Drive across Mongolia

Day 2

Fly to Uliastai

Fly to Uliastai to meet-up with your convoy leader and drive crew.  You can drive as a pair or, if you wish, up to four per vehicle to reduce your cost.  You’ll be allocated your 4x4, a Toyota Landcruiser or similar, will have time to get used to the controls and get driving tips from your guide.  Driving in convoy each vehicle with have a walkie-talkie to keep in touch.

Arrive beside a stunning blue lake (Khar Nuur) for your first night in traditional Mongolian gers.

Fly time: 1 Hour

Drive time: 3 hours

Stay

Ger Camp

Day 3

Drive Day 1: To the sand dunes

Mongolia is famed for its rolling steppe; wide grassy plains that go on for ever until... the sand dunes appear.  Unexpectedly rising out of the green steppe they are the perfect playground for a spot of off-road skills.  You can even breakout the sand-boards for a spot of dune surfing.  Tonight you'll stay in your first wilderness camp; bell tents ready and waiting for you and a chef to cook you dinner.  

Drive time: 5 hours

Stay

Wilderness Camp

Day 4

Drive Day 2: To the lakeside camp

You’re not quite out of the sand yet!  Test your skills at the start of the day with a very sandy river crossing, momentum will be your friend.  The navigation challenge then begins – find your way through vast open landscapes to the remote village of Numrug to test out your communication skills so that you can refill your vehicle.

Heading north tackle a steep rocky incline and descent with a stunning lake backdrop. Weave through a valley of larch trees and over permafrost tussocks so remote and untouched you might feel that you have taken a wrong turn.  As dusk approaches you will, perhaps with some relief,  find your next camp.  Pitched with views across a beautiful tree lined lake with great wildlife and an interesting local ovoo (wooden tipi like shrine)

Drive time: 6 hours

Stay

Wilderness Camp

Day 5

Drive Day 3: Across the tectonic divide

Start the day with some challenging driving through the pools and crevasses that mark the meeting of two tectonic plates.  This stark, straight geographical feature carves up the landscape giving you plenty of boggy patches to test your skills with before heading one of Mongolia's infamous ‘wonky bridge' constructions.  Take care, if you get stuck in the permafrost pools in this area you might need to call upon the services of yaks passing by to pull you out!

Drive time: 5 hours

Stay

Wilderness Camp

Day 6

Drive Day 4: To the gorge

Have your camera at the ready as you are dwarfed by enormous boulders scattered across stunning valleys before starting to climb up into the treacherous mountains. Edging past deep gorges, down scree slopes and through dense forest, today’s landscapes may be distracting but it is essential that you keep your wits about you…

Tonight’s camp will be one of your favourites for sure – set beside the river below stunning towering cliffs.  A great setting to reflect on the epic drive that you have undertaken so far. 

Drive time: 7 hours

Stay

Wilderness Camp

Day 7

Drive to Muron

With a huge safety truck on standby, undertake the ultimate challenge. Carefully select your route across the deep river, one wrong move could result in very wet feet.  Navigate faint tracks through narrow forested valleys before the land opens out into spectacular rolling steppe land with stunning views as far as the eye can see.

As you get closer to the town of Muron (Moron) and the finish line you will begin to see your first traffic; the occasional motorbike rounding up herds and perhaps trucks delivering beers to the pub in town.

Drive time: 5 hours

Stay

Cabin Camp

Day 8

Fly to Ulaanbaatar

Afternoon at your leisure in the capital - if you get back in time (flights can be a little unpredictable), you may like to visit places of interest such as the Gandan Monastery or the Choijin Lama Temple Museum. 

Time to catch up on the souvenir shopping you have missed in the wilderness; from cashmere jumpers, Mongolian boots and fur hats to caviar, cheap (genuine??) North Face jackets and traditional music, Ulaanbaatar's shops and markets have it all. We'll be on hand to guide you around the State Department Store and Gobi Cashmere.  In the evening enjoy a celebratory meal and discuss to 200ft, 400ft, noooo 800ft dunes you drove over...

Fly time: 1.5 hours

Transfer time: 1 hour

Stay

Hotel Nine - Ulaanbaatar

Day 9

Depart Ulaanbaatar

Transfer back to the airport to catch your flight home