Mongolia is an astounding country to travel around in, because of its awesome scenes and absolute power. Indeed, even in thriving Ulaanbaatar, you’ll find that the city stands balanced on the edge between East and West: Western-style cafés close to conventional eateries selling dumplings and soups; individuals wearing pants and teeshirts strolling adjacent to individuals wearing the classic deel; cab drivers paying attention to music made on the morin khuur talking about American dramas that they watch on television.
Since the travel industry is still in its early stages in the country, Mongolia can once in a while be a piece of testing to travel around. As a matter of fact, many travel companies even in Ulaanbaatar actually don’t have a web presence! However, don’t allow that to prevent you from going on an outing that could only be described as epic.
10 Incredible Things To Do In Mongolia
1. Pay a Visit to Ulaanbaatar
Chances are, you will show up in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, whether you’re flying or coming through the Trans-Mongolian train from Moscow to Beijing. Furthermore, Ulaanbaatar is an incredible spot to begin! Not exclusively will you track down plenty of historical centers, cloisters, and other intriguing spots to visit, however, it can likewise make an incredible base for arranging the following phase of your Mongolian experience. I suggest picking a legitimate hotel or inn to remain in for basically the two or three evenings of your excursion so you can really get to know the city and culture preceding leaping out into the open country.
Once more, the travel industry is still in the development stages in Mongolia, so you might have a troublesome time reaching guides and organizing train tickets or other transportation until you show up on the ground — and companies that will assist you with organizing these things quite a bit early will for the most part charge you a weighty expense for the help. In any case, won’t ever fear: your convenience in Ulaanbaatar ought to have the option to assist you with reaching English-talking guides and orchestrate further subtleties of your outing.
Suggested read: 10 Divine Monasteries In Mongolia For A Transcendental Experience
2. Peep Into the History
At the point when I showed up to teach in Mongolia, I knew four things about the nation other than its geographic area: ponies, travelers, Ghengis Khan, and Ulaanbaatar is, on average, the coldest capital city on the planet. Obviously, that won’t fly with my understudies and their savage public pride — it wasn’t well before I find out about the way of life, language, history, and customs that I at any point figured I could be aware!
All things considered, I suggest you start your outing at the Public Exhibition hall of Mongolia, which is strategically placed in downtown Ulaanbaatar. It’s Mongolia’s biggest gallery, and it will walk you through the history of the area from old times as far as possible up through the present.
3. Stay in a Ger
Mongolian Gers, or yurts, are the conventional roaming style of lodging in the nation — yet a lot of individuals actually live in them today! Indeed, even on the edges of Ulaanbaatar, you’ll find rambling ger areas loaded with families who need to live in the classic style while as yet partaking in every one of the comforts of life in the capital city. Remaining in a ger during your visit is most certainly an encounter that you won’t have any desire to pass up.
Assuming you’re getting out into the field by any means, you’ll find that numerous families will thoughtfully open their homes to travelers — simply converse with your aide about this. Be that as it may, regardless of whether crashing with a family doesn’t speak to you, there are a lot of vacationer ger camps where you can encounter a blend between the classic yurt experience and a standard hotel stay.
In the event that your excursion will be situated in Ulaanbaatar, I suggest looking at ger camps in the adjacent Terelj Public Park. In any case, I prescribe making a beeline for the Gobi Desert and remaining in the Three Camel Cabin or one of the other ger camps there among the sands: nothing is very similar to remaining in a tent in the desert!
4. Take a Camel Ride in the Gobi Desert
Discussing the Gobi Desert, this is one piece of Mongolia that is not to be missed assuming you will get out into the open country. It’ll take you a short time to get to — regardless of whether you take the train, you’ll be taking a gander at a short-term or entire-day venture! However, it’s certainly worth the excursion: there’s nothing on the planet that is very similar to these huge expanses of a dead zone.
I suggest basing yourself in the little city of Dalanzadgad so you can without much of a stretch get out to see three of the main attractions of the Gobi, including the flaring bluffs of Bayanzag and rises to the extent that the eye can see in Khongriin Els, despite the fact that there are a lot of different spots to investigate too.
Indeed, even in the winter, the Gobi Desert can be an encounter. In spite of the fact that temperatures normally don’t drop as low as in that frame of mind in the country, it can in any case get very crisp — all things being equal much so you could see camels with shaggy winter coats strolling around in the snow! Once more, I suggest looking at your choices for visit companies so you can cover the greater part of what the Gobi brings to the table — yet note that a significant number of these companies don’t work throughout the winter because of the diminished degree of the travel industry in the country.
5. Rest in a Monastery
Albeit numerous Mongolians guarantee to be agnostics, Buddhism is as yet the predominant religion in the nation, and you’ll see priests strolling around Ulaanbaatar and a large portion of the other significant urban communities. Furthermore, the country’s amazing cloisters can be very intriguing to visit. Yet, why stop at simply visiting them for a short time of the day? Manjusri Monastery, found just a brief distance toward the south of Ulaanbaatar in Bogd Khan Public Park, is an extraordinary decision for this. You can climb out to the monastery, investigate the remains of the monastery, and afterward go through the night in their dormitory for some peaceful thought and harmony unwinding time before you climb out in the first part of the day.
