Khuvsgul Lake Ride

Introduction
Gobi Steppe Mongolia
Join our Horse Riding Holiday in Khuvsgul Lake, the blue pearl of Mongolia, and ride a strong Mongolian horse while exploring the Taiga region.

Your horse riding tour starts with a domestic flight to Murun, the aimag capital of Khuvsgul. Once in Murun, you will be transferred to the first field camp: Khurkhuree Am, located on the southern east edge of the Khuvsgul Lake and 125 km from Murun.
During this riding holiday, there are many chances to experience the mountains, rivers, steppes and forests. Our trailfinder and guide will choose the perfect location for camping for you to rest in the beautiful wilderness of Northern Mongolia.

Accomodation
 

Accommodations
This is a progressive ride, so you will be staying in different locations during the trip.

Description
You will be staying in a hotel for 2 nights, tented for 5 nights, and ger camp for 1 night. All accommodations are based on double occupancy. Private bathrooms are only available for nights spent in Ulaanbaatar. On all other nights, facilities are shared.

Accommodation Itinerary - subject to changes based on availability
Night 1: Bayangol Hotel in Ulaanbaatar
Night 2 & 3: Khurkheree Am tented camp
Night 4: Wolves Pass Camp
Night 5: Bulnai Mountain Camp
Night 6: Camp Borsog
Night 7: Camp Dalbaa
Night 8: Alagtsar Ger camp
Night 9: Bayangol Hotel in Ulaanbaatar

Bayangol Hotel in Ulaanbaatar
Ideally located in the city center, this hotel offers elegant and comfortable ensuite bedrooms. Each room is equipped with air conditioning, a TV, free Wi-Fi access and tea and coffee making facilities. Laundry is available for an additional cost.



Tented Camps
You will stay in spacious tent-tipis, with foldable bed-cots (bring your own sleeping bag). We take along a Mongolian tent to serve as our mobile restaurant, as well as showers and compost toilets housed in traditional Mongolian marquee style tents.


Room Occupancy
A single supplement fee applies for riders willing to have their own tent and own hotel room.



Meals
All meals are included in the trip except for lunch in Ulaanbaatar on day 9.

Our cook will prepare the meals. We pride ourselves in having excellent cooks adept at both western and Mongolian cooking on our trips.
We can usually buy fresh milk and yogurt from local herdsmen.
Picnic lunches will always be provided during the trail rides.

Alcoholic drinks are not included in this package but you are welcome to bring your own.

Dietary Restrictions
We can cater for vegetarians. Please make sure to advice us in advance of any dietary requirements that you may have.

This trip includes and can accommodate special dietary requests.

Riding

On this tour, apart from the short drive to the starting point of our horse riding adventure and back to the city, we will not rely on any motor vehicle support. Instead we use traditional wooden carts, that Mongolian families still use to move from one pasture to another. We travel with pack horses and riding horses.

Riding Experience
You should be a competent rider, fit and capable of riding at all paces confidently. Varying terrain, in the saddle for several hours on most days.

Tack
We will provide you Russian saddles, which are more convenient for "western bottoms" than the Mongolian equivalent. We provide a saddle bag if needed.

Staff
A Mongolian English speaking guide will accompany the group at all times. A cook will follow with the car van. In addition, the services of local herdsmen will be employed along with their animals. The horsemen follow a traditional lifestyle in the areas where we will be riding. If the group consists of five riders or more, we will also have a Mongolian doctor come along as part of the crew.

Itinerary
 

Sample Itinerary - subject to changes

Please note that this riding tour may be done in reverse for operational reasons.

Day 1: Arrival
Arrive in Ulaanbaatar. Transfer to your hotel. Tour briefing, followed by dinner.
Meals included: Dinner
Overnight at Hotel in Ulaanbaatar

Day 2: To Khurkheree Am
Transfer to the airport and fly on a domestic flight to Murun, the capital of Khuvsgul province. You will head out to Khurkheree Am tented camp via Hatgal town, 125 km from Murun. Picnic lunch will be provided on the way. After 5 o’clock tea at the camp, you will have brief meeting to get some instruction regarding riding and meet your horse guide and other staff. Then you can take a short ride in order to become familiar with your horse. Dinner at the camp.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at Khurkheree Am tented camp

Day 3: To Nariin Davaa
We will ride across rather hilly terrain with occasional patches of Siberian larch forest. Throughout the ride we will see the grandeur of nature and the edge of the lake and come across a couple of clean water rivers such as Nariin, Halkh, Kheekhter rivers. Picnic lunch will be provided on the way.
Our camp support structure is free from vehicles. All our provisions, camping equipment and luggage will be loaded onto horses. We will arrive at the camp just before 5 o’clock tea. After the tea, relax and we can walk around the camp.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at Khurkheree Am tented camp

Day 4: To Wolves Pass
We will have another nice day of riding. At noon, we will visit a nomadic family from Uriankhai ethnic group, located near Khukhuu tolgoi. Uriankhai (also written as “Uriyangkhai”, or Uryangkhai) is a Mongolian term applied to several neighbouring “Forest” ethnic groups such as the Altai Uriankhai, Tuvans and Yakuts and is one of 21 small ethnic groups existing in Mongolia. We will learn their daily life and get some experience of nomadic lifestyle before continuing our ride. Today's landscape features less trees (mostly steppe area). Picnic lunch will be provided on the way.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at Wolves Pass camp

