Look Mongolia Tours and Expeditions

2011-11-03T22:02:00.001-07:00

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Terelj Lodge: An Ultimate Cultural Experience and Comfort Stay

2011-05-26T03:21:00.000-07:00

Terelj Lodge is situated in a prime sight of Gorkhi Terelj National Park offering a stunning view of the picturesque valley and convenient access to attractions within the national park. All facilities and services of Terelj Lodge are designed to meet your needs to indulge in the comfort of luxurious resort and at the same time experience unique lifestyles of Mongolian nomads. Terelj Lodge excels over any other tourist resorts in Mongolia by its service standards and better yet exceeds the expectations of its guests by offering a wide variety of service options and unique experiences.

Cultural experiences

Did you know that it takes only about half an hour for Mongolians to build or dismantle their homes for movement? Believe it or not, try dismantling a ger and move loading it on a yak cart and have your own unique night away from the resort. It is an unforgettable experience and rare opportunity that you enjoy once in lifetime.

Terelj Lodge supports some a number of local families in the area by renting their horses, purchasing dairy products and handicraft items, so that they retain their traditional culture and lifestyles. You can visit one of the families to get real experiment of nomadic life by seeing or getting involved in making of dairy products, Mongolian felt and processing of animal hide and wool.

Ger Museum

Furnished with a set of Mongolian antique furniture in a traditional style, this mini-museum gives a good understanding about the centuries old lifestyles and traditions of nomads from the steppes. Every single piece of its furniture, clothes, dairy product utensil and traditional animal husbandry equipment bears a piece of history. As a guest you can visit our ger museum at your own convenience and even try the real nomadic lifestyle staying overnight inside this special ger. From time to time we present lectures on Mongolian culture and history inside our ger museum.

Adventures in Nature

You can also enjoy hiking, trekking, horse riding or yak cart driving around the resort in your own pace or join one of the enthralling journeys organized by the resort management. We have designed short adventure tours in Gorkhi Terelj National Park with visits to the best spots and routes that make your journey a fun and challenge.

Facilities and Services

Except from cultural experiences and activities you enjoy, our facilities and services that are superior in standards compared to other camps in the area make your stay comfortable and relaxing. All our facilities are designed to provide you the highest comfort in the beautiful natural settings:

· Large queen-size beds,

· A call bell installed in each ger,

· Modern instant water heating shower and toilet facilities,

· Ger furnished with antiques, playing in Kazakh ger and even building a ger yourself,

· Astronomic observation,

· Woodball and other games,

· Open-air beer garden and

· A spacious restaurant with offering a hilarious view of the area with delicious Mongolian cuisine.

Ger accommodation

Our gers are made with centuries old traditional styles, and decorated with Mongolian national colorful patterns. With a view to providing our esteemed guests the highest standard of comforts, each ger is furnished with two or three large beds measuring 200 x 130 centimeters. The comfort of gers are further enhanced by its natural ventilation system and stoves placed in the center of gers. Each ger is equipped with a wireless call bell, through which our guests can reach the service staff within seconds.

Heritage restaurant

Anyone can be thrilled to eat in our spacious Heritage restaurant that offers everything that you would require in this beautiful natural environment: delicious food, attentive services, fantastic view of the area and an authentic environment.

Beer Garden

In a warm summer’s night, sitting in our open-air beer garden gives you a feeling of paradise. Fresh drinks, Mongolian barbeque and a stunning view of the picturesque Terelj valley are all combined to enhance your enjoyment.

MUSIC AND SINGING: Hauntingly Beautiful Hoomei

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Music is an important part of Mongolian culture. This is particularly the case in the countryside as families and friends will sing and play music together as a past time. A visitor to a countryside ger will often be coaxed into a song. Mongolians sing to their animals, sing about the environment, sing about nomadic lifestyles and sing about their patriotism.

Arguably the most popular and unique of these vocal traditions is hoomei, often called throat singing, a difficult and painful form to master. Hoomei’s entrancing melodies can be heard at most ensemble performances in the city—which are usually like a Mongolian cabaret, featuring a number of different acts—and it’s not something you want to miss. A method of signing multiple notes simultaneously, hoomei produces sounds that defy description; whether spirit or spacecraft, the songs evoke something otherworldly and powerful. Mesmerizingly beautiful, the memory of these tunes promises to be something you will take with you once after leaving Mongolia.

Urtyn Duu or Long Songs are another form of vocal music, so called because of their length. Some famous singers have been able to memories 20,000 verses. Most of the songs relate to stories about love or the countryside and are apparently best sung on horseback galloping crossing the steppe.

The most traditional of instruments is the morin huur or horse head fiddle. With two strings made from horse hair and a carved horses head it is most often used to accompany singing. Legend suggests the sounds produced are similar to those of the nomad's animals.

Steppe Nomad takes part in BIT 2011 Milan Italy!

2011-02-09T01:41:00.001-08:00

Dear Colleagues,

Greetings from Mongolia!

