| Day 01 |
Hong Kong / Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar)
Flight schedule: OM298 12:05-16:45
Arrival to Ulaanbaatar, traditional entertainment and welcome dinner
Your guide will meet you on your arrival in Ulaanbaatar and transfer to hotel in the center of Ulaanbaatar. Time permitting, you can explore the downtown of the capital city, that’s been undergoing rapid changes toward global culture in the last decade. At 6 pm, we will watch a folk performance with traditional music, folk songs, and throat singing. Then follows a welcome dinner and tour briefing hosted by the guide. (hotel; dinner)
Overnight: Bayangol Hotel
Meals: -- / -- / Dinner
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| Day 02 |
Ulaanbaatar/ Khenty Mountain
Distance: 39km; 790m up, 520m down
Transfer to the starting point and cycle in the foothills of Khenty mountain range
Expedition cars carrying mountain bikes will be awaiting you this morning. After breakfast, we head out of Ulaanbaatar and transfer to the foothills of Khenty mountain range. After tuning the bikes, we start riding across a scenic landscape comprised of open valleys, gentle hills, and mountains. As you pedal you will see mushroom-like tents of nomadic people and their animals: sheep, goats, horses, and bovines. The essence of the pastoral nomadism practiced by Mongolian nomads hasn’t changed much for many hundreds of years. During the whole tour, the riding surface is dominated by packed soil and allows easy and pleasant pedaling. Each day, however, you can expect some rocky sections, grassy trails, and stream crossing which always allow a fun experience.
Today we camp at a beautiful riverside with the wooded mountains of Siberia in the background. The camping style has all the features of glamping: you will be provided with spacious 2-person tents where you can freely stand, big sturdy folding beds and warm sleeping bags, spacious shower tent with an electric shower, camping toilets with a choice of pit latrine or chemical toilet and a dining tent for social time and meals. And of course, there will be a cook with an assistant providing tasty meals in addition to a snack stop with a plentiful ration of fresh fruits, nuts, and drinks.
Overnight: tents
Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
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Day 03
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Cycle across wild mountains
Bayangol Valley - "XIII Century Mongolia" Historial Theme Park
Distance: 29km; 400m up, 700m down
Today we cycle across lush riverside and if a chance allows, visit a nomadic station. The hospitality of Mongolian nomads is unique and any guest is offered tea and food by unwritten rules. Then we follow a track across wild mountains covered in wildflowers which in June can carpet the ground provided sufficient rain has fallen. For most of the cycling incline is downward and it’s only in the afternoon before camping when we make across the day's main climb.
Overnight: tents
Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
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Day 04
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Cycle across the great steppe
Distance: 50km; 800m up, 800m down
Today we leave the mountains behind and get a chance to admire the vastness of the Mongolian grassland. Often called as the steppe it’s a vast boundless expanse where the horizon lies as far as one can see. The feeling of its immensity and pristineness is inconceivable. Just a few nomadic tents and some domestic animals are all that we see today. Encounters with herders are always a great opportunity to learn about the local culture and lifeways not to mention a great photographic opportunity. This evening, having crossed just a tiny yet massive part of the steppe we camp amidst a wild landscape.
Overnight: tents
Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
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Day 05
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Cycle to XIII Century Mongolia theme park, visit the statue of Chinggis Khan, and return to Ulaanbaatar
Distance: 15km; 350m up, 220m down
This morning we cycle to the "XIII century Mongolia" theme park. Having reached it before noon, we explore several encampments perched on a mountain slope dotted with spectacular rock formations. It is a stylized demonstration of the life of medieval Mongolia. A horse-relay station, a shaman's camp, and a King's camp allow a realistic understanding of Mongolia’s medieval life. At the King’s camp, you can have your photo taken dressed as Mongol nobility. The lavishly decorated interiors, wild environment, and absence of modern features make the atmosphere feel very real. The sightseeing also completes our riding adventures.
After lunch, we head back towards Ulaanbaatar. Along the way stop at the giant statue of Chinggis Khan on horseback, a Guinness Records contender as the tallest horseback rider’s statue in the world. Here you can take a glance at the grassland for the last time, and take your photo with the Man of Millenia, the Chinggis Khan. Other optional activities include riding a camel, taking a photo holding a Golden eagle, or trying your hand at Mongolian archery.
We then continue to Terelj National Park, a wide mountain bowl dotted with spectacular rock formations, often named after things they resemble. Here, we get a chance to sleep a night in felt-covered traditional tents in a comfortable resort in a picturesque valley with spectacular granite formations as the backdrop.
Overnight: Mongolian tents
Meals: Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
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