In the heart of the Gobi
Tour 222
A journey into the unknown Gobi, far away from the tourist streams to the unique Gobi oases and into the habitat of the Mazaalai (Gobi bear). A trip for the desert lover and expeditionary traveler.
This trip focuses exclusively on the region between the Altai foothills and the Gobi, the so-called “Trans-Altai-Gobi Region”. We deliberately skip the typical Mongolian sightseeing to allow more time for this region and for wildlife viewing. This region is famous for its oases and contains some remote sections with several national parks.
Description
The dimensions of the Gobi Desert are gigantic. About 2,000 kilometers long and up to 1,000 kilometers wide, the desert stretches from Ulan Bator in the north to the Kunlun Shan Mountains in the south, from the foothills of the Tien Shan in the west to Manchuria in the east. For a long time, the exact demarcation was only vaguely defined, and it still is today. The Gobi is thus considered the second largest desert on earth after the Sahara.
The habitat of the Gobi bear is unusual and unique in the world. Brown bears are actually found in large forest areas and not isolated in the desert of the Transaltai Gobi in the south-western tip of Mongolia on the border with China. The region has been declared a strictly protected nature reserve.
Because of the lack of water and the inhospitable landscape, the area is almost deserted. Even the frugal goats hardly find enough food to survive in this area. Only some oasis areas and the outskirts are populated.
In the southern part of the Gobi almost at the Chinese border there are some Gobi oases. The largest and also managed oasis is Echin Gol. All other oases are managed only temporarily. The majority of them are lonely and difficult to reach. The optimal retreat for the Gobi bear.
This trip will also give you enough time to get in touch with the life of the nomads in the Gobi. You will be able to experience the hospitality of these very scattered nomads. The life of these people is determined by nature and its rhythm. The camel is still the most reliable means of transportation, wool and meat supplier in the Gobi.
This area in Mongolia is very little discovered by tourism and offers long distances, deep insights into the original nomadic culture.
Itinerary
| 1. Day | Arrival in Ulaanbaatar, airport transfer, check-in at hotel, program briefing. After that we will visit Ulaanbaatar. You will visit the famous Gandan Monastery with the 27 mtr high Buddha statue. The monastery museum of the Tschojdshjin – Lama, the important Lama in the history of Mongolian Buddhism and a small city tour are also on the program. In the evening you will visit a folklore performance with traditional musical instruments, snake girls and the famous throat singing. |
| 2. Day | Early in the morning you will be picked up from your hotel and transferred to the bus station. From there, a comfortable coach will take you directly to Bayankhongor, where you will arrive in the late afternoon. There will be frequent breaks along the way. In Bayankhongor you will be met by our team and after a short city tour you will be taken to your hotel. |
| 3. Day | Departure from Bayankhongor, after we have bought the last fresh food. Our destination for today is Buuntsagaan Nuur. A lake in the valley of the Gobi Lakes. The drive there takes us through different landscapes. The lake, being drainless, is saline, but there are a lot of bird species at its edge, in the wet zone. |
| 4. Day | From Buuntsagaan Nuur today we will go to Amarbuyantyn Monastery, which is located on the edge of the Gobi. Before that we have to pass through the small village of Bayan Undur where we replenish food and gasoline, because for the next few days we will not have the opportunity to do so. Then we drive through a daredevil mountain passage and in the early afternoon we reach the monastery Amarbuyantyn. The monastery was founded in 1697 by Tsogchin Khural during the reign of Sonom Ishii. It is the largest monastery in southwestern Mongolia and there used to be over 41 temples. There is a historical record that the 13th Dalai Lama visited the monastery when he visited Khalkha. The first incarnation of Amarbuyant Monastery was Dugar Zaisan. Since the first incarnation, 7 incarnations have been identified. The two characters have a history dating back to a time when Buddhism was not widely practiced in Mongolia. In early 1937, the Amarbuyant Monastery was closed due to the repression of the time. Small companies and trading posts from China and Russia had settled in the area and there were more than 10,000 people living in the surrounding area. The monastery became famous because of the monk "Dugar Zaisan". He lifted the evil curse of the Tibetan monks. |
| 5. Day | Now we are really going into the Gobi. We drive from the monastery Amarbuyant directly south to the "Dund Toli Bulak". Bulak can be translated as spring and we will encounter it several times on this trip. We will continue our journey in the direction of "Shar Hulsny Bulag". The road leads through a bizarre rocky region. Near Tsahiurt Uul we will finish our journey for today. |
