Last Updated on by Lohanna Reis
Mongolia is AWESOME and should be on any traveler’s bucket list. Read on to learn some interesting and surprising things like how to tour the great Gobi Desert, what nomadic life is like, and why you probably won’t shower very much. Plus, tips on accommodation, food, transportation inside the country and from China, & more!
I. Love. Mongolia.
No, really. And I’m not just saying that because that’s the sort of sh*t travel bloggers always say. It really is the most stunning, incredible, bizarre, beautiful, frustrating, fascinating, unique, unreal country I’ve ever visited.
From driving through the vast, seemingly limitless expanses of the Gobi Desert, to embracing the full uniqueness of the nomadic culture to being the only tourist around for MILES and MILES, Mongolia is a place that sticks with you, holds tight, and makes you want to go back again and again.
Seriously. I. Love. Mongolia.
Okay, that’s enough of that (I’m usually no good at that sort of “gushing” talk, anyway….). Now that I’ve finished there, there’s some things I need to get off my chest.
Sometimes, Mongolia is confusing. Frustrating. Impossible. (Though you could probably say this about any place you visit, really.) And as with any good trip, figuring these things out yourself might be all part of the adventure…but there’s still some things I definitely learned during my trip that would be great for future travelers to know beforehand.
So, I’ve prepared this schmancy list to help you out.
1. Let’s just get this out of the way – Genghis Khan is Mongolia’s pride and joy….and you’re probably saying & spelling it wrong.
Genghis Khan is, arguably, the most famous Mongolian of all. But while the rest of the world might see him as, um, not such a friendly fellow, the people of Mongolia LOVE him.
He’s the focal point of Ulaanbaatar’s (the capital of Mongolia) main plaza as seen here:
And they even created this HUGE statue of him (I kid you not, this thing is BIG) here:
Oh, and most importantly of all….it’s Chinggis Khaan NOT Genghis Khan. (No worries, I was saying it wrong until I was briskly corrected in Mongolia.
If you want to make sure you get it right, just watch the first 10 seconds of this video.
2. Mongolia is BIG and independent travel can be tough (unless you have lots of time).
First and foremost, just GETTING to Mongolia in the first place can be a challenge. Sure, you can fly in from wherever you are, but flights tend to be on the expensive side so most people end up crossing from either China or Russia.
We entered Mongolia by bus and train from Beijing (we wrote about how to do it in the cheapest way possible here) and left through western Mongolia to get to China’s Xinjiang province (which we’ll be writing about sometime soon – you can leave us a comment if you want to know when we add it!).
Anyway, beyond the challenges of just getting there, there are also some challenges of traveling in-country.
The distances between places are impressively large and public transportation isn’t all that reliable (meaning if you’re short on time, you might not want to spend hours and hours on a bus).
Plus, there are plenty of places (like areas of the Gobi Desert or the national parks surrounding Ulaanbaatar) that you just can’t get to by yourself. You’ll have to arrange a small tour or hire a driver out for the day. On which leads me to # 3…
Just look at all this space!
3. Mongolia isn’t as cheap as you think it is….sort of.
Well, it is and it isn’t. If you just take public transportation, eat local food, and stay in budget accommodation, it can be.
However, if you want to try to get to some of the country’s most beautiful areas such as the Gobi Desert (which I really recommend you do!), you have to opt for a tour. And, though you can find pretty reasonably-priced tours, this could eat into your budget if you don’t arrive expecting to pay for one.
Mongolia Budget Travel Tip #1: For our tour to the Gobi Desert, we arranged it through our hostel in Ulaanbaatar. The hostel is called Golden Gobi and they definitely offered some of the cheapest tours around. If you go with them, see if you can request Alma. She was our guide and she was wonderful! If you do, be sure to tell her Rodrigo and Nikki say hello (it’s been about a year, but I like to think she still remembers us).
If you can get a group together to share the cost with, the people at the hostel can also help you arrange a private driver for a day to go to attractions near Ulaanbaatar.
Plus, you’ll meet some awesome people on your tours! The groups also stay nice and small like this. Here was our entire tour group (minus Rodrigo the photographer and our driver) workin’ together to push our van out of the sand.
Mongolia Budget Travel Tip #2: But if you want to visit Karakorum, Mongolia’s ancient capital (which is relatively close to UB), you can do actually get there yourself via public transportation. We wrote a whole article about the cheapest way to get from UB to Karakorum here.
