Naadam Festival and Gobi Desert Tour

Suggested Itinerary

Day 1: Arrival in Ulaanbaatar

Upon arrival, you will meet our representatives at the airport. The rest of the day is at your own leisure, taking good rest before your adventure in Mongolia.

Day 2: Ulaanbaatar

You will meet with the guide in the hotel lobby at 9am where the city tour will start. You will head off to the Gandan Monastery housing 26m statue of Bodhisattva which you will visit along with the National History museum and the Sukhbaatar square.

Here you will enjoy your lunch at a local Mongolian restaurant after which you drive out from Ulaanbaatar to visit Chinggis Khan’s horseman statue located in Tsonjin Boldog. This statue is 40m tall and considered as the highest horseman statue in the world. Arrive back at your hotel in the late afternoon where you will have free time before dinner.

Day 3: Ulaanbaatar – Gobi Desert

Today, you will catch an early morning flight to Gobi town. Upon arrival, you will meet your local driver and travel to Gurvan Saikhan Mountain to visit the beautiful Yoliin Am gorge. Enjoy a 2-3-hour hike in the narrow gorge while observing the flora and fauna in this mountain. You will pay a visit to the local natural history museum after which you will have lunch at the Khanbogd camp located nearby. Proceed to Dream Govi lodge in the afternoon where you will stay for the night.

Day 4: Gobi Desert

Today you will be heading to the long sand dune called Moltsog, part of the occasional sand dunes in the landscape of the Gobi Desert. Here, you will enjoy a 1-hour guided camel ride along the dunes with a breathtaking view of the desert.

The lunch will be back at the lodge and in the afternoon, you will be taken to the Khavtsgait Petroglyph. The Khavtsgait Petroglyph has a group of rock paintings in several rocks and dates back to 8000BC to 4000BC. There are ancient paintings of wild animals such as Big Horn sheep, Ibex, wolf, as well as horse riders, ox card and many more.

Return to the ger camp in the late afternoon, dinner and overnight at the ger camp.

Day 5: Flaming Cliffs

After breakfast, you will head to Bayanzag which is famous by its name ‘Flaming Cliffs’ since 1920’s scientific exploration team visit to Mongolian Gobi. The first dinosaur eggs were found from this place. You will pay a visit to the famous Flaming Cliffs and enjoy hiking around before heading to the Saxual tree forest in the area. Lunch at Gobi tour ger camp and in the afternoon, you will get the chance to visit a nomadic family and experience the nomadic way of life.

Day 6: Gobi Desert – Ulaanbaatar

You will catch a flight to Ulaanbaatar in the morning where you will meet your driver at the airport upon arrival in Ulaanbaatar and transfer to the Mongol Nomadic camp with 1-hour drive from the airport.

After check in and lunch, you drive to Hustai National park where Takhi wild horses graze peacefully with other wildlife. After 1-1.5-hour drive, you will arrive at the ger camp for check in and lunch. In the afternoon, there will be a visit to Hustai National park to spot endangered Takhi wild horses and you will get the chance to enjoy this landscape on the back of a horse for an hour. In the early evening, you will arrive back at the ger camp where dinner awaits you.

Day 7: Naadam Festival

Experience the fantastic Grand opening ceremony of Naadam festival that consists of a colorful parade, lots of music and dances, as well as a speech by the President of Mongolia. Then in the Central Stadium, you will watch the first round of Wrestling, followed by the Naadam Archery and Ankle bone shooting competitions held nearby the Central Stadium. You will have your meals at the restaurant and have an overnight stay in a hotel.

Day 8: Naadam Festival

Early in the morning, you will drive to Khui Doloon Hudag field for the horse racing competition. Here, you will be able to witness the horse racing near the stop line with locals. In the afternoon, there is free time for you to do some souvenir and cashmere shopping or visiting at the stadium to see the final rounds of the wrestling as well. Enjoy a farewell dinner at the restaurant and transfer to your hotel for rest.

Day 9: Departure Ulaanbaatar

You will be transferred to the aiport after breakfast and that is where your journey through Mongolia will end.