We would like to inform you that our company Steppe Nomad travel and tours the company of Look Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar will take part in travel exhibition BIT 2011 Milan Italy on 17-21 Feb and we will be glad to meet with you during the event at pavilion#2, stand #C80.

If you will take part or visit the BIT 2011 Milan, hope you will find time to visit us. To have more comfortable meeting we would like to previously set up the meeting.

In the exhibition Mr. Battulga Tumurdash, President and CEO of the company will take a part.

After the Exhibition he will stay a few more days in Italy and European countries and able to visit your offices and meet personally.

We look forward to meeting with you during the exhibition and beyond and we will wait for your reply. We wish you the business prosperity and good activity in 2011 year and hope for our cooperation in future.

With best regards and wishes,

Steppe Nomad Team

Where we can go...No5 The North - Watershed of Mongolia

2011-02-09T00:47:00.000-08:00

Further north from Khangai region the mountains get higher and forests get denser and soil gets more fertile as it approaches the most irrigated part of the country. Overlapping with Khangai range in the south smaller range of Sayan dominates the north central Mongolia, occupying most mountainous part of Huvsgul aimag (province) territory. The main feature of this region is abundance of clear water lakes and rivers with the most outstanding being the Huvsgul Lake. Known as the “dark blue pearl” of Mongolia, lake Huvsgul is one of the country’s largest lakes and it features one of the most spectacular areas of the country. Huvsgul lake is 136 kilometers long and 36 kilometers wide stretching from north to south. Huvsgul is the 14^th largest fresh-water lake in the world by volume and its 380 cubic kilometers of water make up over 1% of the world’s fresh water. The lake is elevated at 1,645 meters above sea level and, at its deepest, the lake is 262 meters from its surface to the bottom. Huvsgul shares many similarities in origin, flora and fauna with larger Russia’s Baikal Lake, which lies 200 kilometers to the east and is connected to Huvsgul by Egiin River. About a hundred rivers and streams pour into Huvsgul lake, but only the Egiin River exits the lake.

Numerous rivers including Shishged, Tengisiin gol, Jargalant in the spectacular green plateau of Darkhadiin Kroger and Tsagaan Nuur like are famous destinations. Varied ethnic groups including Khalkha, Buriyat and Darkhat people inhabit the nearby forest and mountainous region, and the Tsaatan reindeer herders live in the northern taiga forest of Huvsgul aimag.

Where we can go ..... No4 Wild Forests of Hentii Range

2011-01-03T23:36:00.000-08:00

The Khan Hentii Mountain range boasts largest uninhabited land of the country despite its proximity to the capital city of Mongolia. Hentii, one of the three great ranges starts from just east of Ulaanbaatar and stretches to the great eastern plains. There are several peaks that rise above 2,500 meters above sea level, with the highest one being Asralt Khairkhan (2,800 meters). Being the ancestral home Chinggis Khaan, the Hentii Mountain Range encompasses many places that are related to the life of the great khaan.

Khan Hentii Protected Area occupying much of the region covers over 1,2 million hectares of the rugged Hentii Mountains, bordered with Terelj National to the west. Covered by forests, wetlands, alpine tundra, and permanent snow and ice fields, the core of this remote wilderness area is totally uninhabited and accessible only by foot or horseback. Three large rivers – the Tuul, Onon and the Herlen have their sources from numerous springs at Hentii range. Numerous therapeutic hot springs, used for medicinal purposes, lie in this region.

The Hentii range is home to over 1,150 species of plant, more then fifty species of mammals, including endangered musk dear and moose, brown beer, wolf, lynx, fox, badger, wolverine, weasel, sable, roe deer and elk. 253 species of birds, including whooper swans, spoonbills, great while egrets and raptors inhabit this area.

Archaeologists have discovered more than 800 ancient burial sites near Hentii Kahn mountain. A ruined monastery, Gunjiin Sum, is located within the Khan Hentii Protected Area. Hentii region is ideal destination for ecological and adventurous journeys. Dense forests, numerous streams and wetlands only accessible for adventurers, horse riders and trekkers.

WHERE WE CAN GO.... No3Central Mongolia – Khangai Region

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Tour to central Mongolia

Most of Central Mongolian territory is predominated by Khangai Mountain Range, the most extensive from the three major ranges and other smaller ranges. This is the most vegetated part of the country and encompasses several natural zones including mountain and mountain steppe zone, and Siberian taiga forest. Fertile soil and numerous rivers, streams and lakes support a variety of plants and the area is habitat to a huge array of animal species including, elk, Siberian roe deer, wolf, fox, wild boar, ibex, lynx and brown bear, just to name a few.

The landscape of Khangai Mountain Range is very different from the Altai Mountains. While high rocky cliffs, and deep basins are dominant in both Mongol Altai and Gobi Altai, Khangai Range is featured by broad, warped dome-shaped mountains covered with grass and trees. Khangai is the water source for many rivers including the largest Mongolian rivers Selenge, Orkhon, Ider, Zavkhan and Terh rivers as well as lakes numerous smaller lakes including Terhiin Tsagaan Nuur lake, Ugii Nuur Lake (Arkhangai aimag), Naiman Nuur Lake (Uvurkhangai aimag), Khar Nuur and Telmen lakes (Zavkhan aimag).

