13 Day Horse Trekking in the Orkhon Valley, Mongolia

Day 1: Ulaanbaatar

Welcome to Mongolia! Your English speaking translator is waiting for you at Chinggis Khaan International Airport (ULN). No lunch is included. You will visit Gandantegchinlin Monastery and the National Museum of Mongolian History.

Dinner will be at downtown and overnight is at a hotel or similar (two star: twin or triple room).

Day 2: Ulaanbaatar - Kharkhorin (Karakorum)

You'll have a breakfast and drive to Karakorum, Mongolia’s ancient capital. Picnic lunch will be provided en route. This is a long day on the road (six to seven hours' drive - depending on the condition of the roads), but this evening, you will already be in the Orkhon Valley World Heritage Site. Get ready to start your horse riding tour tomorrow!

You'll also visit Erdene Zuu Monastery. After the visit, you'll set up a camp in the wilderness at the entrance of the Orkhon Valley for dinner and overnight.

Day 3: Horse riding tour in the Orkhon Valley

After breakfast, meet the nomadic herders and horses who will be your companions during this horseback ride in Central Mongolia. You'll begin your equestrian adventure in the northern mountains of the famous Orkhon Valley.

Picnic lunch will be brought by the support vehicles, nothing to carry on the horses, so you can enjoy many canters! After the ride, you'll set up a camp in the wilderness for dinner and overnight.

Day 4: Horse riding tour in the Orkhon Valley

After breakfast, you'll continue your horse ride in the Khangai Mountains. Picnic lunch will be brought by the support vehicles. After the ride, you'll set up a camp in the wilderness for dinner and overnight.

Day 5: Horse riding tour in the Orkhon Valley (Tovkhon Monastery)

After breakfast, you'll ride to Tovkhon Monastery, one of the major Buddhist sites in Mongolia. you'll reach the monastery with your horses at 2400 meters. You'll have a picnic lunch.

You'll ride down the mountains to the Orkhon Valley. The views are astonishing on the large valley with wooded mountains in the background. This region is known as the cradle of the nomadic way of life in Mongolia. After the ride, you'll set up a camp in the wilderness for dinner and overnight.

Day 6: Horse riding tour in the Orkhon Valley (Orkhon Falls)

After breakfast, you'll ride to the famous Orkhon Falls. You'll continue your horse riding tour in the upstream part of the valley where the landscape becomes wilder and wilder.

This region has black ancient lava flows which contrast with the white running water of the Orkhon River and remind you of Mongolia’s volcanic past. You'll have a picnic lunch.

You'll reach on horseback the larch forests with the impressive Naiman Nuur mountains in front of you. After the ride, you'll set up a camp in the wilderness for dinner and overnight.

Day 7: Horseback adventure in Naiman Nuur Park (with pack yaks)

For the next 3 days, your horse ride will have a totally different pace: after the wide open spaces, you now ride in very wild and remote landscapes: the Naiman Nuur Natural Park, which means “the 8 Lakes Park”.

Pack yacks carry the equipment and your personal belongings for these three days as this beautiful and isolated area is not accessible by vehicles.

You'll pack the luggage and camping equipment on the yaksand and start your steep ride to the mountains. There will be a picnic lunch. You will stay for 2 nights in guest yurts (up to 5 persons per yurt) with a nomadic family living in this very remote park. They are yak breeders.

Day 8: Horseback ride in Naiman Nuur Park

Today, you'll ride in beautiful forested mountains, discovering the wonderful scenic lakes of the Naiman Nuur Park, one of the most beautiful sites in Mongolia. Dinner and overnight will be at the guest yurts.

Day 9: Horse riding tour in Naiman Nuur Park towards Orkhon Valley (with pack yaks)

Today, you'll leave the Naiman Nuur Park with your pack yaks, to go back to the Orkhon Valley. You'll ride through steep mountains and will appreciate your sure footed horses and the ability of the yak drivers! You'll set up a camp close to the yak breeder’s yurt. Dinner and overnight is at tents.

Day 10: Full day with a nomad family

You'll spend this last day in the Orkhon Valley with a nomadic family. The day is devoted to the discovery of the traditional lifestyle of the nomads of Mongolia. You can take part to the daily activities of the family.

You’ll find simple tips to facilitate contact with your host family here. During the day, you can still spend a few hours in the saddle, helping them to round up the herds, or just going for a ride to explore the region.

Dinner and overnight will be in a “guest-yurt” close to the nomad family’s yurts. The comfort is more simple than in the yurt camps as there are no showers, but you will experience the real nomadic way of life in Mongolia.

Day 11: Orkhon Valley - night in a yurt at Khogno Khan Park (mini-Gobi)

Breakfast and transfer to Khogno Khan Park (4 hours drive depending on the condition of the roads). Khogno Khan’landscape is very similar to Gobi Desert, in southern Mongolia. There will be a picnic lunch.

You'll have a visit of the Ovgon Khiid Monastery and a short hike in the Elsentasarhaï sand dunes. For this last night in the steppe, you'll enjoy the magic of a touristic ger camp (yurt camp) in the desert. Spending the night in a traditional yurt, with Mongolian furniture, is also a wonderful experience, not to be missed. Dinner and overnight will be at the yurt camp (up to 5 riders per yurt, showers in a separate building).

Day 12: Khogno Khan Park - Ulaanbaatar

Have breakfast before an early departure to Ulaanbaatar where you'll arrive in the afternoon. Picnic lunch will be served. The rest of the afternoon is dedicated to shopping downtown, where you will find traditional clothing and objects of daily life.

In the late afternoon, you will attend a show with traditional dances, music and songs from Mongolia, especially the amazing Khoomei. No dinner is included to let you choose among the varied dining opportunities offered by Ulaanbaatar. Overnight will be at a hotel or similar (two stars: twin or triple room).

Day 13: Ulaanbaatar

Breakfast and transfer to airport on time.

This riding holiday will take place at Orkhon Valley. You will also visit Karakorum, Naiman Nuur Park, monasteries, museum, and other beautiful places.

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Mongolian and European food is served for the comfort of you.

• Tour and visits as described
• Horseback rides as described
• Full board meals from dinner of day 1 to breakfast of day 13 (exclude 1 dinner on day 12)
• English speaking translator
• Russian 4×4 with driver
• A cook per group over 4 persons
• Nomadic equestrian guide
• A financial guarantee of your deposits
• 12 nights' accommodation

• International flights
• 1 dinner
• Drinks except for water, tea, and coffee
• Personal expenses
• Travel insurance
• Visa if necessary

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• A reservation requires a deposit of 20% of the total price.
• The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
• The rest of the payment should be paid 15 days before arrival.