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DAY 03
Afternoon arrival in Ulaanbaatar. Our driver
will meet you at the end of the platform and
will be holding a meeting-board with your
name on. Transfer from the station to a hotel
with a chance freshen up and have a light
snack before departing for your city tour.
Then transfer to Elstei Ger Lodge (70km).
A relaxed evening in the bar after supper there
are occasional impromptu performances of
live Mongolian music, where you might hear
the Morin Khuur (horse-head lyre), the
cimbalom, or native Mongolian throat-singing.

08/13/09 (day 4)
DAY 04
With no specific activities planned you can
choose to chill out, read, sunbathe, go walking,
or (for a small payment made directly to them
locally) you can go horse riding with local
nomad horsemen.
Breakfast, Lunch, Supper
DAY 05
After breakfast you will depart Ulaanbaatar
for the Bayangobi region. Picnic lunch enroute.
Arrival at a herdsman encampment late
afternoon. Tonight you are the guests of the
herdsmen, and you’ll stay in a nomadic ger
tent – supper with your herdsmen hosts.
Breakfast, Lunch, Supper

DAY 06
Depart after breakfast for a day trip through
the countryside of Övörkhangai Province in the
direction of Harhorin (two hours of off-road
driving each way). Our route takes us into the
Orkhon Valley, a World Heritage Site, which can
be called the birthplace of Mongolian
civilisation – the sites of the earliest metal
working (which created the weapons that made
the Mongolian empire great) are located here.
We stop for a picnic lunch amid the stunning
scenery. This afternoon we arrive at modern
Harhorin – the settlement Genghis Khan would
have known as Karakorum. It was here at the
legendary gathering of clans that they declared
Genghis the “Great Khan” (“Chinghiskhan”),
and his military campaigns of conquest began.
Nothing is left of the ancient settlement, but on
its site is the (rather later) monastery of Erdene
Zuu, one of the most important Buddhist
centres in Mongolia… and on the grounds of
the monastery is the single turtle statue that
remains of Genghis’s great Royal Court. Come
back to our nomadic host family and will have a
traditional communal supper with them.
Breakfast, Lunch, Supper
DAY 07
Around 10am you make the return trip to
Ulaanbaatar. Check into the Bayangol 4*
hotel. This is a great centrally located property
and facilities include 5 restaurants, fitness
centre, sauna and minimarket. The balance of
today is free to explore more of the city. You
can choose to visit the heady atmosphere
surrounding the Gandan Monastery or visit
the Choijin Monastery Museum, or the
Bazaar… log on and pick up your email in one
of the numerous internet cafes on Peace
Avenue, have a latte and French pastries in the
new generation of new-age coffee stores, go
souvenir shopping in the peculiar grandeur of
the Central Department Store, or pick up some
snack food for the train in the Store’s food
department… in the evening a wide range of
traditional and new style Mongolian eateries
are vying with European style places, Irish
pubs and German beer halls to enjoy, usually
with live music later on.
Breakfast
DAY 08
If you are interested in Mongolian Buddhism
you may be interested in making a return visit
to the Gandan Monastery this morning, to see
the morning prayer-ceremonies in progress.
We also suggest you take an opportunity
today to purchase picnic provisions for the
next leg of your journey, as often this train as
no dining car. This evening we will transfer you
to the station where you will board the Ulan-
Uday bound train.
Breakfast

Visit Lahemma National Park
Town Centre