| Vast Siberian Steppes Adventure |

Our Great Gobi adventure is a ride into the vast openness of the World’s largest desert, the Gobi. It is definitely one of our ultimate adventures. The riding is like no other in the World, and will reward the test on your skills. We stay in some fantastic yurt camps, with unique evenings. And the natural and man-made scenery is breathtaking. The Gobi is the epitome of the Great Outdoors.

Highlights

• The ride....no other offered in our extensive line up can compare to the freedom of riding across the open steppes and Mongolian grasslands.
• Accommodations will delight as you will live like the nomadic Mongols, overnighting in yurts, dining from camp fire prepared meals and hosted by Mongolian families.
• The Nadaam Festival, which involves competitive games linked with the ancient Mongolian culture: horsemanship, archery, wrestling, music, food and drink...bring lots of film!
• In the town of Karakorum, the oldest Mongolian monastery dating back to 1586 and the first Buddhist centre in the country, and one of few that remain after the destructive Soviet era. A magnificent structure with a fascinating history.
• Local culture – the descendants of Ghengis Khan have kept their identity over the centuries.

Itinerary

DAY 1 DEPART UK.

DAY 2 ARRIVE ULAAN BAATAR. We will greet you upon arrival and drive you to our hotel. Rest and relaxation is the order today after your long international flight. After lunch we visit the Buddhist Ganden Monastery and the Winter Palace of the Bogd Gegen. This evening we are entertained in traditional Mongolian style – folk music on traditional instruments, throat singing, acrobats and contortionists – during our welcome dinner at the famous Avtai Sain Khan restaurant. Undruul or Bayangol hotel.

DAY 3 ULAAN BAATAR – KHUSTAI NATIONAL PARK (120 km). An early start this morning to meet our local motorcycle tour support team, and our motorcycles. We ride (carefully!) out of the busy traffic of the capital, and onto the emerald green country roads of the Steppes. Soon we reach Khustai, where the near-extinct herds of Przewaski’s horse gather at the waterholes at sunset. And tonight is our first experience of the nomadic Mongolian lifestyle, in the yurts at our ger camp..

DAY 4 KHUSTAI – BAGA GAZRJIN CHULUU (125 km). After breakfast we head south into the Gobi on dirt tracks, through increasingly dry landscapes, to ride past the 1500-m high rock formations of Baga Gazrjin Chuluu. There’s plenty of time to explore along the way, or take a ride out from our yurt camp later this afternoon. Our riding adventure is well and truly under way.

DAY 5 BAGA GAZRJIN CHUULU - DELGER KHANGIA MOUNTAIN (200 km). We continue south through once-lush grassland as desertification encroaches on the dry sand and rock. The area is famed for its camels herds and fast horses, and supposedly the fattest, tastiest sheep in all Mongolia. Our yurt camp is in a valley of sand dunes and scrub, completely isolated with no other souls in sight.

DAY 6 DELGER KHANGIA MOUNTAIN - SOUTH GOBI (165 km). Impressive views of the Great Gobi, with boundless horizons, and huge herds of grazing camels greeting us as we ride to the southernmost point of the tour. On the way we take a break for a short walk to an old Buddhist monastery and a picnic lunch. Tonight’s luxurious ger camp is set among flat-rock cliffs.

DAY 7 SOUTH GOBI - KHONGORYN ELS (200 km). We start the day with a trip to the Yol Canyon, hewn out of the mountain ranges of the Three Beauties and the Altay. Despite the heat, the canyon glacier ensures low temperatures and permanent ice. With luck we’ll see ibex, and patrolling lammergeyer circling above. Our ride then takes us to the Khongoryn Els sand dunes, stretching like a vast river into the distance. In the afternoon there’s time for a camel ride and photographs. Our camp is at the base of the dunes with a sunset like no other.

