A traverse of the Khangai on horseback, ending in a lake basin that vehicles cannot enter and pack yaks can.
The Orkhon Valley has been the centre of successive empires for two thousand years, and it is still, first of all, grazing country. Riding through it is not a novelty activity laid over a driving tour — it is the way the valley has always been crossed.
The route climbs from Kharkhorin and the Orkhon waterfall into the Khangai, past the cliff hermitage where Zanabazar worked, and up into Khuisiin Naiman Nuur, a volcanic lake basin closed to vehicles. Loads transfer to pack animals for the high section, as they have always done.
Nine days between the ancient capital and the high lakes, most of them in the saddle, with horses provided by the herding family who keep them.
A genuine traverse rather than a series of day rides, on horses belonging to the family who ride them the rest of the year.
Ger camps at either end, herder gers and tented camp on the traverse
Riders comfortable at a walk and trot for five or six hours a day, willing to camp simply, and content to be out of mobile contact for several days.
Met on arrival. Afternoon briefing covering the route, the horses, river crossings and what the traverse asks of you.
West to the site of Karakorum, capital of the Mongol Empire, and Erdene Zuu, the oldest surviving Buddhist monastery in the country, built from the ruins of the city it replaced.
Up the valley to meet the herding family who will provide the horses and ride with us. The afternoon is spent matching riders to horses and taking a short shakedown ride — an hour that determines how the next week goes.
The first full day in the saddle, riding to the Orkhon waterfall where the river drops into a basalt gorge. Time on foot in the canyon before making camp.
Following the river bend through grazing country. Yak, sheep and horse herds all day, and families busy with the summer’s milking and shearing.
A climb through larch and Siberian pine to the hermitage on its cliff, where Mongolia’s first Bogd Gegeen carved and meditated and where the Soyombo script was devised. Horses are left below; the last section is on foot.
The hardest and best day. Over the pass and down into the Khuisiin Naiman Nuur basin, formed by old volcanic activity and closed to vehicles. Loads transfer to pack animals for the high ground.
A day ridden and walked between the lakes — Shireet, Khuis, Bugat — through larch forest and alpine meadow, with time to do nothing at all beside the water.
Down the valley to rejoin the vehicles, farewell to the horses and the family, then on to the Tsenkher hot springs, which after nine days is not a luxury but a medical necessity.
The drive back to the city, with a stop at Shankh monastery if time allows, and onward connections.
Where you sleep is chosen for the route. Some nights are the best room for hundreds of kilometres; some are a tent beneath a sky with nothing else under it, which is its own kind of luxury.
Where this journey stays somewhere we book by name, here it is. The nights not listed here are ger camps, herder households or our own tents, described below.
Ulaanbaatar
The city's largest hotel, a short walk from Sükhbaatar Square.
Ulaanbaatar
One hundred metres from Sükhbaatar Square — the closest good hotel to the centre.
Kharkhorin, Orkhon Valley
On the Orkhon river beside Erdene Zuu, inside the Orkhon Valley landscape.
Permanent seasonal camps with beds, bedding and a wood or dung stove. Facilities vary by region: the better camps have private shower blocks and reliable hot water, remote ones have neither. We will tell you which is which before you book.
Staying in a working household, sharing the family ger or a guest ger beside it. Simple, warm, and the reason most travellers remember a journey. Washing is basic and the space is shared.
Our own mobile camp where no fixed accommodation exists. Proper sleeping mats, a mess tent, a cook and a toilet tent. Carried in and carried out, leaving nothing.
In Ulaanbaatar and provincial centres. City nights are booked at the standard you ask for, and we will tell you what to expect where a provincial hotel is a simpler place.
Every journey is priced for your dates, party size and choice of accommodation, and confirmed in writing in your proposal. This is a private journey, so the vehicle, driver, guide and camp staff are the same whether two of you travel or six, and the per-person price falls as your party grows.
The price also moves with season, domestic airfares and any specialist staff your route calls for. Single travellers and anyone wanting sole occupancy should ask about the supplement.
Confirmed in writing at proposal stage. Anything not listed here is not assumed to be included. Booking terms →
Warm days and cold nights, with the year’s heaviest rain falling as short afternoon storms in July. Pack for a wide daily range rather than for one temperature, and for sun on open steppe.
Hire the bulky, expensive items rather than buying them for one trip; bring your own base layers. Equipment hire → · What the month is like →
A private journey can usually be moved a grade in either direction by adjusting pace and distance. How we grade a journey → · Choosing your month →
Adjust the pace, accommodation, specialist access and regional extensions around your interests.
Plan a private itineraryThe experiences that give the route its character.
Matching riders to horses in the Orkhon.
The descent into the lake basin.
A herder ger on the last morning below Tövkhön.