Similarly, as with numerous things with Mongolia, you’ll have a troublesome time tracking down data about remaining over in religious communities on the web (particularly since numerous cloisters don’t have the advantage of the web!), yet in the event that you enlist an aide, they ought to have the option to assist you with arranging your visit; in any case, your smartest option is to appear at the monastery fitting your personal preference and get some information about remaining — not many will dismiss you.
Also read: 10 Breathtaking Places To Visit In Mongolia You’ll Love To Explore
6. Go Horseback Riding
Mongolians are renowned for their ponies, and riding ponies across the expansive, vacant Mongolian wide open is wonderful. As a matter of fact, on the off chance that you needed to, you could go through outings there on your own seeing nobody aside from the others you’re traveling with.
Would it be a good idea for you to decide to embrace a horseback riding experience around the nation, you’ll most likely need to recruit an aide: commonly travelers will observe that purchasing a pony and afterward selling it after their process is a less expensive choice than leasing one for the entire time. They can likewise help you out with tracking down convenience for the evening, particularly on the off chance that you’re hoping to remain with families in their yurts during your excursion — yet you likewise don’t require licenses to camp in Mongolia, so you could simply bring your own tent and pitch it any place you have a decent perspective on the stars!
7. Drink Airag
I generally prefer to attempt the nearby brews when I travel; regardless of where you go, you’re certain to find something extraordinary that you wouldn’t view as back home. Airag, or matured female horse’s milk, is a beverage that you won’t track down in that frame of mind of the world. The taste? Something between ordinary liquor and that taste that covers your mouth when you stand close to a pony for a day. As I expressed, something of an encounter — however, it’s thought of as discourteous to turn down a taste on the off chance that you’re remaining at a ger and the family starts passing around a bowl of the stuff. However, be cautious: it has an incredibly high liquor content that can surprise an individual!
Not keen on attempting airag? There are a lot of different choices. Mongolians drink generally beer brews, the renowned ones being Borgio and Altai Gobi. They likewise make a maltier, hazier brew called Khar Khorum which was one of my undisputed top choices. What’s more, on the off chance that you’re searching for something somewhat stronger than brew however serious areas of strength for less airag — recollect Mongolia’s previous Soviet ties! You can track down great vodka at unbelievably modest costs in nearby shops. However, one thing to note: you can’t buy liquor on the first of each and every month in Mongolia.
8. Lounge in the Daylight at Khovsgol Lake
As recently referenced, Ulaanbaatar in the winter is the coldest capital city on the planet — however, that doesn’t mean all-year temperatures in Mongolia are horrible! Truth be told, Mongolia can get very warm throughout the late spring, and local people want to get out into the field at the end of the week and take a plunge into the unadulterated waters of Khovsgol Lake.
Regardless of whether you’re not keen on swimming, there are different choices in the area, including fishing, kayaking, and hiking. Also, the lake is not difficult to get to: you can fly or transport straightforwardly from Ulaanbaatar to Mörön, one of the main urban areas along the lake. I suggest taking the transport instead of flying so you truly have an opportunity to see the Mongolian field passing by outside the window, yet one way or the other, you’re in for some completely flawless perspectives once you show up at the lake.
9. Attend a Festival
If you truly have any desire to get drenched in Mongolian culture, there could be no more excellent method for doing it than to go to one of their festivals, of which there are a large number. One of the most mind-blowing known and biggest ones is Naadam, which is held consistently from the 11-the 13 of July. The festival is praised as the “second-most seasoned Olympics” on the planet, and Mongolians are wildly pleased to see their number one competitors contend.
The three main occasions of the festival are toxophilism, horseback riding, and wrestling, however there are a lot of different things occurring, including conventional dance. Perhaps of the best thing about the festival? You’ll have enough of a chance to attempt a wide range of various customary Mongolian food varieties!
One more amazing festival to encounter is the Bayan-Ölgii Falcon Festival, held consistently in late September and additionally early October. The falconers that you see during this festival are not of Mongolian drop initially and on second thought came from adjoining Kazakhstan during a period of arraignment, however they’ve lived in Mongolia throughout recent decades and their ways have been adopted by Mongolians. There are various occasions that happen throughout the span of the festival, and assuming you’re fortunate, you could try and have an opportunity to hold one of the astonishing brilliant hawks yourself — which makes for a cool picture to email to your loved ones!
Related read: 6 Top Luxury Hotels In Mongolia That Are Beautifully Designed
10. Try Skiing in the Altai Mountains
Mongolia may not be the primary spot that strikes a chord while you’re considering ski objections, yet despite the fact that there is just a single genuine ski resort, a little spot close to Ulaanbaatar, the nation is home to some great mountain ranges and perfect, immaculate lines. Don’t trust me? Look at the 2013 short film “Camels are Rarely Cold” beneath for motivation.
Once more, you’ll need to employ a neighborhood manual for assist with transportation and other strategic subtleties, and you’ll presumably need to bring along a couple of companions so you can divide the expenses. Yet, this can be an astounding method for getting off the framework and do a few genuine new lines throughout the winter.
Mongolia, albeit as yet fostering its travel industry, is an astounding spot to visit, with a lot of various exercises that make certain to give you a remarkable travel schedule. Have you at any point been to Mongolia? Share your remarks, stories, or inquiries in the Remarks area beneath!