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You need to travel like, and use the same
modes of transport, as the Mongol herdsmen themselves, in order to get a real
feeling for and experience a close up encounter with the pace and lifestyle of
the local people. During this dramatic journey you will wander on horseback or by foot into the
Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area, a beautiful wilderness area closing up on
the Hentii Mountains. For horseback riders, a horse will be available for the
duration (the local horse guide does not speak English). We will be equipped as a true expedition, yak carts bringing the luggage.
We will also bring all necessary provisions, a cook and his assistant plus a ger
(yurt) to house our mobile restaurant unit. In connection with this, you will
get the experience of assembling this comfortable Mongol style dwelling with our
local herdsmen.
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Included:
Guides,
breakfast every day, and all meals outside Ulaanbaatar. All overnights in hotel
(2n.), tents (4n.), private horse for rides,
camping equipment and all local transport.
7 days/ 6 nights $ 695
Single + 125
Low Season $ 625
Deduct $100 if you do not need a horse for this trip
2008 Dates:
05/05-05/11 05/15-05/21
05/25-05/31
06/04-06/10 06/14-06/20 06/24-06/30
07/04-07/10 07/18-07/24 07/28-08/03
08/07-08/13 08/24-08/30 09/03-09/09
09/13-09/19
Meeting: Ulaanbaatar
Difficulty: Moderate
Excludes: Imported drinks, airport tax on departure (approx.
USD 12.50 p.p. in 2004), laundry, rent of riding camel, ($ 25 per camel per
day). Air or train tickets in and out of Mongolia. Visa fee. Pls. note that groups having less
than 7 people will carry no ger (yurt). Just tents.
Note: - this Yak Trek may be combined with a Camel Trek in the near Gobi
just prior to this trip
- groups having less than 7 people will carry no ger (yurt). Just tents.
- additional nights at Jalman Meadows Ger Camp is $75 per person per night in
double occupancy and all meals included (full board basis)..
Brief Outline Itinerary
On this journey we use low impact traditional modes of transport. Our
equipment will be carried on carts, the same way the locals use to transport
their belongings, moving from one pasture to another. For this purpose we will
use yaks and horses. We will also carry a ger, which is the traditional felt
tent, which most Mongols live in to this day. Essentially, this means we can
utilize the services of the local people in the area where we are to travel.
They are the experts, and we will be able to get a first hand experience of how
to move a camp in the Mongolian traditional way.
DAY 1 : Arrive Ulaanbaatar
Arrive to the Mongolian capital by air (from Moscow or Beijing), or from our
Gobi Camel Trek. Transfer to the hotel.
DAY 2 : To Jalman Meadows
After breakfast we leave Ulaanbaatar for the Upper Tuul River Valley in the
Khan Khentii Strictly Protected Area some 110 km away. A three-hour drive by bus
or car. We drive one hour on tarmac road, one hour through a beautiful steppe
valley with many herdsmen with their livestock. The last hour crosses the ridge
at Zamtiin Davaa, and through forests we reach the Upper Tuul River Valley. It
is the winter grazing lands of the local herdsmen, which is why most of them are
not in the area at the time. It allows for a profusion of wildflowers, such as
edelweiss. Our yak carts and the local herdsmen who will be our hosts in the
area meet us. Pitch camp next to the Tuul River.
DAY 3 : Khan Khentii
We load our luggage on to the carts. Our first campsite is in a steppe
valley, surrounded by the Hentii hills, covered with larch and birch forests.
The protected area was established in December 1993, covering most of the Hentii
wilderness areas stretching all the way up to the Russian-Siberian frontier.
Herdsmen keep their livestock in the southern areas, and they follow a lifestyle
that essentially has been the same since the time of Gengis Khan. Overnight in
tents.
During the trek we will see and make contact with herdsmen, thus coming close to
the fascinating and hospitable nomads of the Mongolian steppe who have
maintained a similar lifestyle since the time of the Huns: that is, at least 200
BC - a living archaeology indeed! In fact, this was the period the Chinese began
joining the different walls into the Great Wall of China under the Emperor Qin
Shi Huangdi. The Mongol lifestyle has survived up to this date, and the Chinese
have rebuilt the Great Wall at least two times since. Overnight in tents.
DAY 4 : Khan Khentii
We trek for three full days toward the Hentii wilderness areas, and soon we
touch the limits of human habitation. Although rarely seen, wolves are numerous
in the area. There are also wild boars, moose, red deer (Cervus elaphus),
marmots and gazelle.
We will use yaks to pull the wooden traditional carts on which all our equipment
will be loaded and transported. Our Mongol staff will accompany us on horseback.
No support vehicles will be required, let alone practical in the area where we
are to trek. The yaks will set the pace of the nomadic journey over easy terrain
(max. 20 km per day). A cook who knows western and Mongolian cooking will be
with us in the field. Members will be able to learn how to build a ger: this can
be very quick if several people join in. Overnight in tents.
DAY 5 : Khan Khentii
We are now in a scenic area, where rivers flow down broad steppe valleys.
Around are forested hills and mountains. Along the rivers there are wooded and
alluvial meadows with broad leaf forests. Today we will reach back to the road
DAY 6 : To Ulaanbaatar
After breakfast transfer back to Ulaanbaatar (3-3,5 hrs). In the afternoon
free time to explore the city. Overnight in a hotel.
On this day you may also transfer to nearby Jalman Meadows Ger Camp, 8km further
up the Tuul River Valley, and extend your stay in the zone.
DAY 7 : Transfer out
You have the choice to continue explore other parts of Mongolia, stay
another day or two in Ulaanbaatar. The overnight train to Beijing departs in the
morning.
We have introduced a concept of practical and desirable ways
of travel in Mongolia, which is the synergy of Western and Mongolian ideas
brought about after many years experience of travel all across Mongolia:
Transport: Mongolian families frequently move from one pasture to another
using wooden traditional carts. These are tied to the animals available in the
region. Here we will use yaks and horses: the services of some herdsmen will be
hired by the expedition, and they will provide us with their animals.
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