Mongolia Travel Guide
Mongolia is a country for those looking to get away from the crowds that are common in many Asian holiday destinations. It is the world’s most sparsely populated sovereign nation with less than two people per square kilometre. Outside of the capital, Ulaanbaatar, where nearly half of the population lives, it’s possible to travel for days and not see another human being.
For many travellers who haven’t been to Mongolia, one of the first images that comes to mind of the country is the Gobi Desert. This is a spectacular region but the distances to travel to see it are immense and the environment is harsh. For older travellers there are many better options to experience the vastness and emptiness of the Mongolian landscape.
Mongolia usually surprises first-time visitors in that facilities are much more comfortable and modern than they expect – at least in the capital. Travelling in Mongolia is safe. Hunnu Air tends to be the more reliable of the country’s two domestic airlines (Mongolia’s national airline, MIAT, no longer flies domestic routes) and there are some reasonably good hotels in Ulaanbaatar.
There are daily flights to Ulaanbaatar from Beijing and Seoul with either MIAT, Air China or Korean Air, and less frequent flights from Tokyo, Istanbul, Moscow and a few other European capitals. The Trans-Mongolian railway passes through Ulaanbaatar and connects with the Trans-Siberian railway at Ulan-Ude in Russia, so some travellers incorporate a few weeks in Mongolia into a Beijing to Moscow rail itinerary.
If travelling around the middle of July, you will have the opportunity to see events held as part of the country’s famous Naadam Festival. This is a three-day annual cultural and sporting festival held in all regions of Mongolia that features Mongolian wrestling, archery and horse racing. There are also colourful parades of people in traditional dress and musical performances, making the festival very appealing to photographers.
Ulaanbaatar
With the country sandwiched between China and Russia, you would expect to see influences from both countries in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar. But ‘UB’, as it’s known locally, feels more Russian than it does Chinese. That’s mainly because of the proliferation of Soviet-style apartment blocks all over the city, and in winter the Russian-style fur hats.
In summer though Ulaanbaatar has a more cosmopolitan feel to it with restaurants, coffee shops, and quirky bars bustling with people dressed in the latest western fashions, and a flourishing arts scene. Unfortunately, Mongolia is not a destination for foodies, but there are a few restaurants offering western food in Ulaanbaatar – something that is lacking once you leave the capital. You’ll enjoy Mongolian cuisine if you are a big meat eater because nearly all the meat in Mongolia is organic from livestock raised on the open grasslands.
Ulaanbaatar has a large and impressive city plaza, Sukhbaatar Square, on which the parliament building stands on its northern side. The other buildings around the square are modern glass-clad high-rise office blocks and hotels, and Soviet-style public buildings that date back to the 1920s. Nearby is the National Museum of Mongolia which gets consistently good reviews from visitors. It provides an enjoyable way to learn about the history of the country, and the rise and fall of the Mongol Empire – the largest empire ever to have existed.
The State Opera and Ballet Theatre, and the Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery, also close to the square, are worth a visit too. Away from the centre of the city, the Gandan Khiid Monastery and the Winter Palace of the Bogd Khan are popular tourist spots. The latter has a fascinating collection of stuffed animals. Many of them were animals from the private zoo of the last king of Mongolia.
For souvenir shopping, the ‘Black Market’ (known locally as Naran Tuul) is Ulaanbaatar’s version of Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market. Many young people in Ulaanbaatar, as well as those employed in the tourism and hospitality sectors, speak English these days, so getting around the capital, with or without a guide, is not difficult.
The Steppe
The vast grasslands to the east of Ulaanbaatar are known as the Mongolian steppe. You don’t have to go far outside of UB to reach them, but the further you travel from the capital, the emptier they become. The urban environment quickly changes to a rural landscape with large numbers of sheep, cattle, horses and goats grazing. Mongolia has around 70 million livestock animals — nearly 25 times the human population.
About two hours west of UB, the numbers of livestock thin out, homesteads disappear, and the grasslands become gently rolling hills divided by rivers instead of fences. The only signs of life on the steppe in these parts are strings of horses and the occasional ger (the Mongolian yurt) belonging to nomadic herdsmen and hunters.
This is the area of the steppe to which tourists are often taken to spend a night in a ger to feel the loneliness of the steppe. Trips can be booked through any travel agent in Ulaanbaatar. Usually a night out on the steppe will include a visit to a nomad’s ger to sample some of the local delicacies like mutton soup or aaruul – a type of dried curd similar to the Persian kashk.
If the night is clear you will see more stars in the sky than you could ever have imagined existed. Your driver/guide will leave you on your own after preparing a meal, and the experience of isolation is quite extraordinary (but they won’t be far away, so it’s very safe). When you awake in the morning, you will feel very cold (aside from the months of June, July and August, it will likely be below freezing point) but your driver will soon be there to light a fire in the ger before you need to leave your warm bed.
The cheapest way to spend a night on the steppe is in a tourist camp – a collection of gers, usually around 6 – 20 in number, with transfers from Ulaanbaatar in a coach. But it’s highly recommended to pay a little extra and organise a personal tour in a car with driver because that’s the only way you’ll truly appreciate the experience of being alone on the steppe.
Gorkhi Terelj National Park
For those who may not have the time or inclination to travel far from Ulaanbaatar, the Gorkhi Terelj National Park offers a pleasant respite from the city during the summer months. It’s less than an hour and a half outside of the capital, and you can either visit it on a day trip or stay overnight in a ger in one of the tourist camps, or in one of about half a dozen hotels and lodges ranging from budget cabins up to the luxurious (but very expensive) Terelj Hotel and Spa.
