time | Accommodation | Food |
200km | off-road | 4 hours | camping | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 10 - Ulaanbaatar city
Fly to Ulaanbaatar. That day you will visit Chinggis khan Equestrian Statue Complex. Evening prepare to back home at your hotel.
Distance | Route | fly time | Accommodation | Food |
1280km | Air way | 2 hours | hotel | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Day 11 - Home sweet home
Leave Ulaanbaatar. Our driver drop off to Chinggis Khan international airport. Thank you for visiting our country
Distance | Route | Drive time | Accommodation | Food |
70km | highway | 1 hours | n/a | Breakfast |
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