Mongolia: The Land of Genghis Khan

After you check in and have your room assignment, take some time to freshen up and relax before our Orientation session.

We will walk to a local restaurant for our welcome dinner.

Orientation. In at quiet room at the restaurant, we will have dinner, and the Group Leader will greet everyone and lead introductions. We will review the up-to-date program schedule, discuss roles and responsibilities, logistics, safety guidelines, emergency procedures, and answer questions. Periods in the schedule designated as “free time” and “at leisure” offer opportunities to do what you like and make your experience even more meaningful and memorable, according to your personal preferences. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions. Program activities, schedules, personnel, and indicated distances or times may change due to local circumstances/conditions. In the event of changes, we will alert you as quickly as possible. Thank you for your understanding.

At the hotel.

We will board the bus and set out on a full-day field trip through Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia. At one time, more than 90 percent of native Mongolians were nomadic herders. Now, almost half of the population lives in Ulaanbaatar. The National Museum of Mongolian History was established in 1991 to document, preserve, and display historical, ethnographic, and cultural artifacts of Mongolia’s ancient heritage to the modern era for a comprehensive look into steppe nomad history and culture. Museum staff will lead our exploration. Used for storage and the staging of a circus in the 1930s, Dashchoilin Monastery was rededicated and reopened in 1990. Here we’ll learn more about Buddhism from a resident lama.

At a local restaurant.

We’ll visit the International Koomii School in the city center. We’ll learn from an accomplished singer who was a member of Tumen Ekh—the award-winning Mongolian National Song & Dance Ensemble—about Mongolian throat singing and how the singers produce their eerie sounds. A single vocalist can produce two and sometimes three distinct tones, or overtones, simultaneously. We’ll also stop at the Museum of Geology and Minerals, where a local geologist will introduce us to some of what we'll see while on the road.

This meal has been excluded from the program cost and is on-your-own to enjoy what you like. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.

At leisure.

At the hotel.

We will check out of the hotel and drive to Hustai National Park.

At the ger camp.

Hustai is the home of the Przewalski horse, known locally as takhi (pronounced “ta-hee”). The last remaining breed of truly wild horse in the world, they were reintroduced into the wild in 1994 by the Foundation for the Preservation and Protection of the Przewalski Horse in the Netherlands, which flew 16 horses to Mongolia, their historic homeland, 25 years after they had become extinct in the wild. We will visit the Park Information Center and, in the company of a biologist, venture deep into the park to look for the endangered takhi horse. We will continue to the Neolithic Ongot Monuments. Just outside the western border of Hustaii National Park are dozens of gravesites of the Neolithic Turkic Ongot people. Some of the grave markers take the form of short, thickset humans. The oldest graves are thought to be some 4,000 years old.

At the ger camp.

At leisure.

At the ger camp.

We will board our 4WD vans and drive to Kara Korum, the ruined city of Genghis Khan's capital. This UNESCO-listed 13th-century city served as the seat of power for an empire that stretched across two continents. Kara Korum was the capital for only 40 years, before Kublai Khan moved it to Beijing. Destroyed by invading Manchurians, all that visibly remains today is the enigmatic Turtle Rock.

En route to Kara Korum at a ger camp.

We will witness a demonstration of how a ger is assembled, then lend a hand in setting it up.

At the ger camp.

At leisure.

At the ger camp.

We will take a field trip by 4WD vehicles to explore the legendary Erdene Zhu Monastery. The oldest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia, it was built in the 1580s using stones from ruined Kara Korum and is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape. It grew to include more than 60 temples with 1,000 monks in residence by the late 19th century, but in 1939 the local Communist regime ordered its destruction. Many monks were killed. Only the outer walls and three small temples survived, converted into museums. Erdene Zhu became a place of Buddhist worship again after the fall of communism in 1990. We will converse with a local monk and learn more about Mongolian Buddhism. Next, we’ll take a field trip to the Museum of Kara Korum. Its exhibits—with explanations in English—include artifacts from the 13th and 14th centuries, as well as ongoing scientific explorations. The museum provides a good introduction to Central Mongolia and the UNESCO Heritage Site of the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape.

At the ger camp.

We’ll take a traditional Mongolian calligraphy workshop at the Erdenesiin Khuree Calligraphy Center and visit the local bazaar where nomads come to get their supplies and chat with local people.

At the ger camp.

At leisure. Prepare for transfer in the morning.

At the ger camp.

We will head south across the Gobi steppe to the Ongi Monastery ruins, stopping en route to visit with a local nomadic family and learn more about the nomadic way of life. We will see how mares are milked and how Mongolian dairy products are produced, and can take part in these activities.

En route at a local restaurant.

In transit.

At the ger camp.

At leisure. Prepare for transfer in the morning.

At the ger camp.

Tucked away in the dry hills, Ongi Monastery was once among the largest in Mongolia with more than 1,000 monks, before it was razed to the ground during the 1939 Communist purge. Today it is being rebuilt by some of the monks who survived. We will walk around the monastery ruins and visit a new temple built on the ruins of an old one. We’ll then travel south to the Flaming Cliffs area. During our drive, we will stop for photos along the way, and arrive at the camp in time for a late lunch.

At the ger camp.

