Mongolia 8-Day Itinerary: Ulaanbaatar, Terelj and the Gobi Desert

The plane lands at Chinggis Khaan International Airport, and the transfer into the center takes about 50 minutes. After hotel check-in at 2pm, the afternoon walk starts at Sükhbaatar Square (also called Chinggis Khaan Square), Ulaanbaatar's civic center since 1921. On the north side stands the Government Palace, with a seated 4-meter statue of Genghis Khan flanked by Ogedei and Kublai Khan; in the middle of the square, the equestrian statue of Damdin Sükhbaatar, leader of the 1921 revolution that fought for Mongolia's independence.

Set aside at least 40 minutes to cross the square unhurried and photograph the palace. In the evening, especially in summer, it's a gathering spot for families and skateboarders.

An eight-minute walk from the square, the State Department Store (Ikh Delguur) is Mongolia's largest department store, open since 1921. The third floor is packed with Mongolian cashmere shops, cheaper here than at any airport, and the basement has a supermarket handy for stocking up on water and snacks before the trip to the desert.

3 km west of downtown, Gandantegchinlen Monastery is Mongolia's main active Tibetan Buddhist center, rebuilt after being shut down by the communist regime in 1938. The main temple, Migjid Janraisig, houses a 26.5-meter gilded statue of Avalokiteshvara (the original was melted down by the Soviets and rebuilt in 1996 with donations from Japan and Nepal). Monks spin the prayer wheels around the courtyard; inside the main temple, paid admission, photos without flash are allowed.

Set aside 1 to 1.5 hours. Arriving before 9am avoids the tour groups.

On the way back to the center, the Choijin Lama Temple Museum, built between 1904 and 1908, is one of the few religious complexes to survive the communist purges of the 1930s, preserved because it became a museum in 1942. The five temples hold ceremonial tsam masks, sculptures by the artist Zanabazar and thangka paintings. It's surrounded by modern skyscrapers, a contrast that alone makes the visit worthwhile.

South of the city, the Zaisan Memorial is a circular Soviet mosaic mural built in 1979 to remember the Mongolian and Soviet soldiers killed in World War II, atop a hill reached by 300 steps. From the top, the view covers all of Ulaanbaatar framed by the Bogd Khan mountains.

At the foot of Zaisan hill, a 23-meter standing Buddha statue, gilded and donated by South Korean Buddhists in 2006, marks the start of the climb. Worth a five-minute stop before tackling the steps.

Opened in October 2022, the Chinggis Khaan National Museum is the largest museum in Asia dedicated to a single subject: the 2,000-year history of Mongol territory, with a focus on Genghis Khan's empire. Nine floors and over 10,000 pieces, 90% original, including 13th-century armor and extremely precise replicas of relics from museums in 14 countries. Set aside 2 to 3 hours; the permanent exhibition ticket costs 30,000 MNT (about US$ 9) for foreigners, plus a separate photo fee.

A fifteen-minute walk from there, the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts holds nearly 20,000 pieces from the Paleolithic period to the early 20th century, with a highlight on gilded bronze sculptures by Zanabazar himself (1635-1723), the first Bogd Gegen and Mongolia's leading Buddhist sculptor.

At the southeastern edge of downtown, about a 20-minute taxi ride away, Naran Tuul Market (the "Black Market", despite the name nothing illegal about it) is the country's largest open-air market: fur-lined leather boots, deels (the traditional Mongolian robe), cashmere and ger camping gear. Closed on Tuesdays; bring small bills and compare prices at at least three stalls before buying.

54 km east of Ulaanbaatar, on the way to Terelj, the Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue is the largest equestrian statue in the world: 40 meters of stainless steel raised in 2008 over a circular base that doubles as a museum and viewpoint. An elevator goes up to the horse's neck, with a view over the surrounding steppe. Worth 45 minutes to an hour.

Inside Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, Turtle Rock is a 24-meter granite formation carved by wind and ice over millions of years, with the unmistakable shape of a turtle's shell and head. A short, steep trail leads to the top.

A few minutes from there, a wooden staircase of 108 steps (the number of beads on a Buddhist rosary) leads up to the Aryabal Meditation Temple, rebuilt in the early 2000s after being destroyed in the 1930s purges. The path there crosses a bridge over the Terelj river with a view of the surrounding cliffs.

The overland route between Ulaanbaatar and the Gobi Gurvansaikhan Desert takes 10 to 12 hours on the road, mostly unpaved. The domestic flight to Gurvan Saikhan Airport, in Dalanzadgad, cuts that down to about an hour, flown by Hunnu Air and AeroMongolia. From the airport, a 4x4 van with a driver and guide, practically mandatory outside Ulaanbaatar, takes you to the ger camp near the Yolyn Am valley, about 1.5 hours on dirt roads.

On the 4x4 ride to the camp, the landscape shifts from dry steppe to low dunes and bare rock mountain ranges on the horizon, the first visual sense of the Gobi's scale: over 1.3 million km² between Mongolia and China, one of the largest deserts in the world.

Yolyn Am, the Valley of the Eagles, is a canyon inside Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park cutting through the Zuun Saikhan mountains. The walk starts at the parking lot next to a small natural history museum and runs about 3 km along a stream, between increasingly narrow rock walls. Bearded vultures and argali, the world's largest wild sheep species, are commonly spotted.

In the gorge's deepest, shadiest stretches, a layer of perennial ice covers the valley floor until midsummer, even with the surrounding desert topping 30°C during the day. Horse-drawn carts cover the final stretch for those who'd rather not walk.

About 3 hours by road from Yolyn Am, the Bayanzag Flaming Cliffs became famous in 1923, when American paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews's expedition found the first fossilized dinosaur eggs ever identified by science there. The red sandstone formations are most intense at dusk, when the low light lights up the rock's orange tone.

After another 3 to 4 hours on the road, the Khongoryn Els Dunes (also called "Duut Mankhan", singing dunes) stretch for over 100 km, with ridges reaching 300 meters in height. It's the most photographed stop in the Gobi, and the ger camp sits right at the foot of the dunes.

At sunrise, before the heat of the day, nomadic families living around the dunes offer short Bactrian camel rides, the two-humped species native to Central Asia. It's also the best light for photographing the dunes, with long shadows bringing out the curves of the sand.

Back in Dalanzadgad (about 3.5 hours by road), the return flight lands at Chinggis Khaan International Airport, opened in 2021, 52 km from downtown Ulaanbaatar. For those with an international connection only the next day, it's worth saving the last afternoon for the State Department Store, already visited on Day 1, or simply resting before the longer flight back to Brazil.