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Duration: 14 days and 13 nights
Number of people per tour: 5 up to 9
Price per person: US$ 4200
Proposed travel dates: 20th June to 4th July / 15th to 29th July / 1st to 15th August
Distance covered during travel: approximately 1699 km
Destinations: Ulaanbaatar – Elsen Tasarkhai – Temple Ongi – Khongor Sand dunes – UvurKhangai center – Khar Khorin – Ulaanbaatar
Program of the Photography Exploration Tour
Day 1: Arrival to Ulaanbaatar
The staff of the “Mongolian Photography Exploration” team will greet you at the Chinggis Khaan international airport, and take you to your hotel where you will have the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the photo exploration tour in detail.
Day 2,3: Elsen Tasarkhai sands
Breakfast is served at the hotel. We will travel approximately 100km West of Ulaanbaatar to the Khustain Range, a protected area and home to wild horses. The Khustain National Park is home to more than 450 kinds of plants, as well as deers, takhi (wild horses), Asian red deers, boars, gazelles, wolves and lynxes. We will have lunch at the National Park and will travel onwards to Elsen Tasarkhai, which is a unique place that combines both desert and taiga features. We will spend the 2 nights at a local tourist camp, called Khoyor zagal. (Total trip – 280 km on paved roads)
Day 4,5: Camping at the Ongi
After breakfast we will leave for the remains of the Ongi monastery located on the territory of the Saikhan ovoo district of the Dundgobi aimag. During our trip (around 45km), we will briefly stop at the central point of Mongolia, Uvur Khushuut (lat. 46°52’’ lon. 103°50’’).
Built in the 17th century the Ongi monastery was one of the largest Buddhist centres of Mongolia and was once populated by 1000 monks. It was destroyed during the repressions of the early 20th century and only ruins remain standing today.
We will spend the 2 nights at the “Ongiin secret” camp. (Total – 320 km on dirt roads)
Day 6,7,8 : Bayanzag or Flaming Cliffs, Khongoryn sand dunes
The next destination is the birthplace of the ancient dinosaurs, or Banazag (the Flaming Cliffs). It is situated in the Bulgan district of the Umnugobi aimag. This is where the American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews first found two entire dinosaur`s eggs in the 1920s. These can now be viewed at the central museum in America.
After lunch, the trip will continue onwards to Khongoryn Els, the sand dunes that stretch for 180 kilometers. The dunes are 2 to 3 kilometers wide and have an average height of 200 meters. We will trek through the Duut Mankhan part of the sand dunes. We will spend the 3 nights in a nearby camp.
(Total – 282 km on dirt roads)
Day 9: Centre of Uvurkhangai aimag (Province)
After breakfast in the early morning we will head to the Arts Bogd, the rocky continuation of the Altai mountain range. We will travel throughout the day through this mountain range, reaching the hotel at the Uvurkhangai center in the evening. Throughout our journey the landscape will consist of steppe and desert sceneries. (Total – 302 km on dirt roads)
Day 10,11: The ancient Mongolian capital Khar Khorin and the Erdenezuu monastery
After breakfast at the hotel, we will head to Khar Khorin, the ancient Mongolian capital, where we will visit the Erdenezuu monastery and surroundings. (Total – 135 km on paved roads)
Day 12,13: Ulaanbaatar
After breakfast, we will start the last leg of the trip heading back to Ulaanbaatar. Lunch will be at a Mongolian restaurant in Ulaanbaatar. (Total – 380 km on paved roads)
The following activities are offered for your last evening in Ulaanbaatar:
Visiting the 13 century camp and Chinggis Khaan’s statue complex;
Visiting the museum of Bogd Khaan;
Shopping at the cashmere factory outlet for knit, clothing, scarves, gloves;
Zaisan hill – Ulaanbaatar panorama;
Concert of Mongolian national folk music and dance performance.
Day 14: Departure
After breakfast at the hotel we will drop you off at the Chinggis Khan International airport.
- Included in the price: hotel, ger camping lodging, 3 meals a day, a guide, an interpreter, the driver, the service and entrance fees in Ulaanbaatar and to the countryside national parks, museums, and monasteries.
- Tour participants are expected to have intermediate to advanced photographic skills, and to bring their own cameras and equipment. It is advised that the visitors take photographic gear suitable for nature shooting.
- Not included: international airfare, travel insurance, international phone calls, bottled water, alcohol, laundry fees, items bought for personal use.