Special Interest Tours
ON THE TRAILS OF THE NOMADIC EMPIRES Mongolia is known as the cradle of ancient nomadic empires. Countless khir igsuur, the bur ial mounds of ancient chieftains, deer stones and stellas with runic inscr i ptions remind us of the glor ious past of the nomadic tr ibes of the ancient empires who roamed freely in the steppes of Central Asia.
DAY 1 | Arrival in Ulaanbaatar Arrive in Ulaanbaatar and transfer to selected hotel. After check-in to hotel, we will do short city tour including Chinggis (Sukhbaatar) Square, Chinggis Khaan Monument, The State History Museum of Mongolia and National History Museum. Have a welcoming dinner. Overnight in selected hotel (L/D) DAY 2 | Ulaanbaatar – Khustai National Park After breakfast, we will drive to the Khustai National Park. After lunch, we will view a short documentary at the information hall. Then we will drive through the National Park to visit the ancient Turkic site of ancestral rites and see the human stones. Afterwards, we will drive back deep into the National Park to see an ancient burial site and a deer stone followed by a search of Przewalski horses (takhi), ancestor of all modern-day horses in the world. If you have binoculars, please bring them. Overnight in tourist GER camp (B/L/D) DAY 3 | Khustai National Park – Karakorum After breakfast, we will drive to Karakorum, once the capital of the 13th century Great Mongol Empire. Visit the Karakorum museum before dinner. Overnight in tourist GER camp (B/L/D) DAY 4 | Karakorum – Khushuu Tsaidam – Ugii Lake Today we will visit Erdene-Zuu Monastery, which was the first and the largest monastery in Mongolia built on the ruins of the ancient capital. After lunch, we will drive to Ugii lake. On the way, we will visit Khushuu Tsaidam, a historical site and a museum complex where we will learn about the rise and fall of the Turkic empire. Overnight in tourist GER camp (B/L/D) DAY 5 | Ugii Lake – Tsetserleg – Taikhar Rock After breakfast, we will drive to Tsetserleg, the Arkhangai province centre, where we will visit a local museum. We will continue our drive and will arrive at a ger camp for lunch. In the afternoon, we will see the Taikhar rock and then drive to an ancient site with petroglyphs carved on rocks by the ancestors of the nomadic warriors who built empires in the steppe. On the way back to our camp, we will see another remarkable burial site and a deer stone. Overnight in tourist GER camp (B/L/D)
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