Our
Classic Journeys are small group trips with set departure dates. They are designed
to offer the very best of Mongolia, providing a rich insight into this diverse
country. Itineraries are often timed to coincide with local festivals and seasonal
events. These cultural journeys combine variety, flexibility, relative comfort,
relaxation and a range of activities.
For
those who prefer a more challenging, active and adventurous holiday experience
we offer a range of exciting Expedition itineraries. These journeys explore remote
areas and include intrepid activities such as dog-sledding, horse trekking and
hunting with eagles.
If our set departure
dates do not fit with your requirements, if you would prefer to travel within
your own group or alone, or if you would like to pursue a particular special interest
we can organise a tailor-made journey for you. Your visit to Mongolia can be as
active or relaxed as you wish. We will listen to your ideas and present you with
a proposed itinerary.
All
of our journeys can be done with or without our Beijing
Extension. In addition it is possible to extend your Classic Journey at the
beginning or end to include activities and visits that may be of personal interest
to you. In the recent past we have organised for clients to visit orphanages,
craft projects, a tree planting project in the Gobi. We may be able to arrange
opportunities for you to volunteer with certain projects.
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FLIGHT OPTIONS
Contact
us for our comprehensive guide of how to get to Mongolia. You may find these
links helpful;
Air China
Aeroflot Airlines
British
Airways
Korean Air
Japanese Airlines
Mongolian Airlines
Major
Travel
Trail Finders
TRANS-MONGOLIAN RAIL JOURNEY and BEIJING
We offer the Trans-Mongolian Rail Journey from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar in
our Beijing Extension. Settle into comfortable two birth compartments and watch
urban and rural China, the Great Wall, Inner Mongolia and the Gobi Desert pass
by on the 30-hour overnight journey. The flight route via Beijing offers a greater
choice of airlines and ticket prices than flying direct to Mongolia and the Chinese,
and once Mongol, capital is a great stop over. Beijing offers highlights such
as Tiananmen, the Forbidden City, Hutongs, Summer Palace and of course The Great
Wall.
VISAS APPLYING FOR YOUR VISAS IN THE UK
Before applying for a new visa, we recommend you to check that the passport
is valid for six months after your return date and that you have at least six
blank pages remaining. We can send visa application forms and all relevant information
to you. A Mongolian 30 day visa costs £40. The Chinese visa costs £30
- single entry/£45 - double entry. The Mongolian embassy offers a postal
visa service that only takes a few days for an additional £5. Panoramic
Journeys will make two 'visa runs' for clients a year. Final dates for receiving
passports will be: the first Thursday in June and the last Thursday in July. Please
note that the Chinese Embassy will only issue visas 3 months before travel. The
Mongolian consulate can now date the visa to start from when you plan to travel.
Please complete the visa application form/s and return them to us with ONE photo
per form with a cheque for the relevant amount. We charge £15 per passport
for this service, which includes the cost of us returning the passport(s) by recorded
delivery. Please make cheques payable to Panoramic Journeys Ltd. We are always
happy to help if you have any queries with the visa application process - do ring
us.
APPLYING FOR VISAS IN COUNTRIES OTHER THAN THE UK
Requirements will vary depending on the country from which you are applying. Please
check the requirements at your nearest embassy or consulate. The regulations
can change quite frequently. Mongolia has over 50 Embassies, Consulates, Permanent
Missions, Trade Missions and Honorary Consulates.
PLEASE NOTE:
Diplomatic representatives abroad and Honorary counsels of Mongolia have the rights
to issue to foreign citizens Mongolian visas. No official or private invitation
is needed for a foreign citizen (except the citizens of Russia and China) applying
for a Mongolian visa if the duration of the visitors' stay does not exceed one
month. Visitors staying longer than 30 days are required to apply for registration
with the Office of Immigration, Naturalization and Foreign Citizens.Visitors are
also advised to obtain proper transit visa from China or Russia. It is advised
that you have all documentation before setting off on your travels. Obtaining
visas on route can sometimes prove problematic.
MEDICAL
Please talk to your doctor about vaccinations for the trip at least
6 weeks in advance of departure. You should discuss the following: Hepatitis A
and B, Meningoccal Meningitis, Rabies, Tuberculosis. We suggest that you ask your
doctor to prescribe you a broad-spectrum antibiotic (e.g Cyprofloxacin) to bring
with you on the journey. We recommend that you bring a small supply of items for
your individual needs: painkillers, indigestion tablets, imodium, dioralyte, plasters,
antiseptic cream and baby wipes. Those of you who wear contact lenses will need
to bring adequate saline solution. We supply a basic medical kit on all journeys
and a satellite telephone on our Classic Journeys in case of any emergency.
INSURANCE
Please
check that you have adequate health and repatriation insurance. We will need your
policy number and your insurance companies repatriation service contact numbers.
Please complete this information when completing the booking form.
If you
would like to ride horses, camels or yaks you will need to make sure you are insured
to do so. Riding any animal can be hazardous and we require you to sign an indemnity
form. Half chaps are a good investment or alternately you can buy knee length
riding boots at nearly every market in Mongolia. If you are planning to ride we
strongly advise you to bring your own riding helmet to ensure a good fit.
Panoramic
Journeys can offer competetively priced insurance through: Travel and General
Insurance Company (TGIC). This can be booked
online. Please call 0845 408 0583 and state they have booked through Panoramic
Journeys. Alternatively email insurance@tagconnect.co.uk stating that you are
travelling with Panoramic Journeys.
