Mongolian Lunar New Year Tour (3 days)
What to expect
Visit with Horse Herdsman
Visit his family, learn about their life, and ride a horse through the steppe.
Explore Mongolia on Horseback
You will experience life as a nomad on horseback
Take Many Pictures
You will make many memories that you will want to remember and share with others.
- Celebrated all over Asia, the Mongolian version of the Lunar New year is filled with wonderful activities for you to try out.
- Play traditional games with the Mongolian people and receive fabulous gifts simply for taking part and paying a visit.
- Learn all about the snuff bottle gifts and arm greetings that are used at this time and why they are important.
- Held during the winter season, you get to see just how the nomadic people live during these cold months.
- Go for a horse riding tour, experience the traditional Mongolian cuisine and simply have loads of fun.
- Stay at a nomad family
- Private transfers
- English speaking guide
- All meals as listed
- All entrance fee
- Horse ride
- Personal expenses
- Optional activities
- Camera fee for museum & monastery
- Travel Insurance www.WorldNomads.com
Overview
Mongolian Lunar New Year is the second most important national holiday of Mongolia. The herders celebrate the new year widely with tradition of greetings with snuff bottle exchanges and arm greetings.
Therefore the highlights for this tour and celebration are playing traditional games, receiving gifts just for visiting and traveling on a horse. The tour is a great chance to experience a Mongolian custom and winter while traveling in comfortable transport and staying at a nomadic family not in the touristic area.
The price per person will depend on the size of the group as shown below.
- filter_vintageAuthentic
- favoriteUnforgettable
- gradeSafe
To book this tour choose a date
Spent the Lunar New Year with a nomadic family along with my translator Enkh. An absolutely incredible experience.
I booked this trip not knowing much about Mongolia, but everyone was so warm and welcoming and I learned so much about the culture. It was extremely cold, however I feel like that just provided to the experience and the story. Being from the city, I was completely out of my element about 99% of the time, but Enkh provided me everything I needed and really provided context for everything we were doing which was awesome. My translator was also pretty close to me in age, so it felt very informal and as if I was just hanging out with a friend, which was nice.
Great trip, I would definitely recommend!
Wow, just wow! This was an amazing tour that taught me so much about the culture but also about how sometimes we forget how to just live. I dont even know where to begin. Mir was our amazing guide and the family we stayed with were so welcoming even during a special holiday for them.
We did the 3 day experience where you basically immerse yourself into the nomadic culture and world. It is interesting to see how there are people that still live off the land like this and pass the lifestyle on to generation after generation. Only thing I would say is ask questions about your tour. If you are doing this one, know you will be completely off the grid with no phones etc. Be prepared to function as if you are primitively camping.
Itinerary
Meet in Ulaanbaatar with our representatives drive out of Ulaanbaatar and meet Nomad family members and hostess will cheer you by Mongolian traditional milk tea and pot roast. After that, you will start work and help them because that day is very busy because of New Year Eve according to the Lunar Calendar. You will enjoy the whole day with the nomad family as their family member. And then visit the neighbor nomad family by horse.
Overnight in the ger of the nomad family (L+D)
This morning Mongolians orientate and men climb the nearest hill or a mountain to see the first sun of the upcoming year to be more wealthy, in good health and full of success. It is a day Mongolians wear their nicest national dress “Deel”. Hostess makes traditional milk tea and offers the best of it first to the earth, then to their shrine, next to the oldest person of the family or host of the family and then serve each member of the family.
And then people greet each other by age category younger people come to elders in traditional ways of arm greeting. The gathered people in the nomad family play traditional game colorful frogs with the ankle bones, snapping ankle bones, racing horses, flicking ankle bones. You will easy to learn many different games and enjoy the Mongolian Culture.
Overnight in the ger of the nomad family. (B+L+D)
Breakfast with nomad family members and say Goodbye to them.
And then drive back to Ulaanbaatar. End the trip. (B)
Good to know
- The best time to make this trip
May to September is the best season, with the peak season in July for the Naadam Festival. July and August are also the wettest months of the year but be assured, our climate is such that you will still have many sunny days at this time. The best time to visit the Gobi is June or September.
- Accommodation:
We believe that comfortable, welcoming accommodation is vital to the enjoyment of your trip. You will be staying in a standard 3-4 star hotel in Ulaanbaatar and a tourist ger camp (traditional dwelling) with currency (220V), shower and other useful services (2 to 4 people per ger) in the countryside. All accommodation offered by Discover Mongolia is personally checked by our staff to ensure high standards.
- Meals:
In Ulaanbaatar, you will be dining at fine European and Asian cuisine restaurants. Mutton, beef, rice, and noodles form the basis of the Mongolian diet, so your meals will be based around this. However, the trail rations may include vegetables, eggs, peanut butter, cheese and sometimes yak! On some days there will be lunchboxes from tourist camps. It is good food and our experience has been that guests are happy with this arrangement. Please let us know in advance if you are a vegetarian. Alcohol is not provided on the trip but tourists are free to bring their own.
- Transport:
Discover Mongolia use the highest level, latest model, air-conditioned private vans or 4WD vehicles for the maximum comfort on your touring days. A day's drive in the countryside will be approx 200-250km.
- Personal things to bring with you:
Warm thin layers of clothing are the best such as bring a waterproof jacket, and a hat and headscarf to protect you from the sun and winds. Don't forget insect repellent, sun cream, lip-gloss, water purifying tablets and first aid kit (medicine for headache, cold, diarrhea, runny nose; bandages; any medicine prescribed for you ). All your camera equipment.
