Cycling to the World Heritage Orkhon Valley

Our representative will pick you up from the airport and transfer you to a 4-star hotel in the city centre. Meet at the hotel lobby after settling in and the tour guide will lead you on a sightseeing city tour. First, visit the main square with a grand statue of Chinggis Khan in front of the parliament building. Then learn briefly about the history of Mongolia from early humans to the modern era at the National History Museum. Afterwards, learn a bit about Mongolia’s Tibetan Buddhist tradition at the Choijin Lama Temple Museum. Finally, attend an evening show of traditional music, throat-singing, and contortion followed by a welcome dinner and tour briefing.

After breakfast, our team will pick you up from the hotel and drive to Ugii Lake, which is a freshwater lake surrounded by rolling steppe. The lake is a summer spot for a number of migratory birds as well as a home for a few species of fish. Upon arriving, we will set up camp near the lake. You can do optional activities such as hiking, horse riding, renting a boat, and fishing.

Our mountain biking guide will give an introduction about the cycling trip and do thorough adjustments on the selected bikes. Start cycling to the Tamir River. Today we will cycle for 61 km on a smooth and hard-packed dirt road through the grassland following the Tamir River. Our support vehicle will always be nearby. The kitchen vehicle will always go ahead of the group to snack and lunch spots to prepare, and to the camping spots to set up the kitchen, shower, and toilet tents.

Since Mongolia has an extreme climate with four seasons, nomads choose the best pastures to live on and raise their livestock depending on their given circumstances. During the summer, many nomadic families set up their felt homes called ger near rivers. Today we will continue cycling along the Tamir River. You will see that the Mongolian nomadic lifestyle has not changed much for hundreds of years except for a few modern technological tools that come in handy with their daily chores. From about 35^th km, the scenery will become hillier. The hilly section continues for approximately 12 km then shifts into a mountainous area followed by a gentle downhill until reaching the camping spot near the river.

After breakfast, start cycling through the vast rolling steppe following the Tamir river with picturesque views of traditional felt homes and nomads herding large flocks of grazing animals. At end of the day, we slowly cycle up to the northern part of the Khangai Mountain range which extends northwest-southeast for about 700 km with forests and lush meadows in central Mongolia. After cycling for 40 km today, we will reach Tsenher hot spring. Upon arrival, settle into a tourist ger camp where you can relax in a pool filled with spring water. You may as well receive a rejuvenating body massage for a small additional fee.

After relaxing and refreshing in the hot spring, we cycle to Tsagaan Sum (White Temple) valley through a mountainous area. Within the first few km, we pass 2 small passes at 1,872 and 1,848 meters above sea level. Then continue pedalling gradually up to the third pass of 2,030 m above sea level at around the 40 km mark. We will reach our camp spot surrounded by hills after a pleasant 15 km downhill.

Today begins with a climb up two passes. On top of the second pass, there is a beautiful view of the Orkhon river valley. Referred to as the cradle of nomadic cultures, Orkhon Valley is a registered UNESCO World Heritage Site with fascinating landscapes and interesting historical sites. Continue on an easy downhill for about 33 km along the Orkhon valley with a lunch break on the way. After setting up camp near a river bank, we can either go on a short drive or walk to the Orkhon waterfall. It is the largest waterfall in Mongolia and drains from an imposing height of 20 meters with a width of about 10 meters.

Albeit being the longest cycling day, it’s quite an enjoyable 71 km descent along the Orkhon river. Due to its natural accommodation, there is a high concentration of nomadic families living in this area. This allows you greater opportunities to meet and visit local nomadic families, taste their dairy foods, and learn more about their lifestyles.

Even though today’s distance is only 24 km, the first 10 km is a climb. Then we continue on with easy pedalling through Orkhon valley and reach Kharkhorin, which is a newer town named after the old capital of the Mongol Empire. The site of the original capital is nearby, although not much remained after its destruction and the ruins were used in the 16^th century for the construction of Erdene Zuu monastery, which is the main attraction here nowadays. The monastery complex suffered almost complete destruction during the Communist Purges of the 1930s, only a few temples and surrounding walls with stupas survived. Kharkhorum was a multicultural capital, the centre of trade and the exchange of ideas along the Silk Road connecting eastern and western cultures during the 13^th century. In 1220, Chinggis Khan founded Kharkhorum and it was completed during the reign of his second son and successor Ugudei Khan in 1235. Stay overnight at tourist ger camp.

Load bikes onto the support vehicle(s) and drive to Ulaanbaatar. Lunch is on the way. Upon arrival transfer to the hotel and rest until farewell dinner.

Our guide and driver will transfer you to the airport for your departure flight.