4. Mongolia has the lowest population density in the world.
Let’s put this into perspective.
By area, Mongolia is about twice the size of Turkey or about the size of Mexico.
But by population, it’s about the size of Chicago or Madrid…and that’s for the entire country.
Plus, 50% of the ENTIRE population live in the capital city. In other words, this gives you lots and lots of completely untouched landscape to explore…and you don’t have to go very far to feel like you’re the only person in the world.
Actually, there’s WAY more livestock than people. (And yes, this is a picture of Rodrigo actually shepherding these animals for a day…it’s a long story.)
5. The relationship between Mongolia and China is complicated.
For better or worse, Mongolia and China are not exactly friends.
Obviously, the two countries have a long, deep history of competing for lands and conquering each other back and forth again and again (and, you know, there was that big, relatively famous wall built).
Part of the problem is that Mongolia was a province of China until the beginning of the 20th century…and apparently, China kept drawing their maps as if Mongolia were within their borders much longer than that.
To this day, there is an autonomous province in China alongside the border that is called “Inner Mongolia” (they call the actual country of Mongolia just “Outer Mongolia”). Interpret that as you will. Obviously, I’m neither Chinese nor Mongolian so it’s not really in my place to get way into this. The tension is noticeable, though.
Or in the words of a 16-year-old Mongolian teen, we met at a barbecue “you can’t trust the Chinese….because they make us buy their bad products.”*
Or in another instance, Rodrigo just mentioned the word “China” on a Mongolian train and some old Mongolian guy tried to start a fight with him. (Although the man didn’t speak English, apparently the word “China” upset him.)
Luckily, some other train-goers were there to calm down the situation.
Like I said, they have a long history together.
*Please note: I am NOT making fun of anyone here. I assure you these are the actual situations we encountered!*
6. On the other hand, they love everything Korean!
When walking through the streets of Ulaanbaatar, we were quite surprised at the abundance of Korean restaurants and karaoke clubs (which, if you read my article about 22 interesting things I’ve learned living in South Korea, you’ll know are SUPER popular in Korea)! Looks like the Korean wave has landed close to home.
Apparently, Korean dramas and K-pop music are also popular here.
So, I forgot to take a picture of something Korean-ish…so here’s a random picture of Rodrigo in front of a Mongolian sign!
7. 30-40% of the ENTIRE population is nomadic.
Mongolia has a 3,000-year-old nomadic tradition, and amazingly that lifestyle remains deeply entrenched even in modern-day Mongolia.
The livelihood of these nomadic families depend on their livestock – whether their sheep, horses, cows or even camels (if living in the Gobi)– to make a living and provide sustenance.
When they run out of good places for their animals to graze, they pack up their homes (which we’ll talk all about in #8) and move their animals to the next place.
Mongolia’s nomadic life revolves around its livestock.
8. This is what a traditional Mongolian dwelling looks like.
Gers, the name for traditional Mongolian dwellings, are part of what make the nomadic life possible. Though plenty sturdy after they’ve been built, they can be easily taken down and transported in parts as necessary.
Now, it’s not only nomads who live in gers, but in most of the cities (including Ulaanbaatar), there are informal ‘ger districts’ that have popped up along the outskirts. In other words, you’ll find gers basically no matter where you go to Mongolia!
This is a ger, the traditional Mongolian dwelling that makes nomadic life possible.
9. Ger life can be tough.
Of course, these traditional gers haven’t been left completely untouched by modern society – many nomadic families have solar panels (the Mongolian government subsidizes these), basic cell phones, and TV antennae.
What people living in gers do lack, however, are running water or central heating. And when the winter temperatures get down to -40 F/C, this is obviously a BIG problem.
Since those living in gers burn anything and everything to try to stay warm (raw coal, rubber, plastics, etc.), during the winter, Ulaanbaatar has some of the worst air quality in the world.
Though many gers have solar panels….
…they also burn things like this dried animal dung to try to keep warm.
10. If you want to sound like a pro, call the capital city UB.
As cool of a name as Ulaanbaatar is, if you want to fit in with the cool kids, just call it “UB” (as in, literally pronounce the name of each of those letters….not “ub”).