"Total
Payment Protection (topp) Policy cover:
In compliance with the UK Package
Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 an insurance policy
has been arranged with Travel & General Insurance Company plc to protect customers'
prepayments paid in respect of the ground handling aspects of packages where the
customer is responsible for arranging travel to the destination, offered on this
website (subject to the terms of the insurance policy), for:
· a refund
of such prepayments if customers have not yet travelled
· making arrangements
to enable the holiday to continue if customers have already travelled in the unlikely
event of our financial failure."
CLIMATE
Mongolia
is one of the highest countries in the world, with Ulaanbaatar, at 1,350m above
sea level, being one of Eurasia's highest capitals. Average altitude is 1,580m.
The highest point is Khuiten Peak (4,653m) in the west and the lowest is Khokh
Nuur Lake (532m) in the east. Mongolia is known as the "Land of he Blue Sky"
and enjoys around 250 sunny days a year, often with clear cloudless skies.The
high central Asian mountain ranges protects the country against the humid air
masses which move in from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans creating an extreme
continental climate. The climate is arid with the humidity at zero. Despite the
average temperatures given in the table below, Mongolia weather is known for its
sharp fluctuations due to changes in wind direction. Daily temperatures may fluctuate
by as much as 20C-30C. Southern Mongolia (the Gobi Desert) has the hottest temperatures
at 40C in the summer while Khovsgol in the North has the coldest winter temperatures
at -45C-52C.
Snow and rainfall are very low. The mean annual precipitation
is 200 - 300mm of which 80 to 90 per cent falls within the months May to September.
However, enough rain does occur in July and August to swell rivers and snow blizzards
can occur in winter. The Highest peaks have small glaciers. Mongolia is the land
of spring winds. In the Gobi and steppe areas winds often develop into devastating
dust storms, reaching a velocity of 15-25 metres per seconds. For up to date weather
see the weather
forecast.
Beijing has four definite seasons. Summer and Winter
are the two longest seasons with Autumn and Spring being the shortest. The climate
varies according to the season with Autumn being the most pleasant time to visit.
Autumn is usually clear with cool temperatures, while Winter is dry and, at times,
bitterly cold with temperatures dropping below freezing. Spring is usually dry
but very windy. Summer is rainy, hot and humid.
ACCOMMODATION
We carefully select accommodation based upon character, location and services
available. Hotels: In Beijing we have chosen both a "character & quirky"
courtyard hotel in a hutong district (old narrow streets), and a 5 star centrally
located hotel with all the mod cons. Which hotel you stay in will depend on your
preference and room availability. In the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, we
stay at one of the cities best hotels (4 star), which is just off central Sukhbaatar
square. Ger Camps: In the Mongolian countryside, accommodation is in ger camps.
In these "countryside hotels", each couple has their own comfortable,
stove lit, traditional ger. Ger camps have western style bathroom facilities and
hot showers are available at certain times of the day.Guest gers and Home stays:
We can also arrange at request accommodation with nomadic families.Camping: If
you are trekking or horse riding for any distance you will be provided with camping
equipment. The vast open remoteness of the land makes it ideal for camping.
FOOD
Good food is an essential part of any holiday. Beijing
is described as nothing short of a 'food paradise'. For the most part, Chinese
food in China its nothing like the Chinese food you've come to expect in your
local take-out back home. This is the real thing. Fortunately many menus are written
both in Chinese and English and ordering what you would like isn't too daunting
an experience. Eating in Beijing ranges from the simple street stand, to the small
family owned and run restaurant, to the big imported chain restaurants. Sometimes
you will be eating prearranged meals with your group and at other times you will
be free to find a restaurant of your choice. For these occasions we are able to
make recommendations for places to eat if required.
In Ulaanbaatar, you
may be surprised by the range of restaurants and the delicious food available
- everything from Indian to Mexican…not forgetting some quality Mongolian
food too.
In the countryside the food is more simple nomad fare - you will
sample traditional foods such as Khorkhog - goat meat steamed in an urn with hot
stones, Buuz - meat dumplings, Tsuivan - fried meat with noodles. Ger camps will
provide a mix of western and Mongolian style dishes for your dinner and breakfast.
Lunch generally consists of a famous Panoramic Journeys picnic with carefully
chosen goodies from local markets and Ulaanbaatar supermarkets. Vegetarians: Though
Mongolia is more renowned for its meat rather than vegetable cuisine, fruit and
vegetables are easily available and you will certainly be well catered for as
a vegetarian. Please let us know if you have any special dietary requirements.
TRANSPORT
In Beijing travel
is provided by mini bus, private car, rickshaws and occasionally taxi. In Mongolia
travel in spacious 4x4 Russian Furgons, jeeps or Land cruiser type vehicles or,
depending on your particular arrangements, by horse, camel or yak.
NOT
FOR THE FAINT HEARTED
Getting the balance right between providing
you with an acceptable level of comfort and providing you with an adventurous
holiday can be a challenge. The 'right balance' can also vary according to different
people's requirements and expectations. Mongolia is a developing, ex-communist
country with a harsh climate, where infrastructure, communications and services
are still very basic. This can lead to situations where you might experience frustration
(eg flight timetables suddenly changing), discomfort (eg hot water being unavailable
at a ger camp) and tiredness (long journeys on bumpy roads). Whilst we do our
best to provide for your needs there are times when things are beyond our control.
We hope you will consider these possible issues before choosing Mongolia as a
holiday destination - and then come anyway!
PACKING
SUGGESTIONS
Contact
us for our suggested packing list.
