Naadam Festival and the Lake Hovsgol Tour | 9 Days

Upon arrival, you will be welcomed by your ZENDMEN TRAVEL guide and you will travel to Hustai National Park where the last wild species of horse, Takhi, have been reintroduced and protected since the 1990s. It is over an hour’s drive from Ulaanbaatar and you will have a chance to see these rare species in the wild while you hiking through wooded hills and mountains in the national park. You will also have an opportunity to see one of the largest collections of ancient stone man monuments dating back Turkic Statehood of the 6th century AD. In the evening, enjoy a welcome dinner at the ger camp restaurant.

  (Ger camp; L, D)

After early breakfast, you will drive back to Ulaanbaatar’s Chinggis Khaan International airport to fly to Muron, the provincial centre of the Hovsgol region. Naadam festivals that take place in every district in Mongolia celebrating the country’s independence day since 1921. In the afternoon, you will see one of the most spectacular horse racing in the world. The horses are graded by age, sex and race over distances of up to 24 kilometres, their riders are young children between four to 12 years old, many without stirrups or saddles. Visiting local Naadam is always an enjoyable first-hand experience for travellers where you will have exclusive opportunities to meet jokey children and wrestlers. It is the place where you can take amazing photographs.

(Ger camp; B, L, D)

You will have adventurous days with light walking and horse riding along the Lake Hovsgol, a 136 km long and 36 km wide alpine lake, elevated at 1,640m above the ocean floor. It is the second-largest lake in Mongolia and the deepest lake in Central Asia. The lake is known as the cleanest lake on earth. Meals are served in the warm and comfortable restaurant of the ger camp. Overnight stay in a ger.

(Ger camp; B, L, D)

Day 5. Boating on the Lake Hovsgol

Enjoy a boat trip in the morning when air is full of a gentle scent with aromatic wild grass and make a visit to a mineral spring on the other side of the lake. Take a bit of walk along the shore of the lake and start boating back to your ger camp. In the afternoon, practice your horse riding for a half day. Make yourself relaxed at a comfortable ger camp in the afternoon.

(Ger camp; B, L, D)

Today, your wranglers and horses will meet you for a few hours practice at your leisure for the next day’s ride. Wooded mountain areas and open valleys will offer you dramatic scenery. You will be getting used to riding long-distance rides while traversing breathtaking panorama.

(Ger camp; B, L, D)

Your itinerary will be flexible depending on your ability of riding and you should liaise with your tour guide. Today is a day you will take a rather long horse riding to Hatgal and the eastern shore of the Lake Hovsgol. Here you can spot a panoramic view of the Horidol Saridag Mountains (3,130 m a.s.l) with dramatic rock formations above forest line along the western shore of the Lake Hovsgol.

You are welcome to visit nomadic families and experience their hospitality. Why not try out freshly made yogurt, milk tea and pastry with double cream? In the afternoon, you will return to your comfortable ger camp.

            (Ger camp; B, L, D)

After relaxing morning you will drive to Muron for your flight to Ulaanbaatar. Upon arrival, you will visit the Gandan Monastery, the largest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia where you can see a gigantic Janraisag Statue, the god of eternity, as tall as 9 stories of an apartment block. In the afternoon, you will visit the Museum of Mongolian History, where you can see traditional costumes of different ethnic Mongols, archaeological discoveries of prehistoric people and the Mongol Empire of the 13th century. In the evening you will enjoy traditional folk concert followed by a farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

(Hotel****; B, L, D)

After breakfast check out your hotel and transfer for your departure (B)