Day 5: Hot spring of Bulnai Mountain
We will ride up-and down and across a couple of small and high mountain passes through thick forested area. This means that today’s riding will be a little bit slower than previous days.
Picnic lunch will be provided on the way. After relaxing, we will reach the hot spring of Bulnai Mountain (elevation 1600 meter) which is 40 km in north of Chandmani-Undur soum and located among big mountains covered by larch forests and granite cliffs. There are many geysers, of which temperatures are between 27-45 degrees Centigrade. The springs are situated in little wooden huts and are basically just a triangular hole cut in the wooden floor containing very hot water. The sulphat, chloride, sodium and calcium had been explored as chemical composition of the spring was analyzed in 1971. This spring is widely used for healing the neurogenic and pituitous disorders. We will explore the spring area for a while.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at Bulnai Mountain camp

Day 6: Camp Borsog
Today we will ride once more through thick forested areas. Picnic lunch will be provided on the way. The pace of today's ride will be a little bit slower. We might see some wild animals such as boar, roe deer, red deer, and moose. Picnic lunch will be provided on the way.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at Camp Borsog

Day 7: Camp Dalbaa
We will ride through the larch forests, up the slopes of the mountains and follow ridges that offer superb scenery. From time to time, the forests will suddenly start to appear and disappear while riding
towards Khuvsgul Lake. Once at the lake, we marvel at its impressive size and the fascinating combination of Khangai and Gobi zone. Picnic lunch will be provided on the way.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at Camp Dalbaa

Day 8: Camp Alagtsar
In the morning, we can go on a short hike or ride our horses until lunch time. In the afternoon, after saying thanks and goodbye to the field camp staff and horse guides, we will get on a motor boat to head out to Alagtsar ger camp located on the northern east edge of the lake. Picnic lunch will be provided on the way.
While boating, we will stop by two small islands. There are 4 islands on the lake: Khadan Khui, Modon Khui, Baga khui, and Dalain khui. Khadan khui has a very high mountain cliff where many birds gather. Modon khui is beautiful and surrounded by transparent water. After arriving at the ger camp, we can have hot shower, relax and pack for tomorrow.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Overnight at Camp Alagtsar

Day 9: To Ulaanbaatar via Murun
This morning we will drive back to Murun and fly to Ulaanbaatar. Check into the hotel and see Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, on your own. We will have a farewell dinner in local restaurant and entertainment.
Meals included: Breakfast & Dinner
Overnight at Hotel in Ulaanbaatar

Day 10: Departure
Transfer out to your next destination.
Meals included: Breakfast



Naadam Games Extension

July 9th Ulaanbaatar
Arrive in the Mongolian capital by flight. If you arrive today we provide transfer to your hotel. You may explore the city on your own for the rest of the day. Distances are short and nearly all points of interest can be reached by foot. Minor archery competitions and trainings will already start today such as children’s archery, Buryat style archery, etc. Training sessions allow for good photography. In the evening the horse trainers arrive with their horses and pitch their mobile camps at Hui Doloon Hudag, a steppe area 40 km away from the city center. In the evening we meet for a festive welcome dinner. 

July 10th Ulaanbaatar
Today, one day before the National Naadam officially begins, we will drive out of the city and attend smaller, more intimate "country-style" Naadam festivals, usually held in three communities some 50-60km away. This failing, the big horse races also start on the Hui Doloon Hudag plains today. In the countryside you have the chance to get up close to the horse races, and also to the wrestling matches. Local people usually wear their finest traditional dresses, adding to the colorful, festive atmosphere. We have a picnic lunch nearby and head back to Ulaanbaatar in the afternoon.

July 11th Ulaanbaatar
Today Naadam is officially opened by the President of Mongolia. Soldiers on horseback, dressed in warrior regalia, ceremonially bring Genghis Khan's nine white horsetail banners from the parliament, where they are normally displayed, to the stadium. We will attend the impressive opening ceremony, after which the first round of wrestling will immediately follow. In most years 512 wrestlers from all over Mongolia compete, but in some years there are 1024! There are no judges, no time limits and no weight limits. We may try and attend the archery competitions (if not done the previous day) and later make our way out to the steppe area on the fringes of the city, where the horse races take place. We visit the nomadic tented camps that have sprung up, and experience a concentrated version of nomadic Mongolia. Herdsmen have come with their horses and all provisions for the festivities, which of course include airag (koumiss; fermented mares milk) for the merry making. Stroll around the area and you are likely to be invited in somewhere. You may also try your luck at the finals of the horse races, but prior instructions are necessary, since the finishing line of a full horse race of several hundred, is a potentially hazardous environment.

July 12th Ulaanbaatar (same as Day 1 for the standard itinerary)
Our services end after breakfast for the Naadam Games. You will be staying at the same hotel. Free day to explore Ulaanbaatar. Tour briefing after dinner.

Rates and Dates for Khuvsgul Lake Ride

Dates Note: Custom tour dates possible anytime between mid-June to mid-August with minimum of 2 riders.

Other Info
Meeting: Ulaanbaatar
Airport: Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN)
Transfer: Ulaanbaatar

Climate:
                                                    Murun area