Explore Hentii, the birthplace of Genghis Khan, and Karakorum, capital of the Mongol Empire. Explore the ecosystems that shaped Genghis Khan and have nurtured nomadic culture for millennia. Discover the relationships among nomads, animals and the natural world that gave rise to history’s largest land empire.
Meet your guide at Ulaanbaatar’s airport and check into the five-star Novotel Ulaanbaatar in the heart of Mongolia’s cosmopolitan capital. (D)
Tuesday, June 10Ulaanbaatar
Prepare for your journey by walking through Mongolian history at the Chinggis Khaan National Museum, visiting Sukhbaatar Square, and exploring the Choijin Lama Temple Museum. (B,L,D)
Wednesday, June 11Steppes of History
Head east from Ulaanbaatar to Hentii Province, the homeland of Genghis Khan. On the road, visit the 8th-century Tonyukuk memorial, one of the most significant archaeological sites from the Turkic Empire, and see history come alive at the massive Genghis Khan Statue. In the afternoon, reach the town of Chinggis, the capital of Hentii. Explore the town and settle into your basic hotel for the night. (B,L,D)
Thursday, June 12Dadal
Travel to Deluun Boldog, the birthplace of Genghis Khan, crossing the Onon River, eastern Mongolia’s main waterway, via a hand-pulled car ferry. Deluun Boldog is located on the outskirts of the town of Dadal in Khentii’s far north, where the Mongolian steppe meets Siberian forest. Most families in this tree-rich area, live in log cabins, rather than the gers found throughout most of Mongolia. Spend the night in a cabin at a small vacation camp. (B,L,D)
Friday, June 13Vast Vistas
Travel west along the Onon River to Binder, a neighboring district in Hentii, one of the possible sites of Deluun Boldog, the birthplace of Chinggis Khaan. Hentii is known for its vast landscapes, one of the most famous being the vista of the Onon at nearby Yargui Canyon. Spend the night in a ger at a local tourist ger camp. (B,L,D)
Saturday, June 14Ancient Voices
Visit Rashaan Khad, one of Mongolia’s most historically-rich, but seldom-visited, landmarks. For millennia, nomadic people have decorated this dramatic rock outcropping with petroglyphs of woolly mammoths, carvings of sacred symbols, and inscriptions in ancient languages. Spend the night at a small ger camp in the area. (B,L,D)
Sunday, June 15Sacred Mountains
Explore 17th-century Baldan Bereeven Monastery. Once eastern Mongolia’s most important monastery, but destroyed by Communists in the 1930s, Baldan Bereeven is today a remote pilgrimage site comprised of a collection of rebuilt temples and ruins ringed by rocky hills and mountains, a place linking spirituality and reverence for nature. Join one of the elder monks at the monastery as he guides us through the monastery and its mountainous surroundings. In the evening, reach small Black Heart Blue Lake, one of the most important sites in Genghis Khan’s rise to power. Here, in 1189, the future Genghis Khan was declared King of All the Mongols. This area, sacred to Genghis Khan, has been revered by Mongolians ever since. Enjoy your final night in Hentii at a camp in the area. (B,L,D)
Monday, June 16Terelj National Park
Continue traveling west through the Hentii Mountains, entering Tuv Province. At the Thirteenth Century Park, a historical recreation of life at the time of Genghis Khan, see the history you have encountered brought to life. In the evening, reach Terelj National Park, an area famous for its dramatic rock formations, and settle into a comfortable ger at one the park’s leading ger camps. (B,L,D)
Tuesday, June 17Horses
After a morning horse ride in Terelj, travel west to Hustai National Park, the home of the world’s last wild horses. See Przewalski’s horses, formerly extinct from the wild, but reintroduced to Hustai in the 1990s through an international conservation effort. Spend the night at the park's ger camp. (B,L,D)
Wednesday, June 18Sand Dunes
Continue west to Hugnu-Tarna National Park, a dramatic mixture of steppe, mountains, and sand dunes. Spend two nights at a picturesque ger ecolodge in the shadow of the Elsen Tasarhai Sand Dunes. (B,L,D)
Thursday, June 19Horse Riding
Explore the history and legends of the steppe on a day trip to the town of Harhorin in the UNESCO World Heritage Orkhon Valley. Visit Mongolia’s oldest monastery, 16th-century Erdene Zuu. The monastery was built on and with the ruins of Karakorum, founded by Genghis Khan’s son as the 13th-century capital of the Mongol Empire. Then, experience life on the steppe. At the ger of a family of nomadic herders who pasture their animals near sacred Mt. Hugnu Khan, cook and share a meal and ride horses. (B,L,D)
Friday, June 20Ulaanbaatar
Return to Ulaanbaatar. In the evening, attend a folk music and dance performance by the renowned Tumen Ekh Ensemble, followed by a farewell dinner. (B,L,D)
Saturday, June 21International Departure
Return to the Ulaanbaatar airport for your international departure. (B)