| 6. Day | We are now in the area where the Gobi bear lives. Not that a Gobi bear will run across our path right away, that is rather unlikely, but in the breaks and in the evening there is definitely the possibility of it. Today we will walk the rest of the way to the "Shar Hulsny" springs. People, or nomads we will meet on this day possibly in the late afternoon at the springs. We are now following the route taken by the 13th Dalai Lama in 1904 when he fled to Mongolia to escape the Younghusband expedition that had previously invaded Tibet. The 13th Dalai stayed at Shar Hulsny Oasis for several days before continuing on his way to Amarbuyant Monastery. |
| 7.Day | The day is planned for exploration around the oasis Shar Hulsny Bulag. North of the oasis there is a valley with all the debris from the mountain. More interesting is the mountain range further south with its many gorges. Here we will try to go a few kilometers into the mountains. The oasis Shar Hulsny Bulag used to be a crossroads of two important caravan routes. One ran from north to south from Amarbuyant Monastery across the Black Gobi to what is now the Chinese province of Gansu. The second route ran from east to west. The gorge where the oasis is located was also a place where robbers liked to stay, waiting for caravans. |
| 8.Day | Drive to Tsagaan Burgasny Bulag oasis. Here is a small research station for the Gobi bear. However, the station is not manned continuously. Continue towards Hatan Suudlyn bulag. At this source there is also a border post of the Mongolian government, because it is not far to the Chinese border. In Tsagaan Burgasny Bulag we will stay for some time. |
| 9. Day | Drive to the only inhabited Gobi oasis in Mongolia Ekhiin Gol. Translated, it means something like "Mother River." This fertile oasis deep in the southern Gobi produces an enormous amount of fruits and vegetables and is probably the only place in Mongolia where travelers are served tomato juice instead of tea when entering a ger. Until about 1920, opium was illegally grown here by Chinese farmers, until the lama and freedom fighter Dambijantsan abruptly ended the matter by summarily slaughtering all the Chinese farmers. Ekhiin Gol is located at the foot of the famous mountain "Segs Tsagaan Bogd", more than 1,100 km from Ulaanbaatar and a good 180 km from the nearest inhabited village. |
| 10. Day | Today we will spend in the oasis Ekhiin Gol. This day is a "buffer day" because we can’t plan exactly the whole course of the trip, due to the extreme route. The oasis is an Eldorado for the bird lover. A total of more than 50 different bird species can be observed here with a little luck. Alternatively, the oasis offers some recreational fun at one of the two lakes that have been created in the middle of the oasis. But one thing is for sure, after the long time without vegetables, we will again indulge in fresh vegetables. |
| 11. Day | We set off for our next destination, the sandstone formation "Khermen Tsav". Khermen means "wall" and Tsav means "crevice". Thousands of years of erosion have formed this majestic gorge. Deep orange-red are the sandstone cliffs and extremely deep, furrowed by rainwater and wind erosion. At the highest points, the gorges are up to 1000 mtr. deep. The journey to this natural beauty is not easy, however, and leads us over long distances through absolutely uninhabited territory. |
| 12. Day | Hiking through the gorges of the Kherman Tsav. Hiking through the Khermen Tsav is like hiking through an ancient city ruin with many religious stupas and temples. At least that is what the many rock formations look like. This area was the bottom of the sea ages ago, was uplifted by plate tectonics, and wind and rainwater have exposed many interesting rock formations. The American archaeologist Roy Chapman Andrews called this place "The End of the World". Khermen Tsav is famous for its natural beauties as well as for its numerous fossils of dinosaurs, which can be found here without any problems. |
| 13. Day | Drive to the Tsulganaij oases. These oases are located a bit off the track, on the edge of the Gobi Reserve. The Tsulganaij oases are about 10 km long. The oases, like many oases in the Gobi are uninhabited, or only sporadically inhabited. Depending on how the summer is, a small stream, which also invites for bathing, can meander through the oases. In the afternoon we continue our journey via the spring "Naran Daats" to the gorges of the Nemegt Mountains. |
| 14. Day | Nemegt Canyon or Nemegt Basin is located in Umnugovi Province and stretches across the Gobi Desert. Scenically, this region is rather inconsequential, but what has made the Nemegt so famous are its underground treasures. Countless fossils have been found in Nemegt Canyon, including dinosaur skeletons and dinosaur eggs. Hike through the canyons of Nemegt. With a little luck, we will find dinosaur bones in the canyons of Nemegt. |
| 15. Day | Drive through the southern Gobi to the region of the village Severey. On the way there, we pass the small salt works "davsnii uildver". Here the once most precious product salt is extracted naturally. The salt, which is produced by evaporation in the nearby drainless lake, is extracted by hand in this salt works and prepared for transportation. |
