Endless plains
Jul. 2019: Hello, Bonjour and Sayn bayna uu from a very unique travel route through a remote national park in Mongolia in the Khentii-Province. This special horse caravan will fulfill all your dreams if you love to live outdoors while being sportive. Nevertheless, it will definitely demand a lot of you so prepare yourself mentally and physically for surviving in the harsh Mongolian conditions. You can choose to join this tour during the summer months July and August anything between 3 and 6 weeks and it’s definitely helpful if you know how to ride and work with horses.
Mongolia in 3 or 6 weeks!
Short summary:
- Length – anything between 3 and 6 weeks
- Transportation – by car to the starting point in the Khentii-Province, then horses
- Accommodation – tents
- Highlights – horse riding, crossing rivers and experiencing the Mongolian lifestyle
If you have anything between 3 and 6 weeks of holidays and you look for a very unique and special outdoor experience, think about this amazing self-sufficient horse caravan. You will have several riding days followed by resting days, riding from camp spot to camp spot, building your tent wherever the group decides to stay and establishing a special bond with your horse. This journey is organized by a friend but the final route is decided by the group according to several given conditions that need to be respected. Your exact days of joining into this caravan is chosen by yourself and discussed with the organizer to find the perfect transportation for you.
ULN Airport – first campsite drive about 400km; 8 – 10hrs
Day 1: Once you have landed in Ulaanbaatar a driver will pick you up and drive you to the starting place of the caravan in Khentii-Province. This drive will be about 8-10 hours depending on the dirt road conditions and the water levels as you will cross several rivers, you will know your adventure has already begun!
Day 2 – 42 or anything shorter could look like the following:
The horse caravan is self-sufficient and every participant takes actively part in preparing food, setting up the tents, packing and getting the horses ready. As everything from food to stakes needs to fit in the saddle bags and on the packing horses, your own personal items will be limited to a mini minimum. However, as you could experience heavy rain and thunderstorms even during the summer months make sure you have enough dry bags to keep your clothes and sleeping bag dry. Also make sure you are prepared for some quite cold days and even colder nights.
Every participant will have a riding horse for the next coming weeks and there will be a few packing horses plus a spare horse to make sure the caravan can move to its next location. The route will go through wonderful, green, rolling hills of the Mongolian steppe. But most likely you will also see some bigger mountains with huge grass, blooming flowers and ice-cold rivers that you cross with your horses. Most of the time it will be you, your horse and stunning nature, however you might spot some Nomad yurts and cars driving around the steppe. Take the possibility and enjoy some traditional Mongolian food when you come along a yurt, where the locals will be happy to invite you for some milk tea and home-made bread. You might even be lucky enough to be invited for a full dinner or lunch, enjoy some fresh goat meet or even milk a cow.
The group itself decides on the final route and how many riding and resting days will define this adventure. A resting day every now and then is definitely needed as all the packing in the morning could easily take up to 4 hours (sometimes even longer..) while the unpacking, setting up tents and staking horses in the evening might again take 2 hours. In between the packing and unpacking the caravan will ride something between 20 – 40km, all depending on how fast the packing process was and how fit the group is in general, leading to some long and sportive days.
The horses will be staked and hobbled during the non-riding days and there are three night shifts: 12am, 3am and 6am during each night to make sure no horse gets stolen or injured. So there is always plenty to do, not only during the days but also the nights.
Once you have reached your final campsite, the horses will be brought back to their owners and a driver will bring you back to Ulaanbaatar. Depending where this final camp spot is, this drive could take again something between 4 – 9 hours before your outdoor adventure finishes.
On your last day in Ulaanbaatar, you can buy some beautiful cashmere clothes at the Narantuul market and stay at the Camel Track Guesthouse before you head back to the Chinggis Khan International Airport waving goodbye to this amazing country that offered you a very special adventure. Bybe bye, salut and bayartay ∞
If you are interested in this horse adventure just contact me or read my advices about Mongolia on Instagram.