Itinerary name: TREKKING AROUND NAIMAN NUUR REGION

Area: Central Mongolia, Mountain range Khangai, around Naiman Nuur (Eight Lake)

Potential dates: from June to September, in each year

Duration: 10 days/9 nights

Difficulty: easer - moderate

Total distance: driving: 900 km, trekking: 80 km 

Sights: Natural bueaty Elsen Tasarkhai - Mountain Khugnu Khaan - Waterfall Ulaantsutgalan - River Canyon Orkhon - Naiman Nuur - Karakorum 

Activities: Camel riding, visit to nomadic families, horse riding etc.

Price: from 650 USD p.p 

Geared for folks who may be pressed for time but still desire a challenging adventure, this trip offers a rich taste of mountain hiking. Opportunities are plentiful for getting excellent landscape photographs as well as seeing a variety of wildlife, tundra nesting birds and capturing that elusive "once-in-a-lifetime" frame. Walking in the mountainous central Mongolia and exploring with keen eyes will reveal a rich and exciting habitat. This trip can also be designed to combine a base camp style with a possible condensed cross-country traverse to end the trip with a pick up at a different lake. 

  

Day2. Drive to Central Mongolia. (450 km) 

On the morning of departure we will meet at your stayed HTL or GH in UB for an orientation program that includes an examination of all your equipment, selecting and packing your food, your tent and your share of community gear. We enjoy snacks and drinks and encourage questions and conversation. We have been practicing "No Trace" camping techniques for 10 years. It is an important part of traveling through the fragile alpine zones we traverse. We also use minivan for access into these remote lakes and safety in and around them is essential. It's easy stuff that everyone needs to be made aware of. Before we reach at Karakorum, we will see picturesque sand dune Elsen Tasarkhai and Khugnu khaan mountain.

Our drive out are scheduled for around noon. On the way, we will pass Karakorum. But today we will not enjoy this unique ancient town and we will enjoy it when we back from the trek. After lunch time at Karakorum, we will drive to Waterfall Ulaantsutgalan, biggest one in Mongolia, edge of Khangai Mountain range. The driving in will be anywhere from 2 to 3 hours, giving us plenty of time to set up camp, get settled in and maybe get a quick hike in the River Canyon of Orkhon River in before dinner time that evening.

 

After breakfast, we partake in a day hike outing, exploring the mountains in the immediate area. This light-duty jaunt with near empty packs helps to familiarize everyone with tundra walking and acts as a good introduction to the surface you'll be walking over in the next six days. The scenery is absolutely stunning, peaks punch into the skyline and are reflected on the surface of the lake. You'll be delighted to see the variety and vivid colored wildflowers growing in some sparse looking country. If we're lucky we'll see a wild deer and other species of antelopes. This is very rugged country and their home. We head back to camp in the early evening and have dinner. Evening strolls with your guide are relaxing.

Day4. Hiking around the Lakes region. (trekking: 15 km)

Early breakfast time, break camp, pack-up and off we go across a narrow alpine valley to a point just shy of crossing our first mountain pass. It's a gorgeous setting at the edge of a brilliant emerald tarn, Naiman Lake. It's always a good idea to stretch your legs without your backpack before hitting the sack.

We head up and over a notch in the chain of mountains in front of us. The descent is tricky and we travel cautiously. At the base is a bubbly creek with delicious water and home to a few pair of Rosy finches and some beautiful wildflowers. This day we'll make about 5 miles including two descents of 3 to 4 hundred feet each. Our camp is set up in a large bowl on the shore of another pristine lake near the crown of the mountains.

 

Lazy morning, our last day in the high alpine area of the trek. We climb over a rolling ridge and head through a long pass and a slow descent into the upper "lakes" region of our route. Views of the Khangai Ranges are superb and fantastic.

Continued descent into lower lakes region. Skirting a few lakes with nesting waterfowl, there are an abundance of wildflowers and views of the lower riparian zones, 1000' below us. It will be our first encounter with alder bushes and willows, home of the Mongolian deer.

Rolling hills with less tundra and more grassy meadows interspersed with small copses of spruce trees, again, excellent views of the Khangai Range. Last day of 5 mile hiking and reaching the terminus lake by evening.

 

After breakfast we will drive to Karakorum, the ancient capital of Mongolia where today there is a small local township. On arrival you will notice the first and most obvious landmark which is the massive wall of the Erdene Zuu Monastery. The monastery was built in 1586 by a well-known Mongolian king called Abtai Sain Khaan, and is surrounded by a vast 400m wall. Not a single nail was used in the construction of the ornate temples, only a few of which remain standing after the communist purges. In previous times the grounds held over 60 temples with 10,000 monks using them for their daily worship. We will visit there before lunch time. Then we will drive to UB and after we arrived in the city, you will be transferred to the your booked accommodation. Then free time.   

 

Day10. International departure.
After breakfast, you will be transferred to the railway station or international airport for your international departure.  

 

Travel Gobi Mongolia Company will provide all tents and cooking equipment, including stoves, fuel, pots and pans. We provide excellent food for our guests and we understand the need for nutritious and savory meals in the back country. Special dietary needs are given full attention. Again, we distribute a detailed equipment list to each guest as soon as we receive their deposit. We do not rent equipment but have plenty of spare gear if someone should forget or misplace something of essential need. There are also shops in UB where you can purchase a lot of different hiking equipment.

 

What is luxurious arrangement and what is budget arrangement?

more about the arrangements...

Ido in Naiman Nuur

Ido's daughter also in Naiman Nuur

Our travel team: horseman, cook-man, driver

Nomadic family who live around Naiman Nuur region

Wild flowers around Naiman Nuur

Natural beauty of Naiman Nuur

Trip team, travelers' cargoes loaded on the oxes

The Lake

The lake

from top of the Khangai Mountain Range

Another view of the Khangai Moutain Range & Naiman Nuur