If travelling from the UK / Europe, we leave for Mongolia from our chosen departure airports to New Ulaanbaatar International Airport (UBN) arriving the following day.

• Meals: Dinner

Welcome to Ulaan Baatar! On arrival we’ll be met by our driver and taken to our centrally located hotel (journey time approx. 1 hour). If you arrive early there are plenty of options to explore in downtown Ulaan Baatar.

The city has modernised rapidly over the last 10 years with western style, Dubai-inspired shopping malls and brand-name glitz, but there are more than a few hints and nods to its Soviet past. Around Suhkbataar Square, the huge cosmopolitan public square, and adjoining Parliament House with its monuments to Chinggis Khan and family, you’ll find wide, sombre, low-slung, squat Russian built buildings.

Off the square is the National Museum, where you’ll get a good look at Mongol history and National Dress and close-by is the State Department Store where you can dress yourself and buy the same get up. The Choijin Lama Temple is also worth a quick visit. Venture further and ghetto-like housing towers and hip-hop inspired fashion, graffiti and attitudes prevail.

Further still, the city is surrounded by the Ger districts, an ever-growing sprawl of traditional housing of nomads that have moved off the land and into the city in search of work and an easier life. It’s a heady mix of east, west, modern, traditional, communist and cowboy!

In the evening we head out for a Modern Mongol fusion dinner during which we have a chat about the schedule for the days to come.

Overnight altitude: 1,300 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch

A day devoted to exploring the city and its main sights. First up is a visit to Ganden Monastery, Mongolia’s largest and most important Lamaist Buddhist monastery, where we are able to see monks and locals going about their daily devotions.

Next is the Bogd Khan Museum, the former winter residence of the last theocratic ruler of Mongolia and which houses the Bogd Khans’ personal living spaces and possessions as well as one of the most important collections of Buddhist artwork in the world. We follow this by heading up to Zaisan Memeorial, for views overlooking the city and classic soviet murals depicting Mongolia’s involvement in WWII.

Finally, we settle in for a performance of Mongolian traditional music featuring the unique horse-head fiddle and long songs, or throat singing: sounds of the steppe that will stay with you on your journey throughout Mongolia and beyond.

Overnight altitude: 1,300 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner

The start of our epic adventure begins by loading up the Russian luz 4WD vans and meeting your local crew. Along with your cycling leader, you’ll be accompanied by a team of locals including a cycling guide/ mechanic, cooks and drivers: all there to make sure you get the best out of your time in Mongolia and they always leave a long-lasting impression on our guests for their warmth, humour and smiles. 

It’s a long day’s drive but we’ll stop for lunch, and the chance to ride a camel, at Elsen Tasarkhai sand dunes: a vast 80km stretch of dunes surrounded by semi-desert steppe and thickets of Elm, Willow and Dogwood.

After lunch, we continue towards the small town of Arvaikheer, the capital of Ovorkhangai Province and named after a famed racehorse of the area. Just beyond Arvaikheer we set up camp for our first night under the stars.

Overnight altitude: 1,980 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 265 Metres Approx.

We pack up camp and head to our cycling start point on the southern edge of the Khangai Mountains near Bayanhongor. After setting up the bikes and taking lunch, we set off across the steppe and into the Khangai Mountains to the Sharguljuut River. 

Our first section takes us on a slight upward trend on a hard-packed surface, with some sandy sections across open steppe until we reach our high point for the day with its magnificent views of the Sharguljuut Valley below and the Khangai Mountains beyond. A nice series of downhills then brings us to the river where we set up camp for the evening.

Several semi-nomadic families inhabit the valley during the time of our trips and we’ll see several gers (yurts in Russian), dotted along the valley along with their goats, yak and horses. Once settled-in you may wish to take a walk among the surrounding rocky outcrops, where several species of Ground Squirrel and Gerboa dart about or take a refreshing dip in the nearby river.

Dinner as the sun sets is a daily highlight. Our cook is adept at whipping up hearty, nutritious food in courses of soups, salads and mains that will delight your tastebuds and fuel you throughout your time on the bikes. Dining, shower and lavatory tents are set up for each camp and fold-out chairs and handwashing facilities are available too.

Overnight altitude: 2,205 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 865 Metres Approx.

Our first full day on the bikes starts with a beautiful ride up the valley of the Sharguljuut River. The ride is undulating on jeep tracks for the first 20km or so, and you’ll need to familiarise yourself with the terrain as it varies from smooth to rock strewn with several stream crossings; a challenge when the scenery is doing everything to draw your eyes.

Local families here call out to you to stop and join them for some milk tea, airag (fermented mare’s milk) and curd, along with several types of dairy product that sustain the nomads during the fruitful summer months. Migratory ducks and cranes can sometimes be spotted so keep your eyes peeled.

Our first break occurs after crossing the Sharguljuut River where we rest up to re-fuel with some snacks, tea, coffee and juice. If the river is high the water can get over wheel height so you may have to carry the bike across, jump in the van or pick a good line and power through – we’ll teach you the best lines and technique for crossing Mongolian streams! After this it’s a steady 10km climb into the mountains on a gradually incline.

Stone mounds dot the valley as we climb higher – these are cairns built by the nomads so the Peregrine Falcons and other birds of prey can launch themselves on the rodents in the valley and keep their numbers in check – nomad conservation! Our route becomes very steep for one kilometre to the summit at 2557m where the views open up on both sides of the pass and provide a stunning panorama. After this it’s steep for around one kilometre downhill before it flattens out for the downhill run all the way to camp in one of the nicest valleys of the tour.  

