Travel Report: Mongolia Road Trip

Real Talk | Ulaanbaatar | Elsen Tasarhai | Baganuur / Naadam Festival | Gorkhi Terelj National Park / Genghis Khan Statue

– Real Talk –

Mongolia is cool, and definitely worth visiting, but probably not as cool as you want it to be. This place has a fascinating history — Genghis Khan was a mean mofo — and some epic landscapes. Although, after a while, most rolling grassy (or snowy) hills start to look the same. Yes, there are other landscapes, but let’s be honest, it’s a lot of rolling grassy (or snowy) hills. Modern Mongolia, like where the people are, mainly consists of communist-era buildings and ger (same as a yurt) camps, which are old school semi-fixed circular tents. Initially, both seem interesting, but soon resemble a strange Soviet style trailer park. The food also appears exotic at first, but eventually loses its allure, making the stomach yearn for a fresh salad. We’ll close as we opened: Mongolia is cool, and definitely worth visiting, but probably not as cool as you want it to be.

Okay fine, one more thing… our Mongolia road trip did give us one of our top travel experiences ever. So you should probably go there.

– Ulaanbaatar –

Moving: We flew in and out of Chinggis Khaan International Airport, which is just outside of Ulaanbaatar (hence known as “UB”). We booked the airport transport through our hostel, which cost around 15 USD. Taxi fares are a bit lower, depending on your negotiating skills. The budget option is to grab local bus #7 between the airport and downtown.

Once in downtown UB, we walked everywhere. We did take a taxi or two, which are cheap. As usual, agree to the fare in advance if possible.

When leaving UB, there are plenty of tour group style transport options (think minibus, yelling kids and a complete lack of adventure). Okay fine, it’s probably not that bad, but it’s not our style.

As “Mongolia Road Trip” implies, we grabbed an awesome little SUV and hit the countryside on our own. We rented a Suzuki Jimny through Sixt in UB, picking up and dropping off at the Ramada Hotel on Peace Avenue. If you’re sticking to paved roads, staying fairly close to UB and the weather’s nice, a sedan would work. We wanted the higher ground clearance and 4X4 option for off roading, so we shelled out a little more cash. The Jimny ran us just under 200,000 Tugrik per day, inclusive of taxes, insurance, etc. The Jimny is perfect for two people, doable with three and nearly impossible with four.

In addition to car rentals, we’re also big fans of motorbikes. If you’re up for it, turn your Mongolia road trip into a two-wheeled adventure. Check out Drive Mongolia for quality bike rentals (Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki). If you’re looking for something cheaper, and less reliable, head over to Motorbike Mongolia for Chinese bikes.

Doing: We spent a total of three nights in UB, which was enough. Sukhbaatar Square, the very center of the city, is a great spot to start your exploration. From there, walk over to the nearby National Museum of Mongolian History. We’re not huge on museums, but we did enjoy an hour or so strolling through this one. The entrance fee is a reasonable 8,000–10,000 Tugrik.

In addition to the Sukhbaatar Square downtown area, we also walked over to the Gandantegchinlen Monastery. From an experiential standpoint, it’s best to approach from Peace Avenue. The monastery is a couple hundred years old and currently home to quite a few Buddhist monks. Overall, it’s definitely worth a visit. Note that if you want to take photos inside, you’ll be charged an extra fee (yes, they will catch you if you try and sneak photos without paying).

Although a bit out of the downtown area, we also enjoyed the climb up to the Zaisan Memorial on the south side of the river. The memorial, which sits atop a hill and commemorates those fallen in WWII, offers stunning views of the city and surrounding area.

Eating: As previously mentioned, Mongolian dishes seem cool at first, but quickly lose their luster. Fortunately, UB’s food scene is slowing expanding beyond the culturally local eats, which we think is a good thing. When you’re out on the steppe, you’re going to eat Mongolian. Thus, feel free to diversify a bit while in the capital.

Millie’s Cafe is a solid spot for an affordable, if a little boring, breakfast, lunch or dinner.

In search of a non-Mongolian, non-western meal, we headed for Mughul Restaurant on Peace Avenue, which serves up heaping portions of tasty and cheap Indian food. We even had leftovers for the next day, which we ate while sitting on the hood of our car in the middle of the steppe.

We’re slightly obsessed with the vibes at the Embassy Restaurant, which is attached to the Bishrelt Hotel. The Embassy has tasty dishes, cold beers and a fabulous leather/wood old school atmosphere. Delightful.

If you really want a Mongolian dinner while in UB, complete with cultural artifacts (knicknacks?), we suppose you could check out Mongolians.

Mongolia is full of meat eaters. However, if you’re looking to get away from dead animals, head over to Luna Blanca.

Drinking: We enjoyed some local brews in rather large glasses at Grand Khaan Irish Pub, which has a fun Irish-Mongolian vibe. We’d definitely recommend this place for drinking (beers 3,500–5,000 Tugrik), but we also quite enjoyed the meaty Mongolian platter… although maybe that was due to the beers? Either way, check it out.

