• Category: Special Tours Mongolia

• Place to visit: Ulaanbaatar – Ikh Nart Nature Reserve – Ulaanbaatar

• Activities: Visit to nomads, trekking

• Duration: 3nights / 4days

• Covering distance: 800km

• Number of participants: Min-3, max-8

• Season: June – mid September

• Staff: Red Rock Ger camp has an English speaker on staff. Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve is a community reserve where local people have partnered with the Denver Zoo Foundation, the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and Nomadic Journeys company for research and the conservation of the Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Plateau. It is an upland with many rocky outcrops. Often hot and dry, it is an arid Gobi kind of area, only a  4 hours drive southeast from Ulaanbaatar. The unique wildlife feature of Ikh Nart is its approximately 1000 argali sheep (Ovis ammon), the largest wild mountain sheep in the world. Although there is no guarantee, they are not that shy here. Also Mongolian gazelle (procapra gutturosa) are frequent visitors and are relatively easy to come across and view. Ikh Nartiin Chuluu, the full name, means, in Mongolian, “Rocks with plenty of sunshine”. The reserve also has a sizeable population of the world’s biggest vulture, the black or cinereous vulture (Aegypius monacha), as well as some 200 Siberian ibex (Capra sibirica).

Day 1: Travel to Ikh Nart Nature Reserve
Morning pick up at your hotel travel to Ikh Nart Nature Reserve for 300kms.  Visit nomad family. Stay overnight in Ger camp. LD

Day 2-3: Ikh Nart
For two days we will explore the Ikh Nart area on foot through the Ikh Nart rocks areas and try view different kinds of wildlife. There is Argali Sheep, which are most common to be seen, but also Siberian Ibex (Capra sibirica) and bird life. Walks. Three parallel mammal research projects are ongoing by Mongolian and foreign scientist’s. It is on Argali Sheep and Siberian Ibex, as well as on small carnivores primarily geared towards as Corsac Fox (Vulpes corsac), Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), Badger (Meles meles) and Pallas’s Cat (Otocobolus manul) but also collecting any possible data on Lynx (Lynx lynx) and Wolves (Canis lupus) as well as its prey species such as gerbils, jerboas. And hedgehogs. For aviafauna there is ongoing research of Cinereous Vulture and Lesser Kestrels (Falco naumanni). Botanist’s are also regular visitors. Research outcomes will be made available at camp through our guides, as well as directly by Mongolian student researchers, as it develops. Herders come and go at the Ikh Nart area. They are essentially reliant on pastures and any precipitation, why they are migrating a lot. Being Gobi herders, they migrate a lot. Very interesting, hospitable and hardy people. Stay overnight in Ger camp. BLD

Day 4: To Ulaanbaatar
Morning drive back to Ulaanbaatar for 300kms. Transfer to your hotel. End of the service. BL

Price from:
USD 590per person

Included: All activities described in the itinerary, stay in Ger Camp (3 nights), English speaking guide, entrance fees to Protected Areas and sightseeing costs, all transfer by 4WD Japanese minivan in countryside. Meals of breakfast, lunch /picnic during the treks/ and dinner will be provided during the countryside stays.

Excluded: International transportation to and from Mongolia, travel insurance, stay hotel in Ulaanbaatar, mineral (bottled) water and alcoholic drinks, tips and gratuities, laundry and items of a personal nature.

Note:
•We are happy to arrange your hotel and transfers in Ulaanbaatar, private car transportation to our destinations at discounted rate.
•International and domestic flight and train tickets would be arranged due to the clients’ requests and wishes with our pleasures.
• City sightseeing tours are offered as optional.
• Private departures are available on request.

During the trip, approximately it takes 4-7 hours driving from one to next destination. Each 1-1.5 hours, we have short stop frequently for photographs, toilets, stretch and meet with local nomads. In the countryside, we use 4WD vehicles, specially, Russian minivans and Japanese jeeps. Normally, 2-3 people are in one jeep with luggage. The minivan has capacity of 7 people with luggage. All vehicles used in our tours are insured and carefully prepared before departures. Our drivers are also good mechanics, have many years of experience for driving through unmarked, unpaved bumpy roads in countryside.

Overnight we stay tourist camp. It is very enjoyable for the guests to stay in tourist camps when they are in countryside. Most of the tourist camps supply the Mongolian traditional dwelling “Ger” as guest’s accommodation. Ger is a very convenient dwelling as moveable, dome-shaped and constructed of wooden framework and felt cover. Tourist Ger is heated by a wood stove and furnished with traditionally painted wood-framed beds (with full sized mattresses 137x190cm) or hotel standard size beds with clean sheets, comforters, pillows and blankets. Normally, three or two beds are in one Ger. If client want to stay alone in a Ger there will be an additional charge. The camp provides restaurant/bar, western-style toilet, washing facilities and showers. The numbers of low-impact eco Ger camps are increased and many business people started in practicing for environmentally friendly concepts in last year’s. We prefer and cooperate with Ger camps that follow this core responsibility and able to provide best services for our clients.

When you stay in Ger camps, the camp provides meals of mostly western cuisine and also we can enjoy Mongolian traditional cuisine. Sometimes there are not many choices for meals in tourist Ger camps due to their remote location. Mostly we have picnic lunch from ger camps. It is also available to have and taste traditional dairy products such as yogurt /Mongolian name is tarag/, dried milk curds /aaruul/, milk tea /suutei tsai/, fermented mare’s milk wine /airag/, sour cream /tsotsgii/ and cheese /byaslag/ when you visit to nomad herder families.

Generally, in Mongolia water quality is good. But you are advised to buy mineral water. Bottles of Mineral water are available from shops, food markets and kiosks in capital and many of the provinces centers and tourist Ger camps in countryside. Mineral or bottled water usually exclude in our offers since we try to produce as less garbage as possible. But other hand we provide well plenty of drinks like tea and coffee during our tours.

We highly appreciate your decision for traveling to Mongolia with our company. Thus, we are pleased to assure the quality of your tour.
Please kindly check our Terms & Conditions and fill out the online booking form as below. With your given information we would get back to you immediately for further confirmation.
Thank you very much and look forward to see you soon!