Overnight altitude: 2,557 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 605 Metres Approx.

Today we make our way across the Shar Hutul pass at 2540m for a spectacular downhill into the Tuin River valley. With several stream crossings as we criss-cross the Tuin River to make our way upstream toward the river’s headwaters.

The riding is more challenging in the afternoon as we steadily gain altitude as well as traversing wide rock strewn riverbed. The high mountain terrain and impressive glacier-formed valleys are pocketed with forest and strewn with colourful wildflowers.

Our camp tonight, far from civilisation, is the highest and most spectacular of the tour looking down the Tuin River valley over an often frozen lake from 2511m. You might even catch a glimpse of Marmot, hear their barking or, if you are lucky hear the howl of a Wolf. Sightings of both these animals are rare though as Marmot is the most favoured meat of the nomads and Wolf are hunted for the prestige it confers on the hunter.

Overnight altitude: 2,540 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 220 Metres Approx.

We start the day with a steady 6km climb to the top of Khul Sayngiin pass where we rest at the Ovoo, a cairn of rocks and blue prayer flags that mark the pass on all mountain roads and trails in Mongolia.

It’s here that locals will make offerings of rocks – that help maintain the cairn – while circumnavigating the Ovoo three times in a clock-wise direction. You’ll also see plenty of vodka bottles and crutches among other offerings at these sacred places too; a dead giveaway to many nomads favourite pastimes; riding horses and drinking!

A tricky downhill leads us down to the valley floor with the rest of the day seeing us navigate lots of stream crossings and extended rocky sections. This stunning valley will lead us to the Tamir River and our spectacular riverside camp with its perfect swimming spot, rocky outcrops, forested hillsides, wildflower grassland and mountains.

Overnight altitude: 2,714 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 400 Metres Approx.

Just one steep hill to negotiate today, but it’s mostly downwards on super smooth tracks and trails. During the day we visit a nomad family and have a tour of their Ger dwellings samping some of the dairy that is particularly famous in the Khangai mountains.

We stop at Bulgan to pick up any supplies, our first stop in relative civilisation for days before continuing to our camp overlooking the Tamir River. A shorter day today and we finish the cycling at lunchtime and have a relaxing afternoon at camp.

Overnight altitude: 1,950 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 735 Metres Approx.

A flat mornings ride, with a small climb, takes us up to a viewpoint overlooking Tsetserleg, one of Mongolia’s more picturesque towns. A route down to the town gets us on tarmac for a few kilometres and we‘re back in civilisation.

A coffee break and a visit to the Tsetserleg Museum are good options here and there are plenty of supermarkets too. Heading out of town we lunch beside the Tamir River before tackling some hills so as to get to our destination: Tsenker. Our stay is at a tourist Ger camp with shower facilities, restaurant and outdoor hot springs to relax and soothe any tired muscles.

Overnight altitude: 2,051 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 545 Metres Approx.

Today we head for the hills and make our way up through pine forest and narrow valleys as we head back into the heart of the Khangai National Park. We cross several streams and rivers before a last climb and a 15km descent brings us to Tsaagan Sum where natural springs are revered to have special healing qualities. Our camp is on the open steppe with views up and down the valley below.

Overnight altitude: 2,051 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 545 Metres Approx.

A shorter day of 30 kms sees us take on two steep climbs with equally thrilling downhills on either side, where a last run takes across the Orkhon River lunch and our camp. From here we take a drive up the river for a hike and, perhaps, a swim in the Orkhon Waterfalls which are dramatically positioned where the Orkhon River passes through an impressive canyon.

Overnight altitude: 1,951 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 310 Metres Approx.

Our last full day on the bikes and it’s a relatively easy day along the Orkhon River valley – an amazing ride through ancient lava flow and Kazakh burial mounds. This valley has witnessed massive volcanic eruptions in it’s past which has made the region particularly fertile and subsequently attractive to Chinggis Khan, who based the capital of the Mongol Empire at the end of the valley, and earlier Uighyr and Turkic peoples who also ruled vast areas of Central Asia from the same area. As such the Orkhon valley is considered one of the great archeological and historical sites for peoples across central Asia and into the Middle East.

We have a few climbs today but with our camp by the Orkhon once again and the chance for a refreshing end of ride dip.

Overnight altitude: 1,701 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
• Ascent: 420 Metres Approx.

With our destination not far away, we’ll complete our ride by summiting our last hill for expansive views back up the Orkhon valley. A great downhill and flat run brings us to the Mongolian Nations monument which serves as the perfect spot for a final group photo.

From here we head down into Kharkorin, a smallish town that was once the capital of the world’s largest empire where we tuck into lunch before packing up the bikes. We are heading to Elsen Tasarkhai sand dunes to camp tonight but on the way we plan to stop at the impressive Erdenne Zhu monastery. Tonight we feast on a traditional river stone cooked lamb dish, horhog and toast our last night on the steppe with a spot of Vodka.

Overnight altitude: 1,705 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast, lunch

An early start today for our journey back to Ulaan Baatar will give us time for some souvenir shopping prior to our final dinner to celebrate the end of our epic ride across Mongolia.

Overnight altitude: 1,300 Metres

• Meals: Breakfast

Time to bid farewell to Mongolia as we transfer back to New Ulaanbaatar International Airport (journey time approx. 1 hour) for your flights back home. For those travelling to Europe you may arrive home the next day.