City Walking Tour: Take our free (informal and relaxed) walking tour of Ulaanbaatar. This day is not about museums or shopping – it’s about getting out and about and exploring and discovering. As well as the option for ice skating (!), you will also visit the home of the family mongol where you’ll enjoy a local lunch.
Khogno Khan: Drive to explore this sacred granite mountain within an area of secluded valleys, fresh water springs, open steppe and the Elsen Tasarkhai sand dunes. The small but vital Tarna River provides an essential water source for the herders in the region. This is where you will be greeted by the family nomad and welcomed into their home.
Orkhon River Valley: Wake up before dawn and join the head of the family in this most important of customs – greeting the first sunrise of the new year. You then gather back in the family home to meet and greet with other extended family members. There is no better way to experience this most traditional and most important of Mongolia’s festivals. You’ll then continue to the Orkhon River Valley – home to nomadic. They are modern-day herders, a strong part of the local community and move up to six times a year.
Spend the day on horseback (or vehicle for those not wanting to travel by horse) travelling ‘ger to ger’ meeting the extended family nomad as well as others herders that make their lives in the surrounding countryside.
Head back through the wild landscapes into the pace of city life. In UB you will stay at the home of one of our Mongolian trip assistants – experiencing the Lunar New Year as it is for urban Mongolians.