Ulaanbaatar as seen from The Zaisan Memorial
11. The best parts of Mongolia lie beyond the city.
Look, I’ll be honest here – Ulaanbaatar is not the prettiest city you’ll ever see.
I did enjoy wandering around UB, but if you don’t get out of the city you’ll be left disappointed and seriously missing out (I’m not really into those “must-see” lists….but seriously, if you are in Mongolia, you “must see” the country outside of Ulaanbaatar.)
Although, you can certainly try to make some friends in UB!
12. Cars literally just drive wherever they want outside the cities….but luckily, Mongolians have a killer sense of direction.
To get to many places in Mongolia, there often any paved roads. To get to other places in Mongolia, there aren’t roads at all. (You’ll be lucky if you get some tire tracks to follow…. otherwise, zip. Nada.)
Occasionally, the driver of whatever form of wheels we were riding in would just suddenly veer off the road to take his or her own way. And a good chunk of our Gobi Desert trip was our driver just driving in the middle of the desert following landmarks as he knew them.
Fortunately, most Mongolians seem to have a killer sense of direction.
For example, on our last day in the Gobi Desert, there was a snowstorm (yes, we were in the desert and yes, it was May. That’s Mongolia for you.).
The mountains were covered as were all tire tracks or other potential landmarks. Literally, it was just white. Everywhere. By some miracle, our drive managed to find his way out DESPITE being able to see nothing but whiteness and got us back to UB safe and sound (and he didn’t even cheat with a smartphone).
This brave nomad was out on that same snowy day.
13. You can just walk into a ger and help yourself, whether or not the hosts are home (or whether you not you actually know them, for that matter).
Now, this isn’t something that I would necessarily recommend you do as a foreigner, but it is widely accepted as the right kind of hospitality in the Mongolian culture. If you’re out on the steppe and you need a place to rest, sleep, or eat, just head to the nearest ger.
When we were in the Gobi Desert, about half the nights we went on what our guide fondly called “ger hunting.”
In other words, we didn’t have a set place to stay that night. So, we just drove on and on in the Gobi (remember, no roads) until we found the nearest ger. We knocked on the door, and that was that.
Technically, you could try it with any of the gers here, for example.
14. The Gobi Desert is one of the most incredible places you will ever see.
I think the Gobi Desert is one of the single most beautiful, most incredible, most surreal and unexpected places you’ll ever see in your life.
From the vast (yeah yeah, I know I already used the word ‘vast’ in the intro, but that really is the best word to describe Mongolia) landscape to the bright blue sky to the occasional nomadic family that is literally living in the middle of nowhere.
An ice canyon (complete with desert ticks). Bizarre cliff formations. Semi-wild horses running alongside your van. Herds of camels. Sand dunes that you can climb. The most clear, humbling night sky you’ll ever see. Being more crazily far away from civilization than you ever thought possible.
The Gobi Desert’s ‘Flaming Cliffs’ – famous for their color AND THEIR DINOSAUR FOSSILS (can you tell the part I’m excited about?)
15. If staying with a nomadic family, make sure you accept (at least a little bit of) all that they offer.
If you stay with a nomadic family at any point (which you probably will do), you’ll be offered all sorts of things – arak (fermented mare’s milk), salty milk tea, vodka, weird little biscuit things, a snuff bottle, etc.
Even if you’re hesitant, at the very least give it a try. It’s the least you can do to show you appreciate their hospitality.
As far as liquor goes, if you are offered it and don’t want to drink, you can dip your right ring finger into it and flick the booze 3 times up. (Unfortunately, I can’t remember what each of the 3 flicks is supposed to represent….but I think one of them might be a thanks to the earth?)
And don’t fear the strange looking snuff bottles! They are often offered as a greeting and all they are is a mixture of herbs. If you don’t feel comfortable actually inhaling it through your nose (I really do promise you it’s not drugs inside…though it certainly will clear out your sinuses), just give the bottle a light sniff of appreciation.
Rodrigo sampling some salty milk tea from a nomadic family.
16. You’ll probably get used to peeing along the side of the road
Outside of UB, finding a true western toilet is difficult. If you’re lucky, you’ll get an outhouse with a door. But often, when you’re driving in the middle of nowhere without any civilization in sight, you’ll have to do your business anywhere you can.
Ladies, here’s a quick warning: The worst is when the surrounding landscape is COMPLETELY FLAT and PLANT FREE. So, make sure to request a bathroom stop anytime you find some hills or shrubbery you can potentially hide yourself behind.
