Travel to Mongolia is not very easy, and usually requires a connection or two. I flew from London via Istanbul to Ulaanbaatar, and missed the connection so had to wait a day for the next flight. Luckily, there was one the next day as flights are not every day. My friends flew from California via Seoul, South Korea and they had a very long journey. When we finally arrived in Ulaanbaatar, we had a fun day looking around the city before starting our adventure through the vast deserts of the South Gobi and Central Mongolia.
The landscapes were vast and very unique. Each day, we spent between 4 and 7 hours driving to the next destination. Luckily, we had an amazing driver, Khosoo, and guide, Chuki. There are basically very few roads and we often drove across unmarked grass and dirt, with no internet connection. Khosoo said he was following the landmarks and he definitely knew the land.
Staying in Ger camps is part of the experience when you travel to Mongolia. In the more remote areas, there are fairly basic Ger camps. However, we also stayed in a few luxurious ones. In fact, one even had an en suite bathroom! Future posts will cover each of the areas we stayed in, and we moved every day in a very nomadic style. I will also write a separate post on my Mongolia Ger Reviews, because I think it’s interesting to compare the different locations and facilities.
For further tips, I’ve made a Mongolia packing list based on my experience staying in mid to luxury Ger camps mostly in the desert. The northern climate is much more damp and might require different items. Although it is difficult to each, the experience was definitely worth it! I hope I can go back to see the Naadam Festival one day!
Highlights
- Friendly and welcoming Mongolian people. We always felt like appreciated guests
- Ulaanbaatar, the capital and largest city
- National Museum and Chinggis Khan Square
- South Gobi
- Tsagaan Suvara or White Stupa rock formation and canyon
- The Ömnögovi area including Yol Valley for a nice hike or horseback riding
- Khongor sand dunes and camel riding, visiting a local stream
- Flaming Cliffs for a hike and watching the sunset and sunrise
- Ongi temple ruins and the peaceful riverside
- Kharkhorum and Erdene Zuu Monastery in the Orkhon Valley
- Hustai National Park and seeing the only wild horses, Przewalski’s horse
- Enjoying Mongolian cuisine
- Living a nomadic life and staying in Ger camps
- Playing games with animal ankle bones
- Shopping for local crafts, art, cashmere
Before you go
- Travel to Ulaanbaatar is not very easy. I got stranded in Istanbul for a whole day
- Ulaanbaatar is referred to as UB by locals
- The Mongolian language is not pronounced like it looks, so listen to some audio before
- Exchange money in UB either at the airport or in banks
- A visa is not needed for UK or US for up to 30 days of tourism
- Buy an eSIM or SIM card for mobile data while travelling outside of the city. Wi-fi is rare
- Gobi means desert in Mongolian
- Cars can have steering wheels on either side of the car, but driving is on the right
- Quality of Ger camps can vary a lot by price and facilities
- Bring a flashlight for Ger camps
- Climate varies a lot in different parts of the countries with desert, city and forest areas
- Typical Mongolian food has a lot of meat, however they can cater for vegetarians/vegans
- Many public bathrooms don’t have toilet paper so it’s good to bring some
Transport
- In Ulaanbaatar, the taxis are deemed unsafe by the locals so we opted for the tour company arranging airport transfers.
- For travel around the rural areas, you must go with a driver who knows the area. We booked via Agate Travel which then used a local company called Amicus Travel. Luckily, we had an excellent guide and driver!
- Choose your car wisely, as a 4×4 can be more comfortable than an old van on bumpy roads
Accommodation
- In Ulaanbaatar, you can book hotel rooms as in any big city. We stayed at the Ramada Hotel Ulaanbaatar City Centre. It was comfortable, centrally located, and staff were friendly and helpful.
- As usual I recommend checking reviews on Booking.com or using AirBnB for the capital
- For the rest of the trip, we stayed at a different Ger each night and I will share more details in a future post with Mongolia Ger Reviews
Currency
The official currency is the Mongolian Tugrik. As of September 2024, one British pound is 4462 MNT. This means you have to do a lot of calculations when paying in Mongolia!
I recommend to check the currency conversion just before you leave as this fluctuates
Food
In Mongolia, the diet is very much based around meat and dairy products, especially sheep. We learned that this is because of the nomadic lifestyle, where people herd the animals with them. Additionally, it is not easy to grow many fruits and vegetables in the desert.
However, the Ger camps were all very vegetarian friendly. In fact, they always made an effort to make delicious vegetarian food as well as the typical meat dishes. After a few days, I decided to eat vegetarian meals because it was just too much meat for me.
Breakfast
Breakfast was included at all of the Ger camps. Usually there was a buffet with a lot of choices, mostly Western foods. This included waffles, pancakes, omelettes, cereal, sausages, fruits and more. However, the Mongolian fried bread (boortsog) or noodle and meat soup were sometimes offered.
Starters and Snacks
Fried bread, or Boortsog, was a very popular snack at any time of the day. It could be plain or with herbs. It’s eaten with hands and usually without sauce.
Another snack is khuushuur, a fried pastry that is either filled with a lamb mixture or vegetables and potato, for the vegetarian version. I loved these, and got to try them a few times for my vegetarian meals. I’ve also tried making them at home, and the dough is very simple with just flour and water.
Occasionally we would have desserts. These could be fruits, candy bars, cakes, mousse, etc. Most of these were more Western foods. However, the typical Mongolian sweets we tried include hard candies, chocolates and caramels. At each household we visited, we would be offered a candy. They also sometimes had sour milk curd biscuits called Aaruul. We tried a little, but it is a very strong taste if you are not used to it!
Main Dishes
Most of the time, the main meat on the menu was lamb or mutton. Occasionally we had beef, camel or chicken. And the vegetarian food would have potatoes and mostly tinned vegetables. Typically the main meal would have rice, noodles or bread.
Sometimes, we would have more Western foods such as pasta or chicken schnitzel. However, most of the time in the Ger camps we had more traditional foods.
In Ulaanbaatar, you can find many international cuisines. We had Mongolian hotpot, Japanese Ramen, and sandwiches from the bakery.
Drinks
Mongolia produces a lot of spirits including vodka and whiskey. We tried a few of the vodkas and they were tasty. I especially liked Chinggis Khan vodka, which also had a very beautiful bottle.
For a non-alcoholic drink, the sea buckthorn juice was a nice mix of sweet and sour. It is bright orange and said to be very health, with lots of vitamins.
River near Secret of Ongi
FAQs
Q: Do I need a tour guide?
A: Yes, you are likely to need a tour guide and a driver to travel around Mongolia. There are few roads and most driving is off-road. We still have no idea how our driver found his way with no internet nor maps. He said was following the mountains.
Q: Do people speak English?
A: Yes, in the capital of Ulaanbaatar people can generally speak English. However, in the countryside most people do not speak English.
Q: Can I travel solo?
A: Yes, you can with a guide and drive, though that might be expensive. You can also take shared buses if you have plenty of time.
Q: How easy is it to send postcards?
A: It was not easy to find postcards, and I saw them in very few shops. The post office had some postcards to choose from. However, buying stamps was very difficult! At first, the post office employee showed me stamps and asked me to choose which ones I liked. They were all different denominations, so I asked how much the postage actually would cost. They tried to say 1100 Tugrik plus the cost of any stamps, and we had to discuss for quite some time until they understand that the stamps needed to pay for the postage. See Sending Postcards from Abroad for details on cost and the time it took to reach the USA.
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