Great Gobi with Naadam Festival Tour Package (11 Nights / 12 Days)

After having breakfast at the hotel, we'll go to stadium for festival.

Naadam festival / three games of man /

The biggest festival (National Naadam) is held in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar during the National Holiday from July 11 – 13, in the National Sports Stadium. Naadam begins with an elaborate introduction ceremony, featuring dancers, athletes, horse riders, and musicians. After the ceremony, the competitions begin. The competitions are mainly horseback riding. Naadam is the most widely watched festival among Mongols, and is believed to have existed for centuries in one fashion or another. Naadam has its origin in the activities, such as military parades and sporting competitions such as archery, horse riding and wrestling, that followed the celebration of various occasions, including weddings or spiritual gatherings. It later served as a way to train soldiers for battle. Now it formally commemorates the 1921 Revolution when Mongolia declared itself a free country. Naadam also celebrates the achievement of the new state. Naadam was celebrated as a Buddhist/shaman holiday until secularization in the 1930s.The three sports are called "Eriin 3 naadam" which is called three games of man in English. Genghis Khan's nine horse tails, representing the nine tribes of the Mongols, are still ceremonially transported from Sukhbaatar Square to the Stadium to open the Naadam festivities.

Overnight: at the Hotel

Meals: B,L,D

After breakfast you will start your wonderful trip in Mongolia, early in the morning we drive to South Gobi. First stop will be at Baga Gazriin Chuluu-located in Delgertsogt soum, Dundgovi province.

Baga Gazriin Chuluu

There will be seen a granite stone-mountains whose tallest one is elevated at 1768m above sea level. The landscape and rock formation are sacred to the locals. It's pretty spiritual place. In the n19th-century two important monks lived here and they had left some script and drawing as mark of their passage. There have been a open theatre of national long song of Mongolia. There exists a rich family of plants many wild animals.

Overnight in Ger camp

Meals: B,L,D

After breakfast, we depart for the Tsagaan Suvarga /white Stupa/ which is absolutely one of best sights in Mongolia.

Tsagaan Suvarga

Tsagaan Suvarga is located in Ulziit Soum, in the Dundgobi province. Tsagaan suvarga is the stunning and legendary cliffs formed by deposits of sediment from millions of years. This cliff indicates different times by its colored layers containing 10 million years history. The stunning scenery makes awesome photos and chance to explore the area through the gorges and canyons.

It makes you feel like you are in the time of Giant dinosaur.

Overnight inGer camp

Meals: B,L,M

After the breakfast we've got another early start today leaving the Baga gazriin chuluu around at 7 am.

Yoliin am /Yol valley/

Yoliin Am is located 45km from province of Dalanzadgad. Altitude is 2800m from sea level. This is one of the best places to encounter wild animals and wander through the majestic canyons. This is the deep and narrow canyon in the Gobi GurvanSaikhan /Gobi three beauty / mountains. In the narrowest valley is named after Lammergeyer, which is called Yol in Mongolian. The Lammergeyer is old world Vulture. In there you can see 1-1.5m tick ice in the middle of gorges where it barely gets sunshine during summer time and the sky looks pretty narrow line between canoyns.

Overnight in yurt camp

Meals: B,L,M

This day we drive to Khongor sand dune.

Khongor sand dune

After having breakfast, we will be heading to the Khongor Sand Dunes-situated around 120 km from Yoliin Am. Often called as the singing dunes and surrounded with mountains. This grand sand dune streches for 180km going from nord-west to south-east. The most width part is 27km on the nord-west section.The site is amazing. Khongor Sand Dunes are some of the largest and most spectacular sand dunes in Mongolia. Reaching to the top of sand hill will be exhausting and around 40 minutes to one hour. but the views of the desert from the sundy summet are breathtaking. The sand dunes are a great place for riding camel so we take camel ride there. May stay overnight in the tent if weather is fine.

Overnight in nomad family yurt or Ger camp

Meals: B,L,D

This morning we head to Bayan zag /rich saxual/

Bayan zag

Bayanzag, which means ‘rich in saxaul shrubs’, is more commonly known as the ‘Flaming Cliffs’, a name penned by the paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews. First excavated in 1922, it is best-known worldwide for the number of dinosaur bones and eggs found in the area, which you can see in museums around the world. Even if you are not a ‘dienophile’, the beauty of the surrounding landscape is a good reason to visit. It’s a classic desert of rock, red sands, scrub, sun and awesome emptiness. Bayanzag is around 90km from Dalanzadgad. Stay overnight may in the tent if the weather is fine

Overnight in Ger camp

Meals: B,L,D

After breakfast we drive to the next destination which is the Saikhanovoo and Ongi temple in middle Gobi

Ongi Monastery

This small mountainous area along the river /Ongiin gol/ which is the tenth longest river of Mongolia with an overall length of 435 km. This temple makes a pleasant place to break a trip after long drive from Baynzag.