If you’re looking for some awesome views of UB, head over (and up) to SET, which is located at the top of the Peace Tower office building on Peace Avenue. SET has a sheek club/lounge vibe, which isn’t really our style, but the outdoor terrace is great for a few drinks (beers 5,000 and cocktails 10,000 Tugrik). We can’t say first hand, but we suspect this place gets pretty naughty late into a weekend night.

Sleeping: We crashed at Zaya’s Hostel (number 2), which cost 40 USD for a private room with ensuite and breakfast. Dorms and privates without bathroom are available for less. This hostel, which is essentially two separate floors in apartment buildings next to each other (Zaya 1 and Zaya 2), is a very solid spot. Both 1 and 2 offer pretty much the same stuff: they’re secure, affordable, have good wifi and are walking distance to various sites and restaurants. We booked in advance via email — they speak English and it was smooth.

Looking to ball out on our last night (but wanting to avoid an international chain), we stayed at the Bishrelt Hotel, which is just a couple blocks from the main square. We booked online through a third party site, ending up with a massive and decked out room for around 75 USD (a hot breakfast included). This place is an interesting mix of old school and new school luxury. The attached restaurant (mentioned above) is also awesome. We really want to give the Bishrelt two thumbs up. Unfortunately, we did have one weird experience there. Someone from the hotel tried to enter our room at around 3AM, which was uncomfortable to say the least. We hope it was an innocent mistake, but who knows.

– Elsen Tasarhai –

Moving: As mentioned above, we rented a Suzuki Jimny through Sixt car rental for our Mongolia road trip, picking up and dropping off at the Ramada Hotel on Peace Avenue in UB. The vehicle was perfect for two people and handled our off road needs quite well.

From UB, we drove west to the Elsen Tasarhai area, which took about four hours. The vast majority of the route is on a single lane, straight as far as the eye can see, paved highway. There are not a lot of towns once you leave UB, so it’s a good idea to grab water, booze and snacks before departure (there’s a solid supermarket across the street from the airport).

Our destination was the Sweet Gobi Lodge by Out of Nowhere, a ger camp literally in the middle of nowhere. At the town of Ulaanshiveet, turn south off the main road. Sweet Gobi is down some dirt tracks amidst the immense grassland of the steppe — our first off-roading of the Mongolia road trip.

Doing: Sweet Gobi has various excursions, including to Oguii Lake and the Shilin Monastery ruins (a long day), as well as Orkhon Waterfall (another long day).

Without the need to get back into the car, Sweet Gobi offers horse and camel riding in the nearby sand dunes (~25,000 Tugrik each) and various cultural experiences. In addition to the more structured stuff, we also enjoyed sitting in the chairs in front of our ger, walking the surrounding hills and attempting to chat with locals. Be prepared: next to no one in this country speaks English.

For something a bit more personal (no, not that personal), Sweet Gobi has a spa ger that provides hair washing and scalp massages (included in the hotel rate). Definitely take advantage of this!

And holy shit, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention the stars here. Mongolia has some seriously epic night skies. Just stare up in awe. It’s that simple.

Eating & Drinking: We ate all our meals at Sweet Gobi (there are no other options). The food was tasty enough, so it was all good. A large breakfast will run you ~15,000 Tugrik and entails bread, jam, cured meats, biscuits, fruit and eggs. Other meals are ~25,000 Tugrik, with options such as spaghetti with meat sauce and stir fry with lamb and veggies. Nothing too complicated on the steppe.

They also have an area that sort of resembles a bar. Beers will run you 8,000 Tugrik.

Sleeping: No surprises here, we crashed at Sweet Gobi Lodge. To clarify, there’s no actual lodge in the (western) traditional sense. There are a bunch of lodging gers huddled around one larger ger, which serves as the restaurant and communal area. A ger, or a yurt in other countries, is a circular tent that is somewhat fixed, but also has the ability to be disassembled and moved elsewhere. Gers usually have a stove in the center for heating, which is necessary even in summer months. We paid around 40 USD per night per person for a double ger. It was the nicest one that we stayed in during our trip. It was also the only private ger with a double bed that we found. More often, gers have multiple twin beds in them, circling the perimeter of the tent.

Sweet Gobi doesn’t have any shower facilities and the bathrooms are not ensuite, but rather little tents with a pit toilet. Don’t worry, it sounds worse than it is. For bathing, the staff come around with hot/wet towels twice daily, so you can give yourself a nice rub down. And the bathrooms are clean and with a fairly normal (western) toilet. Don’t freak out, just embrace it.

– Baganuur / Naadam Festival –

Disclaimer: We looked at the map, randomly pointed to a spot and drove there, as we wanted to experience a “normal” city on our Mongolian road trip. Mission accomplished. There are no tourists, no English speakers (that we came across) and no English signage in Baganuur. However, that’s what makes it fun!