The national park has some easy hikes through pine forests that are perfect for older travellers. When the edelweiss flowers are in bloom in the summer, there will be times when you may think you are hiking in Switzerland. For those who enjoy horse riding, another way to enjoy the park’s alpine scenery is on horseback.
For those with a higher level of fitness, there are treks to higher altitudes, some of which may incorporate some rock climbing. And if a one kilometre walk and climbing 108 steps is not a problem, the view from the Tibetan Buddhist Aryapala Temple (also spelled Aryabal) is well worth the effort. For the more adventurous, ATV tours are available.
Most travel agents in Ulaanbaatar can organise trips to the national park. On the way to the park, most tours take a short detour to the Chinggis Khaan Statue Complex. There you will see an impressive 40-metre-high stainless-steel statue of Genghis Khan on a horse. With a restaurant and souvenir shops at its base, it’s touristy, but still worth the visit.
Lake Khovsgol
It is said that the water in Lake Khovsgol (also spelled Khuvsgul) is so pure that you can drink it. We don’t recommend visitors putting that to the test, but this large lake – the second largest in Mongolia – in the north of the country on the Russian border, is well worth a visit if you are looking for opportunities to hike or horse ride in pristine wilderness areas.
Lake Khovsgol is best known for its annual winter Ice Festival, held on the frozen lake, when traditional Mongolian games are played and exciting horse-drawn sled races are organised on the two-metre thick ice. Performances by musicians and shamans are held as well. The ice festival is staged over three days incorporating the weekend closest to the end of February and start of March.
The lake is surrounded by the Khovsgol Lake National Park which has been described by many as a paradise for bird watchers and horse riders. There are also hot mineral springs and opportunities for hiking, camping and fishing. All these activities are best carried out with a guide because the area is very sparsely populated.
Lake Khovsgol is 700 kilometres northwest of Ulaanbaatar, so it’s a long trip by road. The best option for getting there is to take a flight to Moron (also spelled Murun) which is about an hour and a half south of the lake. Mongolia’s two domestic airlines, Hunnu Air and Aero Mongolia, have daily flights to Moron.
Altai Mountains
Even further away from Ulaanbaatar, the Altai Mountains are located in the far west of the country, near where the borders of China, Russia and Kazakhstan join. This is one of the most remote and isolated regions of Asia, but is visited during the summer months by those seeking to experience the rugged beauty, harsh landscapes and solitude of these snow-capped mountains.
The Altai Tavan Bogd National Park is studded with spectacular lakes and home to wildlife including bears, wolves, deer, golden eagles and the endangered snow leopards and snow lynx. It’s an outstanding destination for wildlife and landscape photographers but suitable only for older travellers who are fit and in good health.
To reach the Altai Mountains, travellers need to fly from Ulaanbaatar to Olgii (also spelled Ulgii) and then join a tour from there. Due to the remoteness of the region, this is not a part of Mongolia that you can visit without a guide. However, private guides can be arranged for those who don’t want to join a group tour.
Touring options include off-road jeep and hunting expeditions, horseback riding tours and trekking. Wherever you travel in this part of Mongolia, you’ll come across eagle hunters on horseback who are descendants of those who have been living a nomadic lifestyle in and around the Altai Mountains for thousands of years.
Best months to visit Mongolia
For western tourists, Mongolia is essentially a summer destination. The winters are long and harsh. June, July and August are the only months when night-time temperatures don’t fall below freezing point. Summer days are usually very pleasant (20 °C – 25 °C) and on some days the temperature may even climb to over 30 °C.
But the summer months are also the wettest months with rain on about 10-15 days per month. So a folding umbrella is essential. In southern desert regions summer temperatures will be much higher (up to 40 °C) whilst at elevated locations in national parks and on the steppe, the temperature will be lower and it will become cooler very quickly in the evenings. So warm clothes are necessary for even summer visits.
Autumn is generally a little warmer than spring. The coldest months are November to March when daytime temperatures rarely go above freezing point, and temperatures can be as low as -30 °C. In desert regions and at high elevations they can go below -40 °C.
For those who may want to try a winter visit to see the Ice Festival at Lake Khovsgol or participate in other winter activities, be prepared for travel disruptions due to snowstorms, and ensure that you bring appropriate clothing for the trip.
Currency and exchange rates
The tughrik (also called togrog) is the currency of Mongolia. Over the past 10 years it has slowly depreciated from MNT 1,350 to the US dollar to around 2,700 today. Banknotes circulate in denominations of MNT 10 to MNT 20,000. The easiest way to keep track of money is to remember that the MNT 5,000 note is worth the equivalent of about two US dollars in your home currency.
Some of the higher denomination notes are similar in colour to lower denomination notes (for example, the MNT 5,000 note is very similar in colour to the MNT 100 note) so you’ll need to keep your wits about you when counting out cash, especially if you’ve been given change in a lot of lower denomination notes. The colours are harder to differentiate on well-worn notes. Coins are issued in denominations of MNT 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500.
You’ll need to either bring US dollars or euros to exchange into tughrik on arrival in Ulaanbaatar, or use ATMs in the capital to withdraw money from your bank account or credit card. If exchanging cash, keep the exchange receipt because you’ll need that to change any surplus tughrik back into hard currencies before you leave. You will not be able to exchange tughrik outside of Mongolia.
When travelling outside Ulaanbaatar, never leave the city without sufficient cash to tide you over until your return because ATMs in other cities may not always be stocked with cash, and credit cards are not widely accepted outside of the capital.
Header image: © Sakalouski Uladzislau