Next, we will drive to the Flaming Cliffs, called Bayanzag by nomadic Mongolians. This is one of the most renowned paleontological sites in the world, where dinosaur eggs were discovered in 1922. The heat and low humidity of this beautiful part of the Gobi have protected and preserved the numerous fossils that have been found here.

At the ger camp.

At leisure. Prepare for transfer in the morning.

At the ger camp.

We’ll travel further south to Khongoryn Els, driving through vast desert badlands that stretch out into the distance. Lone gers and nomads on camelback seem to hang suspended in mirages, while the desert floor is strewn with a range of colorful rocks. The Gobi here has a stark beauty and provides many opportunities for photographs of the landscape and people. Upon arrival at the camp, we’ll check in and freshen up.

At the ger camp.

We’ll take a field trip to explore Seruun Bulag—the amazing cold spring originating from along the dunes—as well as the Khongor River. Before returning to camp, we'll admire the panorama of rocky mountains, river, and the Gobi’s massive dunes.

At the ger camp.

At leisure.

At the ger camp.

We will learn more about nomadic culture while talking with nomads and observing their daily activities. Then, we'll drive to the sand dunes where we will climb and listen for the “singing sands” of Khongoryn Els. These are the largest dunes in the Gobi: 60 miles long, 8 miles wide, and reaching 700 feet high. The dunes are under the force of constant winds that produce the “singing” effect—more of a low rumble—due to the movement of the sands. Those who are feeling adventurous may go for a camel ride.

At the ger camp.

At leisure.

At the ger camp.

At leisure. Prepare for check-out and transfer in the morning.

At the ger camp.

We will take the southern road through Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park. Named after the three ridges that rise dramatically from the desert, it is inhabited by nomadic families who make a living from their herds of camels, sheep, and goats. The cashmere goats here are highly prized for their fine wool.

At the ger camp.

After lunch, we’ll make a brief visit at the local museum before stretching our legs on an easy three-mile roundtrip hike into Yolyn Am Canyon (Vulture's Mouth), which cuts a narrow path into the rocky slopes of the Gurvansaikhan Mountains. Never feeling the warmth of the sun, the cool canyon sometimes shelters snowbanks that remain frozen long into the summer.

At the ger camp.

At leisure. Prepare for transfer in the morning.

Early at the ger camp.

We will say goodbye to the South Gobi and transfer to the airport for our flight back to Ulaanbaatar. Upon arrival in Ulaanbaatar, we’ll drive to the Genghis Khan Statue Complex. Dominating the horizon, the giant 131-foot stainless-steel-clad equestrian statue of Genghis Khan is an unforgettable sight. Visitors can enter the interior of the horse on an elevator and admire the view from a platform perched on the horse’s head.

At a local restaurant.

We’ll return to Ulaanbaatar and visit the Genghis Khan Museum, Mongolia’s newest and largest museum opened in 2022. The five-story museum showcases over 10,000 cultural exhibits revealing 2,000 years of history linked to Mongolia’s Great Khans, nobles, nomads, and their statehood from the Xiongnu Empire to the end of the 20th century. Afterwards, we will transfer to our hotel for check-in.

This meal has been excluded from the program cost and is on-your-own to enjoy what you like. The Group Leader will be happy to offer suggestions.

At leisure.

At the hotel.

We’ll first stop at the Gandan Monastery. Gandategchinlen—translated as “the great place of complete joy”—is the the monastery on Dalkha Hill where a monk will shed light on Buddhism and tell us about the monastery. The original building, dating from 1809, was in the center of the city. The structure we see today was built in 1838 and became the country’s primary center of Tantric Buddhism. In the 1930s, the Communist government carried out the destruction of nearly 1,000 monasteries and the murder of many thousands of Buddhist lamas (venerated spiritual teachers). Gandan was one of the few that survived physically, though its gold and bronze Megjid Janraisig statue of the Buddha was taken to Russia during World War II and allegedly melted down for bullets. After the fall of Communism in the 1990s, the monastery was rejuvenated and the massive statue was rebuilt with nation-wide donations. Said to be the largest indoor statue in the world, it stands more than 75 feet high. We’ll also visit the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum. Mongolia’s last Bogd Khaan, or Living Buddha, lived for 20 years in this compound, built between 1893 and 1903. Unlike other old sites in Ulaanbaatar, this one escaped destruction in the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. Six temples remain, as does a ceremonial gate built without the use of nails. On display are many of the gifts presented to the Bogd Khaan.

At a local restaurant.

We’ll visit a cashmere factory to learn from a staffer how wool is turned into this famous fabric. We’ll also stop to admire some of the best examples of Mongolian dinosaurs at the small Central Museum of Mongolian Dinosaurs. Opened in 2016, the small museum spotlights a three-ton skeleton of a Tarbosaurus baatar, cousin of the larger Tyrannosaurus rex.

At a local restaurant. Share favorite experiences and enjoy camaraderie with your new Road Scholar friends during our farewell dinner.

At leisure. Prepare for check-out and departure in the morning.

At the hotel.

We’ll transfer to the airport for our international flight home. If you are returning home, safe travels. If you are staying on independently, have a wonderful time. If you are transferring to another Road Scholar program, detailed instructions are included in your Information Packet for that program. We hope you enjoy Road Scholar learning adventures and look forward to having you on rewarding programs in the future. Don’t forget to join our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. Best wishes for all your journeys!