Vos vacances avec Otgon

We will meet in the morning at 10 AM at Chez Bernard Café. From here we will leave Ulaanbaatar for the countryside. Our first stop will be 5 hours westwards to the foothills of the Khogno Khan Mountains. It is an impressive massif in the open steppes. Not far from here runs the Tasarkhai Els, a 100 km long sand dune.

We will visit the nice little Uvgun Monastery. Those who want will have the opportunity to climb the sand dunes or to walk up the mountain and enjoy the incredible view over the plains, the sand dune and grasslands.

2nd day

After breakfast, we will continue driving westward in the direction of Kharkhorin (also called Karakorin, 3 hours driving), site of the 13th century capital of the Mongolian Empire created by Chinggis Khan. Very little is left from this legendary city. In the 16th century, Mongolia's biggest Monastery was build from the ruins of Kharkhorin. Now Erdene Zuu Monastery is all that remains of what once was a huge monastery of 100 temples and about 1.000 lamas residencing there.

We will explore the grounds of Erdene Zuu Monastery surrounded by its massive 400 m X 400 m walls. We will be guided around the 3 remaining temples: Dalai Lama, Zuu of Buddha and Lavrin Temple. We will also see the Turtle Rock and the Phallic Rock.

3rd day

This morning we will continue driving westward in the direction of Khangai Mountains. The green mountainsides and the network of smaller and larger rivers offer excellent pastureland for the herds of horses, yaks and cows.

Our next stop (6 hours driving) will be the Orkhon waterfalls, which is located in the Orkhon valley. The area surrounding the waterfall is a green, with forest covered mountainous area. The valley is known as the cradle of the Mongolian civilization. Many ancient Mongolian as well as Turkish monuments lie within its borders.

4th day

We will leave the waterfalls behind us and head northwestwards through the fertile open valleys of central Mongolia. We will pass by a large number of nomad families living peacefully with their herds of animals.

In the afternoon we will reach Tsenkher hot spring resort. Managed by Japanese this resort has a large open-air pool at its customer's disposal. The hot water of the pool flows continuously in from the hot water spring. At the spring, the temperature of the water is over 80 ° C. A complex pipelines system regulates the water temperature.

Some will spend hours sitting in the pool talking to their friends while staring at the stars or scanning the nightly nature around them.

We will overnight in the gers of the resort.

5th day

After our breakfast we will head for Ogiin Lake, one of Mongolia's most beautiful lake (6 hours driving).

4th day

In the morning we will hike along the shores of the lake.

End of the morning we will drive back to Ulaanbaatar (8 hours driving).