Trekking in Mongolian Altai and Naadam Festival 2022

Welcome to Mongolia. We will meet you on your arrival in Ulaanbaatar. Our city guide will pick you up at the airport and drop you at your hotel which is already booked. Take your time. Afternoon or maybe evening we will take you to the short walk in city. Welcome dinner at the restaurant.

Early morning you will take a domestic flight to Bayan-Olgii province. The land is also famous as the heart of Altai. From the local airport, you will be welcomed by our expedition team (Driver and Cook). Everything is taken care, and we are totally ready for the expedition. So, from the airport, we will drive all the way to National Park. It is a dirt road, so it takes around 6 hours to reach the entrance of NP. Upon arrival, we set up our camp on the camping place and make ourselves comfortable. Enjoy delicious dinner from our chef cook. Have a rest.

Today we will trek to the Base camp, where you can enjoy a panoramic view of Altai Mountain. It includes the highest peak Mt.Khuiten and the largest glacier Potanin. All baggage will be transported by camels and the Tuvan herders will help us. Total trekking takes around more-less 6 hours. For the trekking, please take with you only a trekking bag. The lunch will be served in a lunchbox. Enjoy your open-air lunch. The short part of the trail is mud, so please make sure to bring a good hiking boots.

Today we will climb to the Malchin Peak. Altai Tavan Bogd literally means “Holly Five Peaks” and the Malchin is one of them. Also, the Mountain is famous for breathtaking view once you climb up. For the climbing we don’t need any special climbing equipment, but only a good hiking boots. Total climbing and trekking takes around 6-7 hours. As usual, we will take our lunch with us. In some case when the weather is bad (raining, snowing) in that condition we won’t climb to peak. But, there is a good alternative activity if even better. We can hike on the Potanin glacier. It is the biggest glacier in Mongolia, and it is named after Russian mountaineer who have been here a hundred years ago. Go back to the camp.

OK. So, today we will go back to the entrance from where we came. But, this time we will take a different trail that is much longer but more beautiful. It is the White-river valley. The river takes its start from the glacier and the minerals make the color so white. It is not drinkable due to mid-August. Enjoy the stunning valley trek!

Today we will trek to another valley where live nomadic Tuvan people. Where we can visit a family and experience their cultures. You can try their milky products such as chees, kefir or horse milk. And if you brave enough you can try their handmade vodka. Total trekking takes about six hours.

One of the most beautiful valleys in Mongolia. The valley is accessible only mid-June to September. And it is a wild nature with gorgeous views. On the way, there will be a couple of rivers that we have to cross. We highly recommend you bring waterproof hiking boots. Back in days there were a lot of bears in this valley, but not now. Nowadays, it is possible to see some wild animals like deer, fox and eagle. Enjoy your camping in the beautiful Bear Valley.

After having breakfast we will hike for about 4 hours until the end of the valley where the vehicle will wait for us. Switch to the car and drive further for more two hours and arrive at our lakeside camping place. This place is famous for a couple of reasons. And the first of them is Biluu hill. You can climb up to the hill where you can enjoy breathtaking surroundings. Also, there are ancient Petroglyphs that belong to the Bronze Age. Enjoy your “open gallery under sky”. And the last reason is you are welcome to swim. After long trekking days, it is nice to swim and enjoy the views. Guide and driver will try to catch some fish. If you got lucky you can try the taste of local fish.

Today we will visit a nomadic eagle hunter’s place and experience their ancient hunting traditions with golden eagles. Nomadic Kazakh people are famous for their hospitality and traditions. Here you have an opportunity to have a memorable picture with a golden eagle. Afternoon we will take you to the waterfall valley which is about 3 hours' walk. The peace of heaven on earth. It is very popular for the local people to visit this place. For the evening we will have a traditional Kazakh meal “Bes Barmak”. Enjoy the hospitality of locals.

Today we will drive back to Olgii. On the way, we try to catch a local throat singer Batsukh. He is a famous throat singer in this area. Arrive in Olgii. You will be transferred to your hotel room!

The Naadam Festival is the biggest celebration in Mongolia. The Naadam is also well known as “Festival of Three games” which are traditional wrestling, archery, and horse race. Each of the villages has their own stadiums to celebrate the Naadam. First day of Festival includes the opening ceremony, parade, folk concert, and first round of wrestling. There will be 256 wrestlers. The main dish of festival is a Khuusuur. It is very enjoyable festival with full of activities. Enjoy your Naadam!

Today we will drive out of town “The Horse Racing Day”. It will be held in the countryside. Enjoy the open-air festival! There will be 5 type of horse race depending on horse ages. Also, there will be a plenty number of traditional yurts! So the evening we will back to the stadium, it is final of traditional wrestling. The last four wrestlers will compete for the winner of the province and the winner will get a title “ Province Lion”. Farewell dinner at restaurant with team.

Thank you for coming the Altai region! As usually our city guide will pick you up. For today, we will take you to the city& around city tour. Where you can enjoy the world’s biggest horse monument “Chinggis Khan Monument” and visit the Terelj National Park. Visit famous“ Stone turtle” and the Museums of National History. It is going to be long and memorable day!

Thank you for coming. Hope to see you again!