Gobi Experience tour (10 Days)

Ulaanbaatar › Sainshand › Xamar Monastery › Xan Bayanzu'rx Mountain › Choilin Monastery › O'lziit › Csagaancav › O'lgii Monastery › Su'ixent › Doityn Toirom › Ergeliin Zoo › Gua Teeg › Xo'vsgo'l › Cuurai Monastery › Baga Bogd Mountain › Bu'rdene Bulag › Sainshand › Ulaanbaatar

Day 1 (Ulaanbaatar › Sainshand)

Arrive in Sainshand, capital of the province of Dornogobi aimag (Eastern Gobi province). After dinner you have the option of visiting the Dornogobi Museum, or going on a walk through the town centre. Overnight in Sainshand.

Day 2 (Sainshand › Xamar Monastery)

Spend the day discovering the life and works of the influential 19th-century literary, religious and social figure Danzanravzhaa, in the company of Altangerel—secret inheritor, during the period of religious persecution, of a vast collection of prohibited relics connected with Danzanravzhaa's life and times. Visit the Danzanravzhaa Museum in Sainshand, then travel by jeep to Xamar Monastery, where you will have lunch with the local lamas. After lunch follow the pilgrims' route towards the caves where Buddhist monks formerly lived and meditated in isolation. Spend the night at the Tavan Dohio tour camp.

Day 3 (Xan Bayanzu'rx Mountain › Choilin Monastery › O'lziit)

Visit the sacred mountain of Sharilyn Uul (Xan Bayanzu'rx Mountain), and meet with the family charged with its protection. Pass by the ruins of Choilin Monastery on the way to O'lziit, where you will see a small cluster of rock paintings. Stop by for tea with a local nomadic family, then spend the night stargazing and camping in a saxaul grove.

Day 4 (O'lziit › Csagaancav › O'lgii Monastery)

Drive to Cagaancav plantation and, depending on the season, have the chance to enjoy the local watermelon. Continue towards O'lgii Monastery, where several new temples have been constructed in recent years amongst the half-destroyed remnants of the former buildings. Camp overnight at O'lgii Monastery.

Days 5-7 (O'lgii Monastery › Su'ixent › Doityn Toirom › Ergeliin Zoo)

Visit the remains of the Su'ixent petrified forest, then pass by Duutyn Toirom and the Xatny Bulag Keregsur on the way to Ergeliin Zoo—a majestic cliff that was once the bank of a deep prehistoric ocean, where the fossilized remains of dinosaurs and other ancient creatures are still found in abundance. Spend the next day with a nomadic family in this remote region, learning to make felt and traditional dairy products, and possibly going on a camel-riding excursion.

Day 8 (Ergeliin Zoo › Gua Teeg › Xo'vsgo'l)

In the afternoon visit the "Whispering Springs" and the Gua Teeg prehistoric monuments, then continue to Xo'vsgo'l Sum, where you will spend the night. Meet with local masters of the Borzhigin "long song" (Urtiin Duu) and "horse-head fiddle" (Morin Xuur), included in the Unesco Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Day 9 (Xo'vsgo'l › Cuurai Monastery › Baga Bogd Mountain › Bu'rdene Bulag)

Stop by Cuurai Monastery, then continue to Baga Bogd Mountain, where you can have lunch with a local family and see the nearby rock inscriptions. Spend the night at Bu'rdene Bulag, an exceptionally scenic oasis surrounded by sand dunes, said to possess sacred qualities. Here you can try out a traditional mud therapy.

Day 10 (Bu'rdene Bulag › Sainshand › Ulaanbaatar)

Spend the morning resting at Bu'rdene Bulag. In the afternoon return to Sainshand, and catch the night train back to Ulaanbaatar.