Seriously, where’s a lady supposed to pee around here!?
17. Wrestling is the national sport….and there’s an entire festival to celebrate it.
The festival is called Naadam and, although we weren’t able to attend, apparently it’s a really cool experience!
I mean, just look at these guys.
Image Source
If you’re interested in a tour to Naadam, be sure to check out the tour options from TourRadar‘s festival tours around the world or our article with The 5 Best Tour Group Companies for International Travel.
Alternatively, just click below to see what’s up.
18. They have eagle hunters.
Alongside Mongolia’s border with Kazakhstan in the Altai Mountains, there is a region that is populated by Kazak people. They are the last 400 people in the world that hunt in the ancient tradition of using golden eagles.
There’s also a super bada$* female eagle huntress who is only 13.
She’s the first female to take up in tradition in her family’s 12 generations of eagle hunters….and she may be the only female practicing this exact technique in the world. (PS: Alma – the tour guide we recommended above for the Gobi Desert tour – is also this girl’s aunt.)
They even made a great documentary about her and the hunting tradition as a whole. Here’s the trailer:
19. There’s also reindeer herders in the northern Mongolia.
Not only are there eagle hunters in the west, but there are reindeer herders in the north!
The reindeer herders are made up of Mongolian’s Tsaatan minority ethnic group. The name Tsaatan itself actually means “reindeer people” in the Mongolian language.
They live up along Lake Khosgvol, Mongolia’s biggest lake. Unfortunately, there are less than 300 Tsaatan people remaining today.
20. AND THERE’S CAMELS (which you will probably eat).
One of the most unique things about Mongolia is that they keep their animals semi-wild. In other words, it’s highly likely you’ll run into herds of horses, goats, and of course camels wandering about freely.
And in the Gobi, you’ll see camels everywhere! If you’re lucky, you’ll even get to pet some baby ones. If you’re less lucky, you’ll end up eating some of them.
So cute! … but not so tasty (at least in my book).
21. Get ready to embrace the dirt.
Most parts of Mongolia are still fairly underdeveloped and, as I mentioned above, nomads don’t have running water. Which means you may not get to shower quite as often as you’re used to. (I think we showered once over the course of our 8-day Gobi desert tour.) But it’s all part of the Mongolian experience!
After 8 days without a shower, you also won’t mind getting a little cuddly with the animals.
22. You may encounter an animal slaughter or two.
Since animals are very much seen as sustenance in Mongolia, it’s no great surprise that an animal is slaughtered whenever the need arises.
Over the course of our month, we witnessed two animal slaughters directly in front of our eyes (well, I’m actually pretty queasy so I admit I kept my distance).
The first was in the Gobi Desert. A nomadic family we were visiting was slaughtering one of the camels for meat (actually, we ended up carrying some of the meat along with us to eat ourselves….).
The second was during a picnic for a high school English class we were invited to in Western Mongolia.
In the form of traditional Mongolian barbecue, we watched them remove the sheep (still alive) from the back of a car, kill the sheep, wash the organs in the nearby river (which people were swimming in, by the way), and cook it over in a metal jug over a fire. The meat was delicious….and we were impressed with how the students didn’t shy away from helping.
The students helping to prepare the freshly-butchered sheep.
23. Mongolia was never part of the Soviet Union….though it was communist for a while.
Many people mistakenly believe that Mongolia was part of the Soviet Union, though it in fact remained independent the entire time.
But it did have a pretty nasty communist regime made worse by the fact it was surrounded by two other communist superpowers – China and the USSR. The regime was around until the early 90s.
To this day, Mongolia is still left in kind of a tricky position, lodged between China and Russia, still two powerful countries.
You can find some lingering communist-inspired architecture in UB.
24. If you are staying more than 30 days, you MUST register with immigration within 7 days!!!!!!!
Please, if there’s anything you get from this post, it’s this: don’t be as stupid as Rodrigo and I were. Since we were both able to enter Mongolia visa-free for 90 days, we kind of just thought that was it – we were in, nothing else to worry about.
We found out the hard way (as in, after we had already been there for more than 7 days), that you must register with immigration if you’ll be there more than 30 days.
Registering is actually kind of a pain to do – you have to go to the immigration office on the outskirts of UB, pay some sort of fee, fill out a form with your passport photos (don’t forget to bring these!), and then they’ll update your stamp.