DAY 8 KHONGORYN ELS - GHURVAN SAIKHAN (170 km). Gobi Ghurvan Saikhan is the highest mountain in the Altay range, so expect another change in scenery. The landscape turns greener with Siberian elms in the valleys and Mongolian birch on the mountainsides. If we’re lucky we might see antelope, wild mountain sheep and even wolves. Ger camp.

DAY 9 GHURVAN SAIKHAN - OGNI RIVER (195 km). Our morning’s ride takes us to Bayanzag, the largest saxaul tree forest in the world, and the Flaming Cliffs, famous as the place where archaeologist Roy Andrew Chapman discovered fossilised dinosaur eggs in the 1920s. This is a truly unique motorcycling experience. After a picnic lunch we cross a vast plain to Ongi Monastery ruins, a 200-year old deserted monastery by the banks of the Ogni River in the Middle Gobi. Our camp tonight is on the banks of the river..

DAY 10 OGNI RIVER – KARAKORUM (250 km). Today’s ride is our longest. Our main stop on our way to the ancient capital of Karakorum is the Erdene Zuu, Mongolia’s first monastery, with its long white walls and 108 stupas, built in 1586 by Abtai Sain Khan. Karakorum is the ruined capital city of the once mighty Mongol Empire, from where Ghengis Khan set out to conquer half the world. Quite a place! Our route takes us through grass-green valleys with pine trees on the hillsides, and vultures and eagles overhead. Ger camp.

DAY 11 KARAKORUM - KHOGNO KHAN (100 km). After a late breakfast we take a guided tour of Erdene Zuu, where we get a real feel for the once-opulent Mongol capita. More fantastic views today as we ride to Khogno Khan mountain - the Mongol Els sand dunes, steppe, rivers, high rocky mountains and forests make for superb changing scenery. Tonight’s yurt camp is at the base of a sacred mountain.

DAY 12 KHOGNO KHAN. An unusual day as we can visit local nomadic families and an old Ovgon monastery, or take a ride around the mountain and through the sand dunes. Or take a hike on the mountain. The riding is through forests and along rocky mountain trails with a chance to see the local wildlife. Yurt camp.

DAY 13 KHOGNO KHAN - ULAAN BAATAR (290 km). Our final day’s ride heralds another change - it’s on paved roads! Although sometimes it is easier to ride on the dirt at the side of the road. The capital will be busy with festival visitors. Nomads come from all over the country to see or compete in the wrestling, archery and horse racing. We hope to get back by early afternoon to allow time to explore the city. Undruul or Bayangol Hotel (4*)

DAY 14 ULAAN BAATAR. This morning we offer a private guided tour of the city, including the National Museum, the Natural History Museum (with one of the best dinosaur displays in the World, Ganden Monastery, and the Winter Palace of the last Buddhist king, the Bogd Khan Museum.. If you prefer you can explore Ulaan Baatar on your own for shopping or sightseeing. We’ll meet up for dinner in one of Ulaan Baatar’s great restaurants. Undruul or Bayangol Hotel.

DAY 15 ULAAN BAATAR. This morning we attend the opening ceremonies of the Genghis Khan Nadaam Festival in the National Stadium. This includes the traditional opening procession, archery, and wrestling. In the afternoon we drive out to the finish of the 35 km horse race. Quite an experience! This evening we’ll have our Farewell Dinner in another traditional restaurant.

DAY 16 DEPART ULAAN BAATAR. After breakfast this morning our tour ends, and we transfer you to the airport for your flight home. Most flights will get you back in the UK the same day.

Total distance   c. 2250 km

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Price includes: 12 days motorcycle hire; oil and maintenance / spares; 4WD support vehicle; tour guide with medical kit/training; mechanic; local guide(s); 12 nts ger camp accommodation, 3 nts hotel accommodation; airport transfers; entrance fees to monuments / parks / reserves; all meals; soft drinks/bottled mineral water.

Price excludes: Security/damage deposit US$500 to pay locally in cash; visas; fuel; alcoholic beverages; laundry service; tips; travel insurance £63.73 and flights (typically about £1000), available from H-C Travel.

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| Vast Siberian Steppes Adventure |

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