Numerous ancient burial sites and fortress ruins come from the various nomadic people who inhabited Mongolia during different periods of history are found in this region, much of which being found in historic Orkhon Valley. The symbolic ruins of Karakorum and famous Erdenezuu Monastery lie in this region.

WHERE YOU CAN GO … No2 Majestic Mountains of the West.

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Three great ranges-the Mongol Altai (plus Gobi Altai), Khangai and Hentii dominate the majority of Mongolian territory. Of these the most picturesque and largest is the Mongol Altai mountain range. The Mongol Altai has many summits reaching 4000 meters above sea level and stretches for 900 kilometers from the north-western part of the country to the south, through the territories of Bayan-Olgii and Khovd provinces. Over 20 peaks are capped with eternal snow in the Altai Mountain Range. These include Tavan Bogd, the highest peak of Mongolia measuring 4,374 meters above the sea level, Munkh Khairkhan (4,204 m), Sutai (4,226m) and Tsambagarav (4,195 m).

Heading southwards, the mountains get smaller and the range turns into Gobi Altai mountain range. The Gobi Altai sub-mountain range lies within the territory of Gobi-Altai and South Gobi provinces.

The Altai is mainly composed of rocky mountains and there are many glaciers along the high ridges. Altai region is dotted with hundreds of fresh water lakes and rivers. Some of the largest rivers in the country including Khovd river, Buyant river and Bulgan are made up of hundreds of small springs of Altai Range. Altai is the habitat of rare Argali sheep, ibex, different cats, including endangered species of snow leopard and lynx, as well as, popular animals like wolves, fox, and elks.

The region is separated from central Mongolian mountainous region by Mongol els sand stretch and the Great Lakes Depression. There are some of the most famous and beautiful lakes of the country located in this region including Khar-Us Nuur Lake, Durgun Lake, Khyargas Nuur, Uvs Lake, Tolbo Nuur and Dayan Nuur lakes. These lakes and rivers in Altai are ideal places for boating, fishing and bird-watching. The whole region of Altai is an ideal destination for a number of adventures including climbing, mountain trekking, horse riding and cultural journeys. In addition to the stunning beauty of its natural settings Altai is home to varied ethnic groups of Mongolia including Kazakhs residing most of Bayan-Olgii aimag occupying northern parts of the range.

http://www.lookmongolia.com/tours_classic_altai.html

WHERE YOU CAN GO … No1Gobi Desert

2010-11-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

The landscape of Mongolia is characterized by great diversity. This section of our brochure covers six major geographic regions of Mongolia with insights into their ecological features and major travel destinations covered by Look Mongolia journeys.

South Gobi Desert

The Gobi desert, the habitat of the rarest animals and a unique natural landscape. Its desert and semi-desert ecosystems have hardly change in many years. The Gobi is often imagined to be a place of unbearable heat and lifeless sand dunes; similar to the inhospitable Sahara desert, but the reality is quite the reverse. The Gobi has high mountains, springs, forests, sands, steppes and a rich animal kingdom.

Occupying 30 per cent of the country’s vast territory and stretching from the east to the west through the southern part of Mongolia, it is rich in wildlife. Its numerous rare animal species include argali sheep, ibex, snow leopard, lynx, wild ass, gazelles, saiga, wild Bactrian camel and Gobi bear, just to name a few. Its plant kingdom comprises over 400 species including many valuable medicinal, folder and decorative plants. The sight of an ancient sea, the region has been host to countless fossil discoveries. The first fossilized dinosaur eggs were discovered by famous American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews in the 1920’s in the area known as the Flaming Cliffs (Bayanzag). Famous sand dunes including Hongoriin els, Moltsog els and Burdene Bulag are some of the major attractions. The green canyon at Yoliin Am or Eagle Valley in Gobi Gurvan Saikhan national park nestled between high rock walls is interesting variation for Gobi ecology.

Tour to Gobi Desert

LOOK MONGOLIA TOURS AND EXPEDITIONS

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Look Mongolia Tours and Expeditions is the premier eco-based adventure tour operator of Mongolia. We are committed to providing authentic Mongolian adventures, while ensuring that the wilderness is conserved and local cultural values are protected and developed. By planning your Mongolian trip with Look Mongolia, you will:

Have an authentic experience of Mongolia’s varied ecosystems
Expand your knowledge by learning about centuries old lifestyles and traditions of Mongolians
Contribute to the natural conservation and environmental research
Enhance your understanding and appreciation of the environment
Contribute to sustainable community development

Once you are in Mongolia, we arrange your flights, accommodation, meals and transfers. All our tours are designed to give the best experience of the area you are traveling with visits to less traveled routes and more encounter with locals. Whilst being different from others we still maintain the highest comfort for your travel. We use the best available hotels, tourist camps and restaurant. Our overland expeditions are only arranged with Japanese Toyota Land cruiser jeeps, which is the most suitable transportation means in rugged terrains of Mongolia.