Golden Eagle Festival & Altai Tavan Bogd

You will be met at the airport and transferred into Ulaanbaatar, which translates literally as ‘Red Hero’, where you will check in to your centrally located hotel. Depending on your flight time, this afternoon you may enjoy a gentle walk to Sukhbaatar Square.

This city tour provides a great introduction to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, where tradition and modern life meet. Visit Gandan Tegchinlen Monastery, the country’s most important Buddhist center, to see beautiful temples, monks in prayer and the impressive Migjid Janraisig statue.

Continue to the National Museum of Mongolian History, where exhibits showcase Mongolia’s past, from ancient nomadic culture to the Mongol Empire and modern times. Along the way, enjoy views of the city’s main streets and landmarks, offering insight into contemporary urban life.

Departing Ulaanbaatar this morning we take a flight for 3-4 hours across the vast steppe to the town of Ulgii which is the heart of the predominantly Kazakh region in the west of Mongolia. There will be an opportunity to walk through the town and visit the local market which will give you a real flavor of the region and its people.

Stock up on any snacks and drinks at the local supermarket for your upcoming trek. Dinner tonight in a local restaurant.

Today we take a rugged drive through the high desert towards the spectacular beauty of the Tavan Bogd National Park, a vast mountainous landscape that provides a breath-taking natural border between Mongolia and neighbouring China and Russia. The park is home to the five ‘saintly’ peaks that give it its name, including the snow-capped heights of Kuiten Uul, the highest mountain in Mongolia at 4,374m.

On the way we will encounter nomadic Tuva families who are an indigenous people of Central Asia. We will meet one of the families and take time to learn about their way of life. Here we will also meet our guides and hire pack animals for our trek.

Set up camp and prepare our luggage for the next 3 days.

We will begin the trek to our base camp (3100m) in the snow-capped Tavan Bogd massif. The hike rises steadily, taking us over lush alpine tundra and crossing glacial run offs which can sometimes be very muddy. There are views directly across the glacier with the snow-capped peaks in the distance.

Set up camp for two nights next to the 20km long Potanin glacier which is the largest and most imposing of the twenty glaciers in the Mongolian Altai. Enjoy time taking in the awe-inspiring landscape.

Trekking: 18km, 5-6 hrs — ascent of 630m, descent of 260m.

In the morning we will trek up the valley towards the head of Tsagaan Gol valley where we will join our vehicles again and continue our journey back to the Tuva family where we met our trekking guides and hired the pack animals.

We will have time to rest, enjoy the beauty of our surroundings, and reflect on the adventures of the past few days.

Trekking: 18km, 4-5 hrs.

Today we say goodbye to our trekking guides and take a long drive towards a Kazak family, close to the Golden Eagle Hunters Festival.

Our journey will be invigorating, taking us across the wide open spaces of high desert and steppe and over high mountain passes. We will be staying a short distance from the town in gers set up next to our host family and, whilst the accommodation is comfortable, the facilities are basic, with washing facilities limited to a bowl of water and with a long drop toilet.

In the evening we hope to enjoy true Kazakh hospitality whilst learning about the eagle hunters’ nomadic lifestyle and how they train their eagles.

This morning we have our first opportunity to experience the remarkable colour and pageantry of the Golden Eagle Hunters Festival of Altai. Altai’s more intimate celebrations provide a chance to enjoy the splendor and spectacle of the festival. Today’s events include the opening ceremony with a parade of the eagle hunters dressed in full regalia, competitions to test the agility and mastery of bird and hunter, horse racing, camel racing, equestrian games, and the highly entertaining ‘Bushkashi’ — goat skin tug-o-war on horseback.

Returning to the festival this morning we will enjoy more spectacular photo opportunities as we take in another day of exhilarating competition and colour on the high desert steppes. In the late afternoon, the winners of the festival will be announced at the awards ceremony.

After breakfast we transfer to the airport for the mid-morning flight to Ulaanbaatar.

In Ulaanbaatar, we have further exploration and last minute souvenir shopping - cashmere, leather goods and traditional handicrafts are all good options and the guide will recommend the best places to go for these.

In the evening there will be a concert of traditional Mongolian music and dance, including throat singing, followed by dinner.

Today we will travel 54km east of the city to visit the giant Genghis Khan statue at Tsonjin Bolog. This imposing statue, which is approximately 40m tall, depicts the Mongolian ruler astride his horse. It is possible to climb up onto the horse’s head for a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape.

We then continue northwards to the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park to see Turtle Rock and visit the Aryabala Meditation Temple, built on a hill with commanding views of the countryside before returning to Ulaanbaatar in the afternoon.

Enjoy a farewell dinner at another of our favourite restaurants in the city.

Transfer to the airport for departure.