Unfortunately, we didn’t find this out until we were on the border trying to cross from Western Mongolia to Western China after a mere 33 days in the country.
We got stopped at the border and had to sit in a little room for about 2 hours while they sorted things out (all for overstaying just for 3 days)….and we still had to pay a fine.
For goodness sakes, don’t forget to go here if you’re staying more than 30 days!!!!
25. Mongolia has a lot of Toyota Prius.
You might not expect it in a country whose capital has some the worst air quality in the world (see #9 above), but the number of Toyota Prius in Mongolia was UNREAL. Apparently, they import them secondhand from Japan and it happens to be one of the cheaper, more reliable cars that a Mongolian can purchase….so there’s that. You do you, Mongolia!
Who knew Mongolia was such of fan of hybrid vehicles?
*BONUS: Do yourself a favor and get a solar charger. Then, no need to worry about your camera battery dying!*
Trust us, this little contraption will save your life!
Other tours, attractions and excursions in Mongolia
If you are exploring Mongolia and would like to take tours and excursions, I recommend using the Civitatis and Viator website to research the best attractions and tours in the region. There you can find day trips to full day excursions. And there are also several attraction providers to suit every budget!
As you can see, Mongolia is a country full of shocks, surprises, and just ridiculous beauty at every turn.
What do you think? Would you like to visit Mongolia yourself? Or have you already visited and have something else to add?
Let us know in the comments below….and we shall most definitely get back to you!
Don’t forget to check out our other articles about Mongolia:
How to Get From Ulaanbaatar to Karakorum (Mongolia) for 7 Dollars
How to Get from China (Beijing) to Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar) for Less than 45 USD (2016 UPDATED)
Planning your next trip?
Then don’t forget travel insurance! You don’t want to get stuck paying a ton of money and ruining your trip if you get sick or have an accident without travel insurance. Our page with The 3 Best and Cheapest Travel Insurance on the Market can help you choose the right plan and will give you some discount coupons for the biggest insurance companies!
Already reserved your hotel or hostel? If not, our article with The 6 Best and Cheapest Websites to Find & Reserve Accommodation can help you out. You’ll also find some promotions and discount codes.
Still haven’t booked your plane ticket and want to save big? Take a look at our page with 16 Tips to Save on Flights where you’ll also find the 4 best websites to buy your plane tickets.
And finally, will you need to rent a car during your trip? Then surely our page with The 5 Best and Cheapest Websites to Compare and Rent Cars Around the World will help you choose the best rental car and find a good deal.
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Hi Rodrigo,
I am glad that I found your blog while searching for information about Mongolia. I know that you will be writing more about your Mongolia trip. However, since I will be making the trip in few weeks’ time, i wonder if you could briefly share with me about your trip itinerary, duration or expenditure.
I intend to spend at least a month there. Some friends of mine will be joining me for 2 weeks and i thought to put together a Gobi tour. Could you also tell me more about the tour you followed and the cost?
I have been reading up posts from others but its not as updated as yours. 🙂 Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Safe travel!
Regards,
YJ
Hi YJ,
Thanks for the message! Hopefully, we’ll be putting up another Mongolia article this week or next week…but I’d be happy to give you some other info before then 🙂 I’ll try to send you an email once we finish the new article!
First of all, if you are going to be spending more than 30 days there, make sure you register with immigration within your first 7 days. Both Rodrigo and I entered the country visa-free but we didn’t register with immigration and when we tried to leave the country (after 33 days), we were pulled aside at the border and had to pay a fine. So definitely don’t forget this! Your hostel in Ulaanbaatar can give you some more info about what you need to do to register (since we didn’t register ourselves, it’s better to ask them).
The Gobi Desert was my absolute favorite place to visit, so I definitely recommend you go! We arranged the tour with our hostel in Ulaanbaatar called Golden Gobi. You can look at it/book it here on Booking.com. The price was pretty good and we had a great time. I think we spent 8 days in the Gobi which was plenty.
Beyond the Gobi, we also spent some time in Ulaanbaatar (I recommend you check out this free walking tour here: . While in Ulaanbaatar, we took a day trip to the giant Chinngis Khan statue and Terelj National Park. You can’t get there by public transportation, so we arranged a driver through Golden Gobi.