OngiinKhiid is a sightworthy monastery on Ongiriver about 18 km from SaikhanOvoo. Formerly one of the largest monasteries in Mongolia, it was founded in 1660 and consisted of two temples complexes on the North and South of the OngiGolriver. The older southern complex consisted of various administrative buildings as well as 11 temples. The northern complex, built in the 18th century, consisted of 17 temples - among them one of the largest temples in all of Mongolia. The grounds housed also 4 Buddhist universities. It was completely destroyed in 1939 under KhorloogiinChoibalsan, the then president and leader of the Communist Party of Mongolia. Over 200 monks were killed, and many surviving monks were imprisoned or forced to join the Communist controlled army. A large number of ruins including a tall stupa can be seen on the river and on the surrounding hills. In the 1990s, it was decided to rebuild the monastery. At present (2011), 13 monks live in the monastery.

Overnight in Ger camp

Meals: B,L,D

Our next destination is the Karakorum and Erdenezuu monastery. After brief stroll along the Ongi river, we'll head on to capital of the ancient Mongolian empire. /13-14th century/

Kharkhorin (Karakorum)

In the mid-13th century, Karakorum was a happening place. ChinggisKhaan established a supply base here and his son Ögedei ordered the construction of a proper capital, a decree that attracted traders, dignitaries and skilled workers from across Asia and even Europe.

The good times lasted around 40 years until Kublai moved the capital to Khanbalik

(later called Bĕijīng), a decision that still incites resentment among some Mongolians. Following the move to Bĕijīng and the subsequent collapse of the Mongol empire, Karakorum was abandoned and then destroyed by vengeful Manchurian soldiers in 1388.

Whatever was left of Karakorum was used to help build, in the 16th century, the enormous monastery, ErdeneZuu monastery, which itself was badly damaged during the Stalinist purges.

The rather nondescript Soviet-built town of Kharkhorin was built a couple of kilometres away from ErdeneZuuKhiid, and there is little of interest in the town itself

Overnight in Ger camp

Meals: B,L,D

The Mongolian Government declared Hustai National Park as a Specially Protected Area in 1993, one year after the initiation of the reintroduction project of the Takhi (Przewalski's horse) to the Hustain Nuruu. The HNP extends through the Khentii Mountains and includes the western edge of the Mongolian steppe at the boundaries of Altanbulag, Argalant, and Bayankhangai Soums of Töv Province. The park is about 100 km from the capital city of Ulaanbaatar to the west.

The HNP covers 50,600 ha land which is home to 459 species of vascular plants, 85 species of lichens, 90 species of moss and 33 species of mushrooms. 44 species of mammals have been recorded, including Altai wapiti, Mongolian gazelle, roe deer, wild boar, wild sheep, ibex, Mongolian marmots, grey wolves, Eurasian lynx, Pallas cat, red fox, corsac fox and Eurasian badger. The 217 species of birds include golden eagle, lammergeier, great bustard, whooper swan, black stork, Daurian partridge and little owl. There are 16 species of fish, 2 species of amphibians, and 385 species of insects (including 21 species of ants, 55 species of butterflies, 10 species of bush crickets and 29 species of grasshoppers). A new species of soil insect has been found in the Hustai and given the scientific name of Epidamaeus khustaiensis.

In 2002, the Man and the Biosphere Reserves organization of UNESCO certified the HNP as a member of the world biosphere network of natural reserves. The HNPT was enrolled as a member of IUCN in 2007.

Overnight in Ger camp

Meals: B, L, D

After a brief visit through some sightseeing and museum in the town, we will hit a road and back to UB/capital/. After fairly boring stretch of route, the sand dunes of Elsen Tasarhai will make you happy. Elsen Tasarhai is something of an oasis. These large dunes strech for some 70km and are worth stopping off at for those who are not planning to visit the much more spectacular Khongoryn Els in the Gobi Desert. On the way the local restaurants and cafes will be the places where you will be eating. Then we carry on route back to UB seeing some natural beauty such as Khogno Khan Nature Reserve and countryside.

Overnight in Hotel

Meals: B,L,D

We will take you to the airport. Check your items when you're leaving the hotel. Good luck for your next trip.

Meals: Breakfast