Living With The Tsaatan in Winter – Tailor Made Trip

Duration: 15 Days – Adaptable

Maximum Group Size – we prefer 6 as it helps manage our impact but we will increase it for private trips

Accommodation – Homestays – Hosted by families we work in long-term local partnerhsip with, Family operated ger camp
Travel with & experience the friendship of our great Mongolian teams of male driver & female trip assistant as well as the friendship of the families we work in partnership with.

This is a customisable trip. It is adaptable, giving you the freedom to build a unique and personal trip for your chosen date.

Upgrade your accommodation for all – or just part – of your trip, slow down the pace with few extra nights here and there or add a few more active adventures along the way. All images used throughout this document were taken either by EL guests or members of the EL team. This is the Mongolia that you will also experience.

Winter is a quintessential Mongolian season. It is cold, very cold, but the cold is an important part of what makes Mongolia and its landscapes extraordinary at this time of year. For all of our winter trips, we provide traditional felt boots, hand-made goat skin blankets and can provide winter deels as well.

Book With Flexibility & Confidence (see our FAQ section)

Domestic Flights To/From Murun

We prefer not to use internal flights for journeys of an hour or less as planes use most fuel during the take-off and climb to altitude, so on short flights, the carbon emissions to passenger km ratio is higher. However, there is a domestic flight between Ulaanbaatar and Murun and we understand that your time might be limited so you might prefer to fly to reduce the number of travelling days. This will be dependent on your travel dates as domestic flights are seasonal.

Alternatively, take the public bus between Murun and Ulaanbaatar (direct with frequent departures and refreshment and comfort stops en-route). We’ll book the tickets and we’ll cover the cost. Yes, it takes longer to get where you’re going, but the journey itself becomes part of the adventure.

Located in the northernmost reaches of Mongolia, the Darhad Depression unfolds as a vast canvas of open steppe and low forested hills. Encompassing thousands of square kilometers, this terrain is classified as taiga, also recognized as the boreal forest. Within this vast expanse lies Tsagaannuur, a region that not only marks the apex of Mongolia’s northern geography but also cradles the habitat of the world’s southernmost indigenous reindeer population. Amidst these landscapes resides the Dukha or Tsaatan, a community steeped in the traditions of nomadic reindeer herding and shamanist beliefs.

We invite you to embrace a winter journey that transcends the confines of regimented tours. Instead, beyond the road trip to and from the Darkhad Depression which allows you to connect with Mongolia’s diversity of landscapes and ways of life, helping to put the way of life of the Tsaatan into perspective, there is nothing planned or contrived. By leaving the itinerary open to the guidance of horse guides and Tsaatan host families, you have the opportunity to immerse yourself in the daily lives of the Tsaatan. This approach enables you to connect with the culture, customs, and struggles faced by the community from the weather conditions to the complexities of reindeer herding. Flexibility and an open-minded attitude are crucial to fully appreciating this experience, as it allows for a genuine connection with both the environment and the people who call it home.

This type of immersive and respectful travel experience fosters an appreciation for the Tsaatan’s unique way of life and allows you as a visitor to form a personal connection with the culture and landscape. It’s a way to not only witness but also actively participate in a way of life that has been preserved for generations.

For all of our trips we offer a sliding price scale. We appreciate your holiday funds are precious and so the more people that book so the price comes down and everyone benefits.

Group Size – Minimum of two or pay a surcharge | We prefer a maximum group size of 6 as it helps manage our impact but we will increase it for private trips

Final group size of 2 guests USD 3310 pp
Final group size of 3 guests USD 2660 pp
Final group size of 4 guests USD 2335 pp

The above prices include a 15% discount pp as a thank you for choosing to travel with EL outside of the main season. We are keen to extend the season for the benefit of our Mongolian team and the rural families and Mongolian businesses we work with – to make tourism less concentrated around peak season (summer) and to help the income of the people we work with be more evenly distributed. Thank you for being part of our philosophy.

The above prices include a 15% discount pp as a thank you for choosing to travel with EL outside of the main season. We are keen to extend the season for the benefit of our Mongolian team and the rural families and Mongolian businesses we work with – to make tourism less concentrated around peak season (summer) and to help the income of the people we work with be more evenly distributed. Thank you for being part of our philosophy.

Where Does Your Payment Go?

As well as a registered Mongolian business that pays tax in Mongolia we are also a social travel enterprise that invites our guests to be part of a bigger travel philosophy. Our goal is a form of tourism that is fair and equitable for everyone and every experience we offer helps to support our work. This means we don’t offer tick-list or general travel experiences which limits our size and income. (We receive around 100-150 travellers a year.)

Our team of female Mongolian trip assistants is breaking down barriers in tourism and leading the way for other Mongolian women from a diverse range of backgrounds to work in and be supported by tourism. Mongolia’s growing economy has not directly translated into better employment opportunities for women and by choosing to travel with us you’re helping us to create long-term development and employment opportunities for our brilliant trip assistants. We are also in the process of establishing a formal tourism training initiative and support centre for Mongolian women.

We are committed to providing honest and ethical business opportunities for the local people we work with, at fair rates, as well as providing long-term support. High unemployment rates and toxic masculinity are two very real issues faced by older more traditional men in Mongolia. By choosing to travel with us you’re helping us to provide long-term employment for our team of older, more traditional male drivers who have experience and accumulated knowledge but who would otherwise struggle to find employment and provide for their extended families.