We also spent 10 days in a farm Workaway (which was not a good experience, so I wouldn’t recommend the place :-). We went to Karakorum (which I’m guessing is the article you already saw!), which is cool if you have the time. We then spent a bit of time in Khovd, a city in western Mongolia. The city itself wasn’t anything special, we only stayed there for a few days because we were trying to cross into western China from there.
The places we really wanted to go were:
-the city of Ulgii and the Altai Mountains in the west of Mongolia
-Lake Khovsgol in the north
Unfortunately, we ran out of time to visit these two places (mostly because we made the mistake of volunteering on the farm) but they are both supposed to be awesome!
Hopefully that helped 🙂
Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions….otherwise, enjoy your trip! Mongolia is one of my favorite places in the world, so I’m sure you’ll have a great time.
Nikki
Hi Nikki,
Thanks a lot for your email! We will keep the registration in mind, especially now that we might spend 2 months in Mongolia.
The tour is priced at the high side for us and it looks very intense (so many hours on the road!). Since we have the luxury of time, we decide to go slow and make use of the public buses to the main province. Then, we will arrange for logistic from there.
How was your crossing into China from the west? Did you guys obtain your china visa in UB? Any issues? We thought about doing it and read that the China Embassy in UB stopped issuing visa to non-Mongolian since August/Sept 2016. I am not sure if this issue is still on going though.
Safe travel!
Regards,
YJ
Hi YJ!
Glad to hear it helped 🙂
Unfortunately, you will probably expect to spend $50-60 per day for a Gobi Desert tour. We always try to do things independently, but in the case of the Gobi, we just didn’t think it’d be possible to do it ourselves.
You could take public buses to get the some of the larger ‘cities’ in the Gobi, but from there I think it’d be (almost) impossible to find transportation to some of the real highlights (which can be really isolated and far away from any sort of civilization) like the massive sand dunes, ice canyon, etc…
Of course, you are welcome to try to go at it independently…just giving some of my thoughts 🙂 If you go that way, could you let us know how you managed it/what places you were able to get to? I’d be curious to see how it goes!
I’m American so I already had a 10-year Chinese visa & I didn’t need to get another. Rodrigo did, though, and he applied in UB. It was fairly straightforward and everything went smoothly – but this was May 2016. I haven’t heard anything about them not issuing visas anymore, so I’m afraid I can’t speak on that. If you do try to get your visa there, here’s two tips:
1) make sure you arrive well before it opens….yet still be prepared to push even if you’re at the front of the line
2) if you go to a travel agency called ‘Air Market’ (you’ll find them all over UB), they can print you off a “fake” plane ticket (free of charge) for China that you’ll need to show to get the visa
The crossing from west Mongolia to west China was pretty interesting (we actually plan on writing an article about this one of these days). First, you have to get to a city called Khovd in Western Mongolia. You can take a bus from UB to get there. Then, you take a shared van leaving from the central market to a city called Bulgan on the border. For some reason, there’s a bunch of cities called Bulgan so if you just say “China,” they should make sure you get to the right place. We ended up arriving at the border too late to cross, so the van dropped us off at a hotel for the night. Then the next morning we told the hotel guy “China” and he called a taxi to take us to the border. (Warning: the border is super chaotic with tons of people trying to get through.) Once on the Chinese side, you’ll basically just find random people with cars going to Urumqi (I’m guessing that’s the city you’d want to go to). Just keep saying “Urumqi” and negotiate the price. When is your trip? I can send you our article about the trip if we finish before then.
Hope that helped!
Nikki
Hi Nikki,
First of all thank you so much for sharing! I’m really interested in going to Mongolia but the prices throw me off a bit…
You mentioned you did a 10 day Workaway but it wasn’t a good experience, could you elaborate?
I’ve done quite a few volunteering projects on farms myself and I found most to be time saving, eye opening and a great way to get into the local culture (nevermind the fact I’m a farmer and it’s my passion). Any chance you can tell me a bit more about the farm you stayed at?
Thanks!
Hey Victoria,
Thanks for the comment and happy to share 🙂
Usually, I agree with you – Workaways are a wonderful way to visit a place on a budget and get an insight into the local culture. And I’ve had great experiences with other ones!
