Traveling in Mongolia

This is the third in a series of posts from Deepali Patel, a native of Washington D.C. and Fulbright Fellow working in Mongolia.  This week, her suggestions for adventure activities in Mongolia. Read more on her blog

Being landlocked and difficult to reach has made Mongolia an attractive destination for the adventure traveler. The thrill is part the novelty of visiting a place that few will ever see, and part the motivation and guts it takes to visit such a “non-touristy” destination: it’s a challenge. It is entirely possible to travel in luxury throughout Mongolia – several tour companies provide that service. But the fun and adventure is in exploring new places on your own, and Mongolia is the perfect place for the traveler looking for more than just sightseeing and beaten paths.

There are must-see sights- from Genghis Khan’s ancient capital to prehistoric rock carvings. But the beauty of travel in Mongolia is not the seeing, but the doing. The amazing variety of landscape and terrain offers surprises and adventure, and is best experienced not from inside a van, but on the back of a horse or camel. Fresh fish in the rivers tastes amazing over an open fire, and even more so when you catch and skin them yourselves. And nowadays, the far reaches of the west and north can be reached via plane or helicopter, but the points in between are not to be missed either.

Summertime is the high season for tourism, and the climate is ideal. Much of the country is high and dry, so even when the temperatures start climbing it is rarely uncomfortable (which is good news, because traveling in the countryside generally means foregoing daily showers). Even in the Gobi, summertime is not unbearable, but the best place to experience this time of year is in the north or the central regions, when rivers are high, and the grass is green. Rushing rivers makes for excellent fishing (and tasty lunch), and are also ideal for rafting or kayaking. After a few days’ rain, the rapids can be swift, so, for the avid whitewater fan, rafting can be quite the adventure.

As the weather cools, the rivers slow, and often freeze clear to the bottom, making winter travel more accessible than many other cold climates. It is also, of course, the ideal time for ice fishing. In February, the Ice Festival plays host to an international ice fishing competition, when competitors hike out onto Lake Hovsgol and attempt to catch the largest fish. Winter is also ideal for huddling around the stove in the ger, as temperatures dip far below freezing. But it’s also a great time to go dog sledding and, as the first official ski resort opens this winter, even snowboarding.

Until then, however, avid boarders can visit the Gobi, where the sand dunes rise to 200-300 meters, and try their hand at sandboarding. The hike up is quick, and the journey down even quicker, and the sand will remind you of the softest fresh powder. Sandboarding isn’t the only exciting activity in the Gobi. which boasts an attraction seen nowhere else in the world – the Bactrian camel. Bactrian camels have two humps and, in cold weather, an incredible amount of hair. Camel herders in the Gobi use their animals for milk, transport, leisure, and very occasionally food. A camel trek in the Gobi is an exciting adventure, often taking the traveler far away from already being in the middle of nowhere. Camels are slightly more comfortable than horses, which of course, are the popular mode of transport in Mongolia (after motorized vehicles, of course).

In Mongolia, even the typical road trip becomes an experience when the road becomes nothing more than dirt tracks winding through enormous empty spaces. The numerous mountain ranges offers opportunities for intrepid climbers, mountain bikers, and backpackers. Mongolia is an open campground, and only the sky is the limit.  I recommend it to any adventure traveler!