Mongolia is a top destination for people who love to travel and are adventurous. There is not much more than the famous huts, the yurts and the famous conqueror Genghis Khan that we associate with this inhospitable land. On this page we show that Mongolia is more than just that. Take, for example, the desolate rough landscape and typical Mongolian customs and you know that you are dealing with a unique country. We do recommend that you do not visit the country during the harsh winter period. Many parts of the country are then impassable and the conditions are appalling. Check topmbadirectory for how to get to Mongolia.
Top 10 sights of Mongolia
#1. Sleep in a ger or yurt
Also known as ‘Ger’, the yurt is a tent used by the nomadic indigenous people. The advantage of this housing is that it offers good shelter and at the same time is easy to disassemble and move. Something that is useful if you live a nomadic life and regularly have to move your livestock to land where it can graze a lot. It is possible to spend the night in a yurt and experience what it is like to live this way. Travel agencies and local authorities offer tourists to experience this experience for themselves. Check simplyyellowpages for mass media and culture of Mongolia.
#2. gobi desert
Mongolia is known for its rough and vast landscapes. A good example of this is the Gobi desert. The huge area is 1600 kilometers long from southwest to northeast and another 800 kilometers from north to south. A multi-day trip through this desert area is highly recommended. In addition to the endless landscapes with sand dunes, you will also encounter wild camels and a salt sea. The Gobi is also the habitat of the symbol of the national dictation; the przewalski horse. If you are very lucky you will spot an extremely rare gobi bear, a subspecies of the brown bear.
#3. Ulaanbaatar
The capital of Mongolia is Ulaanbaatar. More than 1 million people live in this city. That is almost half of the total population of Mongolia. The city owes its name to the socialist revolution and means something like ‘Red Hero’. The average annual temperature in Ulaanbaatar is -1.3 degrees Celsius. Yet it can be well above 30 degrees here in the summer in the 1300 meter high Mongolian capital. That already indicates how cold it is here in the winters. Ulaanbaatar is therefore the coldest capital in the world. The Mongols are very fond of opera and theatre, and the opera and drama theater are two of the city’s main attractions. There are also a number of museums.
#4. Altai Tavan Bogd NP
Mongolia is a country with a lot of space and a lot of nature. There are a number of national parks in the country that make your trip to the middle Asian country an unforgettable experience. An example of such a breathtaking national park is Altai Tavan Bogd NP. The park is a combination of green grassy plains and large white mountains with glaciers. A great way to travel through this park is by horse. This way you can see a lot and get to places where the views are of heavenly beauty. The park is 630,000 hectares in size and the highest mountain is Kuiten Uul. Other ways to visit the park are with a Russian jeep and with a shuttle bus that takes you to the highlights.
#5. Erdene Zuu Khiid
Buddhism has left its mark in Mongolia. A good example of this is Erdene Zuu Khiid. The Erdene Zuu monastery is a large complex of 400 by 400 meters. The site is demarcated by a wall more than seven meters high, which also contains 108 stupas. A few temples and the Golden stupa can still be visited on the site. This is the oldest Buddhist monastery in Mongolia and is also listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The monastery had more than 1000 monks in the nineteenth century. In 1939 many of these Mongolian monasteries and temples were demolished by the communist regime. Similarly, most of the 62 original temples have disappeared.
#6. Gurvan Saikhan NP
Intense colors can be found in the landscape of Gurvan Saikhan NP. This area has been a national park since 1993. This makes it the largest in Mongolia with over 27,000 square kilometers of surface. This is the habitat of the well-known Gobi camel and other unique animal species. The rolling countryside seems to be endless and every now and then it makes for spectacular vistas, such as the Gurvan Saikan Mountains with its white mountains in the background. One of the most special animals you can still find here is the Siberian ibex with its impressive horns. If you are very lucky you will also see the beautiful bearded vulture soaring high in the sky.
#7. Gandan Monastery
The Gandantegchinlen Monastery is better known as the Gandante Monastery. This Buddhist monastery was built in Tibetan style and was founded in the year 1835. The monastery, which can be found near Ulaanbaatar, quickly grew into the most important center for Buddhist teaching in the country. Although many monasteries were destroyed in the thirties of the last century, the Gandan Monastery was spared. However, the monastery had to close its doors for a period of 6 years, until it was reopened in 1944. For a long time this was the only Buddhist monastery in Mongolia until the Marxist state came to an end in 1990. There are a number of beautiful buildings on the grounds, such as shrines, the Golden Temple and a stupa.
#8. Hustain Nuruu NP
The Hustain Nuruu NP is centrally located in Mongolia. This national park was established in 1993 and is relatively close to the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. Breathtaking landscapes already provide a wonderful experience. In addition, there are also a number of special animal species that you can spot here. The Przewalski’s horse has been successfully reintroduced here, but the black vulture and the tarbagan also have their habitat here. A park also has a varied flora. Although it may seem a bit bare at first glance, there are many unique mosses and lichens here. Nearly 500 species of vascular plants have also been discovered. The gentian then provides separate contracting colors when it blooms.
#9. Gorkhi-Terelzh NP
This park is perhaps one of the greener national parks in Mongolia. Gorkhi-Terelzh NP is located about 70 kilometers from the Mongolian capital and has been officially a national park since 1993. In total, the park has an area of approximately 3000 square kilometers. It is also one of the places where tourists can spend the night in a Yurt. Partly thanks to the river Tuul, this park is quite green. Some animal species specific to this environment are the Siberian Wapiti, the Siberian musk deer, the brown bear and the Mongolian Gazelle. One of the rare trees that grow here is the Siberian Larch.
#10. Naadam festival
The Naadam festival takes place annually between 11 and 13 July. This is the national festival of Mongolia. Characteristic of this festival are the ‘three male games’ that take place. The three games are archery, horse racing and Mongolian wrestling. Especially the length of these horse races is impressive. Where we are used to races of about two kilometers, the horses here sometimes have to cover distances of up to 30 kilometers as quickly as possible. The origin of the festival was religious, but today it is dedicated to Mongolian independence after the revolution in 1921. It is a unique form of Mongolian folklore to experience.