It was just the particular Workaway we chose in Mongolia that wasn’t great. The “host” was a major jerk and very much exploited the volunteers (having you work 10+ hour days, not having a day off until you’ve worked 7, etc.). The most confusing thing was that the farm had a TON of positive reviews, so I’m not really sure what the deal was. Rodrigo and I are all for working hard and trying something new, but this was a whole new extreme and just wasn’t worth it.
But I just took a peek at Workaways in Mongolia, and it looks like that one isn’t listed anymore. But I do see quite a few other options that look pretty interesting, so I’d say go forth and find one that appeals to you 🙂
Feel free to reach out with any questions you have….Mongolia is one of my favorite countries, so I always like talking about it!
Hi Nikki!
I hope this email finds you well.
We have ended our 10 months trip after spending the last 2 months in Mongolia. We tour the entire country (except the east) independently.
Since our last email was focusing on Gobi, am writing to share with you our experience.
We took a bus from UB to Dalanzadgad. There are 2 buses a day between these cities which share the same timing at 8am and 4pm. It costs about MNT22,000++ each way. The bus station in UB can be reached by public buses (MNT300 for trolley bus. MNT500 for normal bus). It takes 7 hours for ride between UB and Dalanzagdad.
There will be travel agents waiting at both UB and Dalanzadgad bus stations offering Gobi tour. The price starts from MNT650,000/car (all inclusive except your meals and accommodation. Usually they have free tent for guests). The car is usually the modern Toyota 7 seaters with powerful aircon and CD player. If one have 6 in the group it will be good to take this tour. But there were only 3 of us.
In Dalanzagdad, we first stayed at a ger for MNT10,000/pax. The ger is far from everything and the owner kept pestering us to sign up for her tour.
We left the ger the next day and walked to city centre. Check ourselves into Dalanzadgad Hotel which actually has dormitory for MNT10,000/bed! Our advise is to just stay in the hotel, as you could get more authentic ger experience once you are deep in Gobi.
While walking to the hotel, an old gentleman (77 y.o. ) approached us for tour. He has a Russian jeep. We settled for 3 days 2 nights gobi tour @ a total of MNT450,000 (exclusive on entrance fee of MNT3,000/pax and our own food. The rest were included). We visited Yol Valley (ice canyon), Khongor Sand Dune and Bayanzag (red cliff).
He speaks little to no English but he has 25 years of experience working as tour driver previously. He let us use his tents (he has 2) for free and also lent us his cooking gear (we advise to prepare your own as he borrowed us his personal set..and always offered to eat after we are done).
The first night we stayed in his tent. As we underestimated the Gobi summer night, we do not have sleeping bag or enough warm clothes. So the next night we asked him to bring us to a ger. We passed many tourist ger and thought he is going to bring us there. Instead, he found us a nice family with awesome authentic ger. MNT10,000/pax. The ger is facing the red cliff so we have amazing sunset view with the family camels wandering around. They offer meal for a fee but we choose to cook ourselves.
The driver is Mr. Demberel Otgon. He can be reached at 89202985. Or his daughter at 95246868/99535413. His car can take 4 guests comfortably. During our trip, we find his car to be more suitable for the terrain in Gobi.
There you go, voila! All in all, it costs us about USD20/day for our Gobi trip!
Sorry for the super long mail. 🙂
Regards,
YJ
Hi WJ, it’s Rodrigo, how are you?
Nikki is a bit busy with some family issues at the moment, but she you reply to your message soon.
Thank you so much for adding so much information about your trip to Mongolia. I’m 100% sure it will help a lot of other travelers. 🙂
Keep enjoying your adventures!
All the best!
Rodrigo
Oh my goodness YJ, I’m so sorry you wrote that great comment and I didn’t see it/respond to you until now….but thank you so much for the update!
I’m glad to hear that you guys found a way to do it on your own. Hopefully, your comment will help out anyone else that wants to do the same!
Just curious….do you feel that you missed on out any parts of the Gobi by not being able to communicate with the driver properly? As in, that you couldn’t make requests to visit a certain area or that he wasn’t able to tell you a bit more about where you were visiting?
Either way, it sounds like you guys had an awesome trip – and thanks again for posting about that alternative 🙂
Hi
Im so glad im found you blog ot be honest.
Just want to check with you about the tours offer by the Hostel that you mention. Are we suppose to book the room for the entire duration of the tours? of just book for one day.. then go with tour like 5 days. then continue book after the tour?
Or how you do it in term of accomodation wise?
