6 Days Independent Ulaanbaatar - Semi Gobi - Orkhon Valley

If you prefer an economical hostel, we recommend the Youth Hostel Sunpath Mongolia, it is located in the north of Sukhbaatar Square with the old Soviet style exterior, but modern decoration interior.

Walk for a whole afternoon to visit the highlights in the city center.

Go southwest from Sunpath Mongolia and pass the builder's Square to Tomorchiin Gudamj Street, which is the "Financial Street" in Ulaanbaatar with many banks and currency exchange agencies. And then go straight to the east to get to Sukhbaatar Square. Around the square are many buildings of great significance to the country. Mongolian Parliament Building, National Opera House, Mongolian Stock Exchange, central tower and blue sky hotel.

Behind the Genghis Khan Sculpture is the Mongolian National History Museum, and the National Museum is located in the northwest of the square. Walking westward along Peace Avenue, you can find the Beatles Square and Mongolian National Department Store.

Because of the undeveloped transportation, the best way for travel is to rent cars with drier and guide, otherwise, you may lost in the vast grassland. There are some roads that cannot be called roads, only those who are familiar with this know where to go. The hostel offers several travel routes, and you can share the cost if there are some other travelers who choose the same route with you.

Buy some supplies for the next few days before leave Ulaanbaatar. The vast grassland can't be seen at a glance, yurts, cattle and sheep running on the horizon. Stop for lunch at a town named Lun, and then continue to the south to Semi Gobi. It's called desert, but it's more like a lot of small sand piles surrounded by grasslands, lakes, hills and yurts. Here you can experience the camel riding for about one hour. If time permits, you can hike to the nearby mountain for another two hours. Here is the best place to shoot the stars and their orbit after dark.

After a single breakfast at about 08:00, continue your journey towards southwest to get to Orkhon Valley, where you will find the largest waterfall in Mongolia. The whole journey is about 300km. You will arrive at a town named Khujirt around noon, where you will have lunch and buy some supplies.

The admission fee to Orkhon Valley is MNT3000 per person. The toll station near the valley is a large fjord with gorgeous views, where you can take some nice photos. You will arrive at the base camp at about 15:00. After a short break, walk towards the waterfall, which originates from the snow mountains deep in the grassland and stretches to Baikal Lake in Russia. Hiking along the steep slope to the bottom of the valley, you will find many animals and plants.

Be prepared for a two-day horse riding trip. It takes 4-5 hours to ride a horse from Orkhon Valley to the West into the mountain area. Ride a horse along the river valley upstream of the waterfall for about 5km and entered the white birch forest area. You will finally reach the depths of the grassland at about 17:00, where you can overlook the main peak of Khangai mountain in the distance. The beautiful views come into your eyes as you go deeper. And you will back to the camp at about 19:00.

The laughter of the children in the camp will wake you up. Continue to the west to see more in this national park, and then go back for breakfast. If you cannot bear riding longer on the horseback, then talk with the guide to find a closer route for you back to the camp in Orkhon Valley. You will arrive at the camp at about 14:00 and then the hostler will take his horses back to his home in the vast grassland. The rest of the time is free for you to explore the valley by yourself. There is too many things to do, hiking to the waterfall, listen to the music, read a book or just stay there to listen to the sound of wind under the sunshine.

Leave for Karakoram at about 07:30, and will arrive at about 11:00. Visit the Erdene Zuu and its surrounding areas. After lunch, you can take car back to Ulaanbaatar. For those who may leave the group early, then the long distance bus is available at 14:00, the journey back to Ulaanbaatar takes 6 hours.