Ulaanbaatar - Terelj National Park

This morning, we see a beautiful sunrise from our room (suite) on the 23rd floor of the Best Western Premier Hotel here in Ulaanbaatar.

Breakfast

With so many people queuing for food, and generally milling around by the buffet, I just grab whatever is easily accessible at the end of a counter.

The noodles are very plain, greasy, and tasteless. I also try a small cinnamon roll (dry) and a waffle (also dry) with some blueberry jam (too sweet). All in all, it is a very disappointing experience for what is supposed to be a four-star hotel.

Today we are moving on to pastures new, and by the time we arrive in the lobby, Daari, our guide for this portion of the trip, is already there. As soon as a porter brings our luggage down, she calls Mantakh, our driver who is waiting nearby. It’s not just the restaurant that is busy this morning, the lobby is heaving with mostly Chinese tourists, and Mantakh struggles to park anywhere near the hotel entrance. Eventually, he stops on the opposite side of the road where we load up the car.

Our first stop is a supermarket to get some Diet Cokes for this evening’s pre-dinner Duty-Free drinks.

Chinggis Khaan Statue

This 40-metre-high stainless steel monument is the world’s tallest equestrian statue. It was erected in 2008 to honor the 800th anniversary of the founding of the Mongol Empire. Chinggis may seem an unlikely ‘hero’ to the rest of the world, where he is better known for cruelly invading other countries, and inflicting untold atrocities and devastation, resulting in the death of 40 million people.

To the Mongolians he is the founder of the Mongol Empire, bringing together warring tribes and creating the greatest empire in the history of the world. The 250-ton statue is erected in a place where Chinggis (also known in the West as Genghis) found a golden whip, and Chinggis is facing east, looking towards his birthplace.

While David climbs up to take a closer look at the statue, I send up my drone.

David can be seen near the bottom of the image, waving

Glory Resort

Our first ger camp. While we have stayed in yurts (very similar) in Kyrgyzstan in 2011 and Turkmenistan in 2019, these felt ‘tents’ are in a different category. This is not just a handful of temporary structures erected by the local nomads, this is more like a holiday camp, with the gers positioned in a tastefully planned grid, with a huge building at one end that not only houses the restaurant but also has a number of standard hotel rooms.

Intricate paths lead between the gers

Events ger and the main building behind

Each ger has an attached balcony with a table and chairs for lounging when the weather is suitable.

Us on our balcony

The setting is lovely, with Terelj National Park beyond

While there are rather a lot of gers in the resort, they are thankfully not too close together

Once we step inside the ger, any resemblance to the nomadic tents we previously stayed in goes completely out of the window. This ger is large, bright, and airy, with four single beds situated around the walls, and a small table in the middle with four small stools underneath (that we later use as bedside tables). In this luxury ger, the crown (the central part of the roof) can be opened and shut remotely.

There is air conditioning, a heater, TV, coffee-making equipment, a fridge, wifi, and a telephone; and behind this wall on the left is a fully equipped bathroom, complete with a shower, wash basin, hair drier, and a toilet that doubles up as a bidet through a remote which requires an engineering degree to operate.

The bathroom and aforementioned remote

Oh, and did I mention that it also has underfloor heating? This ger is more luxurious than many hotel rooms we’ve stayed in!

Lunch

We take lunch in the main building at the top of the slope.

Daari and Mantakh

My Buuz - minced lamb and onion dumplings. While very plain, it is quite pleasant

David's Tsuivan - Beef Brisket, Lamb Short Ribs, Carrot, Cabbage, Cucumber, Onion, Peppers

Side Salad

Daari pouring the tea for us all

Terelj National Park

Accessed across a rickety bridge and along a rough dirt track, the park is way more touristy than I expected. All along the road are camps – some unfinished, some very large. There are different types of gers, cabins and ‘normal’ hotels, as well as some ‘wild camping’.

The scenery, however, is quite spectacular, with ragged granite outcrops, scenic valleys, and green hills.

The road looks more like a dried-up riverbed from above (taken with my drone)

Aryapal Meditation Temple

Our itinerary suggests we take a ‘small walk’ to this monastery, but when we see it, we realise that their idea of a ‘small walk’ and our idea of a ‘small walk’ are two totally different things.

As it is not a particularly old and traditional monastery, even David is not tempted to partake in the hike to see it. Instead, I stick my long lens through the wire fence to take a couple of photos.

Once you reach the monastery, there are a further 108 steps to access the inside of it

Artwork on nearby rocks

Turtle Rock

This 24-metre-high rock formation, resembling a turtle, is quite an attraction for tourists and locals alike. A local legend claims that a warrior hid his gold and silver on top of the rock, inside a natural cavity. Since then, the rock has been revered as a guardian of the Great Khan's treasure

Tourists visiting the rock

From the drone

Terelj River

As we didn’t do the walk to the monastery, we now have some spare time this afternoon. Daari suggests we return to an area we passed earlier, where I spotted some interesting patterns in the river, to fly my drone.

There are people picnicking on the riverbank, making the most of the mild weather before the harsh winter sets in.

In the distance we see a sports field where a few people are gathered to watch ‘something’ – we can’t quite make out what. Then we see dozens of horses being driven towards the spectators – an incredible display, which sadly I am too slow to get my long lens out to capture.

You can just about make out the field in the distance

Pre Dinner Drinks

We return to the camp and sit on our little balcony with a drink until the rain starts.

Dinner

Having discovered at lunchtime how big the portions are here, we share a pizza this evening, as well as sharing a bottle of wine.

Jalapeno Beef Pizza - beef, jalapeno, tomato sauce., mozzarella, Parmesan, cheddar, pesto sauce. We even struggle with half of this each

Thank you to Undiscovered Destinations for arranging this Mongolia trip.