| 16. Day | Fahrt in die südliche Gobi in Richtung der kleinen Ortschaft Noyon. Die Strecke führt über kleine Sandfelder und entlang vieler Sicheldünen. Diese kleine Ortschaft wurde 1923 gegründet und Weiterfahrt in Richtung Bayandalay, südlich vom Gobi Gurvan Saikhan National Park. |
| 17. Day | We will drive east on the southern side of the Gobi-Gurvansaikhan Mountains to the Dungenee Gorge. Through this unique gorge we will enter the Gobi-Gurvansaikhan Mountains from the south. Right at the beginning of the gorge the valley narrows so much that our vehicle only barely fits through. Afterwards we experience the wild romantic rocky landscape of the Gobi-Gurvansaikhan Mountains. Hike through the Vulture Gorge (Joly Am), where large masses of ice remain until well into the summer. A small river flowing through the gorge forms the large ice masses in winter, which melt only slowly in summer. In summer it is pleasantly cool in the gorge. Then we drive to our yurt camp, where we will enjoy a hot shower and a real bed after the many days in the Gobi. |
| 18. Day | We continue through the Gobi to the rock step "Tsagaan Suwarga", which translated means "White Stupa". The rock formation, about 60 meters high and over 400 meters wide, consists of sedimentary rock. Over centuries, wind and weather have shaped the cliffs and given them their bizarre appearance. The nomads worship the rocks and call them, the "revered, dearest whites". The original seabed, has created here an interesting limestone rock formation, with a magnificent play of colors. Just in the setting sun, the rocks shine in a bright orange. We will also visit the "petroglyphs" (rock drawings / carvings), a kilometer-long band where individual rock drawings can be found again and again. The rock drawings are the oldest drawings in Mongolia. Unfortunately, in recent years many of the drawings have been destroyed by vandalism. The remains are now better protected. |
| 19. Day | Drive towards Baga Gazriin Chuluun (Small Earth Mother Stones), a unique rock formation within Mongolia and hike through the unique rock landscape of Baga Gazriin Chuluun (Small Earth Mother Stones). From the perfectly straight steppe landscape, mountains of granite grow on the horizon, which have been abraded by the hard wind and the little rain, over thousands of years and formed into interesting rock sculptures. A lunar landscape, 20 kilometers wide with the highest point at 1,706 meters in the middle of the flat Gobi Desert. In the 19th century there was a small hermiDaye in the area and you can still find the rock paintings of the monks. The rocks are sacred for the Mongols, there is also a legend that Chingges Khan should have set up his yurt in this place. The central rock / mountain is 1978 mtr. high. If you climb it, you will be rewarded with a magnificent view. In this area there are many small springs and also a small mountain lake. |
| 20. Day | Return to Ulaanbaatar and in the afternoon you will have the opportunity to explore the city independently. |
| 21. Day | Early flight back home |
| *) Program and route may be subject to change. Binding is the itinerary as it is sent in the booking confirmation | |
Facts
| Service specification overview | |||||||||
| Category | |||||||||
| Travel time and overnight stay | A | B | C | D | Transport | ||||
| Travel time in the country | 21 Day | Int. flights | – | ||||||
| Hotel twin | – | – | – | 3 | Int. Rail journey | – | |||
| Guesthouse | – | – | 3 | – | Domestic flight | – | |||
| Sleeping car 4 or 2 bed comp. | – | – | – | – | Domestic bus trip | – | |||
| Gercamp Twin | – | – | – | 3 | Off-road vehicle | ✔ | |||
| Guest ger b.Nomads | – | 3 | 3 | – | Motorcycles BMW 650 | – | |||
| Tent | 18 | 14 | 14 | 14 | Mountainbike | – | |||
| Self-organized | 3 | 3 | – | – | Support vehicle | – | |||
| Horses | – | ||||||||
| Food service | A | B | C | D | Camel | – | |||
| Restaurant Ulaanbaatar | – | – | – | 1 | Yack trolley | – | |||
| Breakfast | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | – | ||||
| Lunch | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | |||||
| Dinner | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | Optional Prices on request | ||||
| Self-organized | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | Int. flights | – | |||
| Business Class | – | ||||||||
| Service | A | B | C | D | Single room | – | |||
| Breakfast b. Arrival | – | – | – | ✔ | Single ger | – | |||
| Citytour Ulaanbaatar | – | – | ✔ | ✔ | Single ger | – | |||
| Airp.-/Train station transfer | – | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | LUX ger | – | |||
| Guide | ✔ | Off-road vehicle westl. | – | ||||||
| Entrance fees museums | ✔ | Veg. Food flight | – | ||||||
| Entries Nat.parks | ✔ | Veg. Food on the way | – | ||||||
| Entrance Nadaam festival | – | Cancellation insurance | – | ||||||
| Photo/film fees | – | ||||||||
| Alcoholic drinks | – | ||||||||
| 2 l drinking water p. day | ✔ | ||||||||
Map
Dates 2022
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Dates 2023
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