Extra Extra - Read All About It!

​The story of 2016's  year's Naadam Experience and Cultural Ride has been published in the prestigious Horse Illustrated Magazine. For the full story (complete with stunning photos) click here.

Come live the splendor that is Naadam in 2018
​Have the chance to ride the open steppe & experience true Mongolian culture.

Mongolian Naadam Experience & Cultural Ride

July 1 – July 10, 2018
Riding Level – All levels
10 day / 9 night
Heinig (half cow / half yak) Cart Supported

Naadam is truly one of the most colourful and fascinating festivals on the planet. Every where you look people in glittering Deels
(traditional Mongolian long coats) and impossibly colourful hats glide along the sidewalks and across the square. Come and experience the colourful opening ceremonies of Naadam as well as the three "manly" sports of horseback racing, archery and wrestling! This is a ride that is suitable for every level, including  beginners. We will ride 4 -5 hours most days and each day will be crowned with and unique and interesting cultural event.  Enjoy a relaxed pace and the  silence of the wild as we set off with our belongings and camp equipment piled onto a heinig ( half cow / half yak) cart. Come and live the Mongolian culture with us....

So...what can you expect to see and do on this trek....

Get a chance to not only travel the incredible vistas and dramatic mountains that surround our home base, but also see the traditional life of Mongolians from the time of Chinggis Khan to the present and experience  something that few tourists ever get to – an up close and personal look at the local version of the grandest of all Mongolian spectacles – the celebration of the three manly arts – Naadam.!

This trek starts in the famous Terlj Gorkhi National park where you will meet your horses and the expert team from Horse Trek Mongolia at  the famed “Turtle Rock”.  Each day will be 4-5 hours of horseback riding plus an outstanding cultural event. We’ll have a heinig cart close by for those of you who need a break from the saddle from time to time.

Join the trek and you will be gifted with a Deel, a traditional Mongolian long coat, and taught how to wear it like a local - both on and off the horse. Your first night you will spend with a local family where you will get to see in action the lifestyle that has remained virtually unchanged for the past thousands of years.  
      

Some highlights of this trek include:

• Witnessing the real Naadam – the town fair in which some 200+ children aged 8+ race  horses approx. 32 kilometers across the open steppe, wild wrestling challenges, archery and  lots of colour and enthusiasm as the locals celebrate the 804th anniversary of the Great Mongol Empire! These contests which have been undertaken  in every village and town every year since the founding of the Empire in the time of Chinggis Khan and the excitement and joy is palpable.

Highlights continued....

• Sleeping in a ger erected specially for you in the wilderness, then, in the morning, taking it down and loading it onto a heinig cart and seeing what nomadic Mongolian life is really like.
  

• Witnessing traditional animal slaughter ( if you want to!) and partaking in a wonderful Mongolian feast – Khorkhog – in which the meat is cooked with hot stones.

• Trying your hand at cow & mare milking and learning how to make traditional Mongolian dairy products

• Experiencing life in the time of Genghis Khan – we will visit the 13th Century Village, an interactive museum set out on the wild  Mongolian Steppe which consists of 6 “villages” each about 3 km apart which illustrate all facets of life in the time of Chinggis Khan. Ride from village to village learn about religion, war, army, artistry in the time of Chinggis Khan. Dinner there will be a wonderful traditional meal in a replica of the King’s Ger of Chinggis Khan.

• Visiting the 5th century Turkic Rune Stones

• Visiting the largest equestrian statue in the world and it’s excellent museum

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• Experiencing the famous Mongolian Gobi Desert as you ride across a “mini-Gobi” and visit the “100 Wood”  - the  sacred remnant of what was once a great forest stretching across the Mongolian steppe.

This trek will include staying in tents, with local families, in gers and 2 nights at Khot Ail camp.   

Naadam is a time of great colour and festivity in Mongolia and is one of the  most unique celebrations of national identity on the planet.  Don’t miss this opportunity to come and experience it like a local!

Cost of this 10 day / 9 night trek  including all food & drink ( alcohol extra), horses, tack, guide, accommodation ( tent/ ger) entrance to Chinggis Khan Statue, 13th century Interactive Cultural Museum, welcome Deel,  Heinig Cart experience, a day at a traditional Naadam, and return airport transfers $1899.00 USD.

 

Optional add on (extra charge)  stay for the National Naadam Celebrations which begin in Ulaan Baatar on July 11th and continue through July 13th.

 Horse Trek Mongolia will donate 20% of the tariff from this trek to support the children of the Children of the Peak Sanctuary Kindergarten.  See www.veloofoundation.com for details

Mongolian horses are very forward moving and responsive and if your experience or ability is not up to managing them, for your own safety you will be put on a lead for some or all of the trek. Please note that, as with all our treks, we will be proceeding into areas where  medical coverage is sparse or non existent and, in the event  of an emergency your treatment may be delayed as a result. 

 

Please note - due to weather and other factors beyond our control, the route is subject to change


 NOW TAKING RESERVATIONS FOR  OUR 2018 NAADAM TREK .
Maximum number of participants:  10



If you would like to stay on and attend the official "Naadam"  ceremonies or explore volunteerism at the Soaring Crane Summer Camp for Disadvantaged Children or in Ulaanbaatar  please check out VelooFoundation.com

Let us take you on the riding adventure of your dreams!  See you in Mongolia!