As we had only three weeks in Mongolia and we wanted to reach the west side of the country to see the Golden Eagle Festival, we needed to select the route that we were going to follow in order to be on time for the big event.

In another post we will explain a bit more about the tour options and approximate budget for this country.

In our case we chose to have a driver for this part of the tour, since it´s almost impossible to find your way through this huge country by yourself. The pleasant surprise was that our means of transportation was a van, actually a really comfortable one!

We decided to start in the central part and end it at the Khövsgöl lake. Our first stop was Rashant, which is better known as the semi Gobi. We thought that if we wouldn´t be able to spend time at the dessert, it was fair to at get at least an impression of it.

This is an overview of the first part of our route we did, from the capital to the centre and up north

It took around 5 hours to reach Rashant and in fact the area is not that big, but you really have to watch out for the aggressive dogs! So if you ever go there, don´t even try to pet them. We took a nice walk and enjoy the sunset at the dunes and came back on time to prepare dinner at our first yurt!

Perhaps is not such a big area but sill is nice to visit

The beautiful sanddunes.

While I was taking this photo, this friendly camel decided to chase me. My first follower in Mongolia?

Our first yurt

Inside the yurt

Not everyday a camel is in between the toilet and you

Visiting Kharkhorin

We followed our tour towards what was once the 1st capital of Mongolia, Kharkhorin. We have visited both musuems in town, Erdene Zuu and Kharkhorum museum. The monastery was almost completely destroyed but after the fall of the communism, it has been restored again and it is actively used by Buddhists. 

Especially the Kharkhorum museum we recommend, if you´re interested to get a brief but great insight in the history of Mongolia. 

The next place to visit during our tour, was the region of the Orkhon waterfall.

Most of the roads in Mongolia are like this

One of the most beautiful things of this country is that animals are running around everywhere

Yaks are also all around

Massive open space in this country

Orkhon waterfall

Just as it was told to us, close to the waterfall the sky is impressive!

To be continued…