You help is very very much appreciated.
Regards
Eddy
Hi Eddy!
Glad to hear you’re enjoying the blog 🙂
Nope, there’s no need to book nights at the hostel for the duration of the tour. What I would recommend is just book a hostel for a few days (or just a day) before your tour so you an explore Ulaanbaatar a bit. Then, you can book again for when you get back from your tour. Does that make things a bit more clear?
Are you planning a trip to Mongolia soon? Let me know if you have any other questions!
Holla!
A quick question. The crossing from west Mongolia to west China. How much did it cost per person. I know the approx.costs for the Erlian – UB crossing. I was wondering if it costs almost the same?
And I have to add This is such an amazing blog. So much useful information! Thank you guys. You are the best.
Hey CJ! Thanks for the message, happy new years’, and glad to hear you’re finding the blog useful 🙂
I have all the info about our Western crossing written in my travel journal….which is unfortunately back home in Sweden (and I’m in the U.S. now). But I’ll head back to Sweden and can grab you that info this weekend.
Until then, feel free to reach out with any other questions you have!
Thanks Nikki. That’s alright. I can wait for it. Sure .Thank you very much!
Happy new year!
CJ
Hi CJ,
Bad news. I got stuck in the NYC snowstorm and my flight was cancelled and then postponed until Monday. But I’ll get it for you as soon as I (finally) get home 🙂
Hi again CJ,
Okay, I’m finally home and looking at my notes now.
Here’s a quick overview of how to get from western Mongolia (Khovd) to western China (Urumqi):
1) get to the city of Khovd in western Mongolia
price: depends on how you arrive. We were running out of the 30 days we could legally stay in Mongolia and just didn’t have the time to take the bus, so we flew from Ulaanbaatar to Khovd. I believe the flight was about $90 USD per person. There’s also a bus you can take for about 65,000 MNT (about $26 USD). The bus doesn’t leave every day and the journey can take several days, so make sure you have enough time and plan in advance for this (which we didn’t do).
2) take a shared van from Khovd to Bulgan (you can get the van in the central market — or just walk around saying “bulgan” and “China” and people will direct you)
price: 30,000 MNT (about $12 USD) per person
time: 6 ish hours
*note: the bus may not stop for lunch or anything so make sure you bring snacks
3) overnight in Bulgan (the bus driver will likely bring you directly to a hotel anyway — otherwise, just say “hotel” so he knows you need a place)
price: I don’t remember exactly, but I think we paid less than $15 USD for a private room?
3) take a taxi from Bulgan to the Chinese border (just say “China” and your taxi driver will understand — we asked/used our hotel to call a “china taxi” for us)
price: 5,000 MNT (about $2 USD)
time: 30 minutes
4) walk across the border (there may be a lot of pushing and chaos, so be prepared to join in to get across)
*note: I don’t think the border is open on weekends (for foreigners, at least) and has hours around 9 AM – 6 PM on weekdays
5) take a shared “taxi” from the border to Urumqi (as soon as you exit onto the China side, you’ll see a number of cars, not official taxis, w/ drivers yelling “Urumqi” — I think the price here might be negotiable, so you can choose based on which car others are taking or who gives you the best price)
price: we paid 250 RMB (about $38.50 USD) per person
time: about 7 hours
TOTALS: $12 shared van + $2 taxi + $15 hotel + $38.50 China shared taxi = $67.50 (this + whatever you spend to get to Khovd in the first place)
It’s not the cheapest nor easiest of border crossings, but it’s certainly quite the adventure and kinda fun 🙂
And just one more thing to keep in mind — this was the info we had as of May 2015. It’s possible prices and times have changed slightly. After your trip, can you let us know if you found any differences in this information? It’d be helpful for us to have the most up-to-date info for our readers.
Let me know if you have any more questions about Mongolia!
Hey Buddy!
Thank you so much for the detailed description.It is very helpful!. Sure thing , if I have a question in my mind I will definitely drop by.
Keep up the great blog!
Awesome, thanks CJ!
We’ll keep doing our best with the blog — feel free to let us know if there are any types of articles you’d like to see more of 🙂
thanks for sharing such a amazing info about Mongolia, and all points are superb…
Hey, thank you so much for the wonderful comment! Glad to know you enjoyed the article! Let me know if you have any questions about traveling in Mongolia. 🙂