After lunch we will drive for about 3-4 hrs until we reach the north side of Tsambagarav Uul National Park.  The place is called Tavan Belcheer which means “Five Pastures”.

Tsambagarav Uul  (4208m) is one of the most beautiful mountains in the Altai. It is permanently snowcapped and sits on the border of three provinces, Bayan-Öglii, Uvs and Hovd. The National Park was established in year 2000 and has a notable population of snow-leopards. Here you can see man made petroglyphs as well as wonderful waterfalls and crystal clear springs. You may even meet a Kazakh Eagle Hunter!

We now start our trek in the Altai Mountains where we will enjoy the amazing views of the snowcapped mountains surrounding you. We will load our equipment onto pack-camels and/or pack-horses - and trek for 6km toward our campsite at the base of the snow-capped mountains. We will then spend the following days trekking in this amazing landscape.

Short days drive to Ölgii. The Kazakh influence is strong in this town and it has bazaar instead of a market and a mosque instead of a Buddhist monastery. There are some interesting back street handicraft shops and a well-stocked local museum. We will spend the night in a Ger Camp.

End of services after breakfast. Transfer is included to Ölgii airport if you depart by air to Ulaanbaatar. Transfer to your hotel.

Practicalities

Transport: Local nomadic families frequently move from one pasture to another using pack-camels or pack-horses. The services of some local herdsmen will be hired by the expedition and they will provide us with their animals.

Staff: A Kazakh leader will accompany the group at all times in Bayan-Ölgii. The service will be in English. There will also be a cook. In addition, the services of the local herdsmen will be hired along with their animals.

Meals: Our cook will prepare the meals. We pride ourselves in having cooks adept at both western and Mongolian cooking on our trips.  There are always vegetables available, and we have no problem accommodating vegetarians on our trips.

Alternative connections to Ölgii: If interested in entering or exiting across the land border with Russia, we can pick you up or leave you at Barnaul, in southern Siberia (Russia). It is a 3 days journey. Pls request the details from us.

Ulaanbaatar: Mongolian domestic flights might delay considerably why it is recommended to stay two nights in Ulaanbaatar before you take any  onward international long haul non refundable flights.

Includes: All meals. All overnights in ger camp (2n) and tents (6n), camping equipment and all local transport.

Excludes: Imported drinks, rent of riding horse.  Flights. Visa fee. Domestic flights cost approximately USD 384 UB to Hovd one way and Ölgii to UB is USD 414 (price of 2010).