Moving: We drove in and out of Baganuur. Within the small city, we walked everywhere.

Doing: We’ll be honest, there is nothing to do here.

Okay we take it back, if you’re here at the right time in July, there is plenty to do. We got outrageously lucky, as Baganuur was hosting it’s version of the annual Naadam festival when we arrived. We had no idea… apparently it was supposed to happen a week or two earlier, but was postponed for some reason (much to our benefit). Naadam is a traditional festival in Mongolia, celebrating the culture and history of the country. Common events include wrestling, archery and horse racing. There’s also plenty of food and other attractions. UB has the largest, and most touristy, Naadam festival. If you’re looking for a place to experience Naadam without other foreigners, Baganuur is your jam. This was hands down one of the best serendipitous travel experiences we’ve had.

Eating & Drinking: When entering the city from the UB road, there’s a tall building on the left side that has two restaurants at its base. One restaurant is more local grub and the other is more coffee shop and pastries — both are decent. A few floors up is another restaurant, which is more of a “nice” dinner spot.

Just down from the tall building, on the other side of the street, you’ll find another restaurant and bar. If you’re here in summer, they might even have some outdoor seating.

Sleeping: If coming from UB, turn left off the main road towards the center of Baganuur. At the beginning of town, there’s the aforementioned tallish building on the left side. We stayed at the hotel on the top floor of this building. Slightly eerie vibes aside, this place was actually surprisingly nice and quite cheap. The hotel doorway is at the right side of the building. The entrance kind of resembles an abandoned office tower, but head upstairs and it’ll get better! There is also secure parking around back. Definitely recommended if you’re going to Baganuur or passing by and need a place to crash while on your Mongolian road trip.

– Gorkhi Terelj National Park / Genghis Khan Statue –

Moving: We used our car rental to get around the park, which worked out well. When we saw a tourist bus, we went in the opposite direction. Classic Mongolia road trip situation!

Within the park, the main roads are paved and easy to navigate. However, to find some of the better locations, you’ll need your adventure pants. One place we stayed — Dream Adventure Mongolia — entailed driving across multiple rivers, through fields without any trace of a road and up and down steep and slanted hillsides. We suppose that’s also a classic Mongolia road trip situation.

Doing: We hesitate to say it, as this place is gorgeous, but Gorkhi Terelj might be a little bit overrated. That being said, it’s certainly worth visiting and offers some cool activities.

Hands down the best activity that we did in Mongolia was horseback riding in Gorkhi Terelj. We went through our ger camp, Dream Adventure Mongolia (more info below), and no joke it was one of the coolest things we’ve ever done. Anywhere. We got in touch with our inner Genghis Khan, galloping across the steppe at full speed on some beautiful Mongolian steeds. Words can’t describe how epic it was, so we’ll stop there. Just go and experience it.

Beyond riding horses, there are plenty of walking/hiking adventures to be had. We also checked out Turtle Rock, which is towards the center of the park and pretty lame.

In addition, we drove over to the Genghis Khan statue, which isn’t actually in Gorkhi Terelj, but fairly close. If you’re in the area, this is definitely worth a visit. The admission fee is reasonable and there’s a restaurant and gift shop. The statue is massive and, from the top, provides cool views of the countryside.

Eating & Drinking: We did all our consuming at our ger camps while in and around the park. In general, meals range from 15,000–30,000 Tugrik and beers hover around 5,000 Tugrik.

Sleeping: We stayed at two seperate ger camps in the Gorkhi Terelj area… and had two different experiences. Dream Adventure Mongolia (of the horse epicness mentioned above) is the best place to stay in this area. We’re nervous to share, as it really is one of those things that you don’t want to ruin with crowds, but this place is just awesome. In some ways it’s a standard ger camp. It has multiple lodging gers, one communal/restaurant ger and one bathroom ger. However, the absolutely stunning setting, fantastic staff (Pujee and Name are legit) and gorgeous horses put this place above the rest. In addition, it’s a serious adventure to get there, which adds to the experience (an SUV with 4X4 a must). As a result, tour buses can’t make the journey, adding to the chill vibes and authenticity of the overall experience. Ignore all other ger camps in the area and just go here. You’re welcome.

Oh and if you do go to Dream Adventure, try to contact them in advance. If you’re doing a Mongolia road trip, this place is hard to find, so you’ll want clear directions from Pujee. If you’re not driving, they can send a vehicle for you.

We also crashed at Tamir Wellness Camp, which is properly in Gorkhi Terelj just off the main road. We paid around 40 USD per person for a bed in a ger and breakfast (their gers have multiple twin beds in them). Sure, this place is fine, but it’s just not the same as Dream Adventure. When you’re here, as with many other ger camps, you feel like you’re in a tourist attraction. Tamir caters to the crowds. Its main goal is to have as many tour buses roll through as possible. All that being said, we will concede that Tamir does sit in a beautiful valley, surrounded by a hillside full of large boulders.

Questions? Give us a shout at thesocialnomads@gmail.com