Dog sledding at Khagiin Khuul Nuur

You will be greeted at the airport by our team before heading straight out of the city to Khustai National Park. Khustai National Park: Khustai is located 80 km from the capital Ulaanbaatar, on the road to Khogno Khan and Kharkhorim, the country’s former capital. The Mongolian government designated Khustai as a specially protected national park in 1993, a year after the Takhi reintroduction project began at Hustain Nuruu. The park encompasses part of the Khentii Mountains and a vast stretch of western Mongolian steppe. Covering 50,600 hectares, it is home to more than 400 species of plants and lichens.

Here, 44 mammal species live—including red deer, Mongolian gazelle, roe deer, wild boar, wild sheep, ibex, Mongolian marmots, grey wolves, lynx, wild cat ('Pallas’ cat'), red fox, steppe fox ('Corsac'), and more. Over 200 bird species can be found, including golden eagle, bearded vulture, great bustard, swan, black stork, partridge, and owl.

In the park’s water points, there are about fifteen fish species and, of course, various amphibians. The diversity of biotopes provides habitat for a multitude of insects—including a recently identified one: Epidamaeus khustaiensis.

Overnight stay in a yurt camp at the park entrance

Depending on timing, you’ll have another chance to venture into the park for wildlife viewing before heading to the capital and then on to our base camp at Terelj.
Arrival at the Terelj base camp. In the afternoon, drive out to our Terelj base camp. Free time for a walk in the area. Untamed nature and nomads…before retreating to the warmth of the yurt. At sunset, temperatures drop quickly—after 4 p.m., the comfort of a yurt is a welcome sight.

Itinerary along the Tuul River.
Setting off for 7 days of dog sledding—don’t forget anything at base camp…double-check everything…and off we go!
For the first few kilometers, we’ll follow the Terelj River by vehicle before reaching the starting point, at the junction where the Terelj and Tuul rivers meet.
We’ll then continue along the Tuul, heading up the valley towards Khagiin Khar Nuur (Black Lake of Khagiin).
Several nomadic families live in this valley. Wildlife is never far away, and the cold-silenced landscape creates an almost surreal atmosphere.

The ice on the Tuul River is surprising and ever-changing: blue one day, it can darken to black; cracks beneath the skates are audible, making strange sounds…
Sometimes, river water seeps through the cracks and forms small open-water lagoons on top of the ice. In winter, Nature truly reigns here. We reach Bosgiin Guur for the night, a small hamlet, home to a handful of families including Enkhtaïvan and Mungoo. We’ll spend the night in their little wooden cabin.

Nomads stay in place all winter and build wooden shelters at their winter camps to shield the herd from wind and cold. In spring they move closer to the water, only to return to the same spot the following winter. It’s a cyclical migration.
Sharing moments under the yurt with the nomads is an unforgettable experience.
Discover a different culture, one that harmoniously blends tradition and modernity.

Set off for Khar Us. Along this route, the Tuul River grows calmer, splits into several branches, then vanishes into endless meanders. After a picnic stop, we’ll reach the Khar Us camp (the black waters) by mid-afternoon.
There live four or five families grouped together to better face the harshness of winter.

We’ll be welcomed by Tsodoo and his family to spend the night in the yurt.
This is one of the last camps in the valley; then, only a single family has set up their winter camp a few kilometers further upstream, and after that… only wildlife is left to haunt these stunning places.
The comfort of a guest yurt, which Tsodoo and his wife have set up right next to their own.

Today’s stage will take us into a rockier part of the mountains, always getting closer to the black lake of Khagiin.
The landscape becomes ever wilder, reminiscent of Alaska.
There are no nomads in these parts anymore, but it’s not unusual to meet riders crossing these mountains from one valley to another.
A 40-kilometer stage to reach the junction of the Tuul and the Khagiin, then we’ll continue a bit further along the Khagiin Gol to reach Tsakhiir Chuluu… just a name on a map… but that’s where we’ll set up camp.
A place of breathtaking wild beauty…

Tsodoo or Azaa will be waiting for us somewhere on the riverbank; he’ll likely have the stove lit already… Overnight in the yurt.
....The yurt:
A small yurt designed to be very easy to transport and take up little space. Just three horses are enough to carry it.
Inside, a small stove—perfect for cooking and for spending a cozy, warm night.

We’ll follow the Khagiin Gol even higher, as it turns from a placid river into more of a mountain torrent… breathtaking scenery, leading us to a kind of open plateau.

Winding along the meanders or cutting through the trees, we reach Lake Khagiin Khuul Nuur just in time for a picnic. This is one of some twenty lakes in the Khentii range…
It used to be rare to see travelers in this corner—the only ones coming so far into the mountains were a few diehard ice fishermen or pine cone foragers.
In this true wilderness live elk and musk deer, but you’ll need luck to spot them—even if they’re never far away, just like the wolves or wolverines…
We return to camp in the middle of the afternoon, where the team will be waiting for us.
Preparing soup for the dogs, chopping wood… and finally sipping a good hot tea…

It’s always hard to leave these remote corners of the world…
But we’ll set off again for Tsodoo’s camp.
Night in the guest yurt at Tsodoo’s.
A festive evening under the yurt!!!
+30°C inside & -30°C outside!!

A 35-kilometer journey to reach Enkhtaïvan’s camp, further down the valley. The dogs are always eager to run on the ice, utterly fearless, sniffing wolf tracks here and there.
To get back to the camp, we follow the same route as before, along the river. This gives us the chance to observe even more: the tracks, the landscape…

Enkhtaiven and Mungo are retired and have settled in this tiny hamlet, Bosgiin Guur, home to three or four herding families.
We settle into the guest yurt set up next to the log cabin where the couple lives.

At Mungoo’s, as they say, the mood is always cheerful. As soon as we arrive, our hosts get right to work, cooking up a hearty meal to charge our batteries…

Departure from Bosgiin Guur.
Once again, we glide over the Tuul to its junction with the Terelj. Just a few more kilometers to reach our end point, where vehicles and trailers are waiting for us.
The last sled moments and the final exchanges with the nomads.
Arrival at Terelj base camp in mid-afternoon.
Overnight at Terelj base camp.

Transfer from Terelj to Ulaanbaatar. Check-in at the hotel.
Shopping in town or at the main market.
Dinner in the city