Your payment remains in Mongolia and goes back into the communities through which you travel and our trips provide long-term support to a range of Mongolian herding families as well as projects that we work in long-term local community partnerships with. We work side by side with each and our experiences are put together in a way that benefits and support each family or project, rather than disrupting their lives or work. As an example, our long-term support of herding families allows them to survive the challenges of climate change.

We are a signatory of the Glasgow Declaration (a commitment to take action to halve tourism’s emissions by 2030 including our own and to report on progress made each year) as well as a member of Tourism Declares A Climate Emergency – a collective of travel organisations that have declared a climate emergency and are coming together to find solutions and to help build a new, regenerative tourism.

Included in the price

All meals outside of the city of Ulaanbaatar. Mainly prepared and cooked by your local team so they are fresh and it means we offer more flexibility for any dietary requirements. We also provide filtered drinking water (not bottled), tea, and coffee.

In Ulaanbaatar: local lunch and welcome drink on city walking tour

Local team of English-speaking female Mongolian trip assistant and Mongolian male driver

All overland transportation throughout the trip (+ fuel)

Each vehicle has a charger for cameras and phones

Free (informal and relaxed) city walking tour of Ulaanbaatar

Transportation to and from the airport on arrival and departure days

All activities mentioned PLUS any activities offered including

Camel or horseback rides

Entrance fees to monasteries, temples, and museums (when with local team) – excludes camera tickets

Festival tickets if a festival is highlighted in the itinerary

For winter trips, we also provide each traveller with one of our traditional hand made goatskin blankets. These are used by most rural Mongolians and go on top of the sleeping bag. They are fantastic insulation. Also, you get a pair of Mongolian felt boots to wear during your time in Mongolia. These are commonly used by herders and insulate the feet much better than western-style hiking boots and socks can do. They are waterproof. About the cold, predicted winter temperatures could scare at first sight, but it is a very dry cold and with good preparation (as in the right clothing including thermals) minus 25 ° C could be compared with – 5 ° C in Europe. We look after you!

Not included in the price

International airfare to and from Mongolia
Accommodation in Ulaanbaatar
* Our trip pricing excludes the price of accommodation in UB though. Why? Everyone is different is the standard of accommodation they prefer at the start and end of a trip. As there is now such a variety of hotels in UB it is easier to exclude this cost. I provide a list of ideas covering varying standards and budgets and I can also help with booking. There’s everything from a homestay through to Airbnb, US$10 guesthouses and the Shangri-La!

Domestic flight where/if applicable
*If you are travelling by domestic flight, the schedule and cost of the domestic flights have not yet been determined by the Mongolian airlines. Once you have booked this trip, you will be notified directly by us as soon as that info becomes available. Reservations and payment arrangements for any domestic flight will be coordinated by us.

Passport and visa fees
Let us know your nationality at the time of booking and we’ll confirm whether you need to apply for a Mongolian visa. It is a relatively easy process depending on your nationality and we can help with some of the formalities.

Travel insurance (mandatory)

Gratuities
*Each member of the local team receives a responsible but fair salary and none have to rely on receiving gratuities to supplement their income. In addition, we make sure that everyone who works with us or helps us is fairly rewarded for their work and the service they provide. At the end of the tour, if you wish to make a gratuity to the local team then thank you – it is not compulsory but it is appreciated when given. If you would like to provide a tip, a tip for the drivers would be roughly equal to what you would give to the tour guides – anything from $20 (USD) per member of staff (driver & tour guide) is a good minimum guide.

No domestic flights. Emissions per km for domestic flights are high because a large proportion of the flight is spent taking off and landing. As we are serious about tackling the carbon footprint of the trips we offer, we try that a majority of our experiences don’t include domestic flights.

We only offer a very limited number of departures for this experience. Although we all love spending time in nature, we need to strike a balance. By having a limited number of departures each year we’re not creating a tourism circuit.

The maximum group size is six which is refreshingly small for the travel industry and allows us to manage our impact.

The experience has been built with a focus on Mongolian culture and on creating local benefits for local people & communities including families we work in long-term local community partnership with – helping to supplement their income to help prevent urban migration, face the challenges of climate change and allowing them to maintain their fragile herding lifestyle. More about who we work with.

Our team of female Mongolian trip assistants is breaking down barriers in tourism and leading the way for other Mongolian women from a diverse range of backgrounds to work in and be supported by tourism. Mongolia’s growing economy has not directly translated into better employment opportunities for women and by choosing to travel with us you’re helping us to create long-term development and employment opportunities for our brilliant trip assistants.

High unemployment rates and toxic masculinity are two very real issues faced by older more traditional men in Mongolia. By choosing to travel with us you’re helping us to provide long-term employment for our team of older, more traditional male drivers who have experience and accumulated knowledge but who would otherwise struggle to find employment and provide for their extended families.

We are in the process of measuring the carbon footprint of each experience we offer and balancing the footprint through the Mongolian Nomad Carbon Project. We wanted a high-standard project local to Mongolia where the local community had a positive say in the scheme and its impact. It’s the first project of its kind in Mongolia.

A donation is made to the Mongolian projects we support and that you will visit such as the Uuliin Nuur Community Project in Ulaanbaatar.