SNOW LEOPARD EXPEDITION

DAY 1. ARRIVAL IN ULAANBAATAR – NIGHT AT THE HOTEL IN ULAANBAATAR
Arrival in the capital of Mongolia. Reception by our local team. Rest of the day for free time and preparations in Ulaanbaatar.

3 possible options for accommodation:
* Basic Category, Guest house Chuka
** Standard Category, hotel Edelweiss
*** Comfort Category, Nine hotel

DAY 2. FLIGHT ULAANBAATAR – KHOVD / GRAN RESERVA DE GOBI SECTION B
Night : In the yurta.
Distance : 310 km route well paved 80 km road

DAY 3: GREAT GOBI RESERVE SECTION B
Nigth : In the yurta
Distance and duration: variable

DAY 4. ARRIVAL IN BAYAN TOOROL. BIG GOBI RESERVE SECTION A
Night : Wood house or in Yurta.
Distance : 350 km
Duration :  6 to 7 hours of road

DAY 5. MOUNT EEJ KHAIRKHAN – NIGHT BAYAN TOOROI
Night: Wood house or in Yurta.
Distance : 50 km
Duration : 1 to 1:30hrs of road

DAyS 6-9. GREAT GOBI RESERVE SECTION A
Night: Yurta or reserve stone.
Distance and duration: variable

DAY 10: BAYAN TOOROI – BIGER – ALTAI
Night in the hotel Tulga Altai
Distance : 270 km
Duration: 5-6 hours of road

DAY 11. ALTAI – KHOVD
Night in the hotel Tsambagarav
Distance : 430 km
Duration: 6-7 hours on paved road.

DAY 12. RETURN TO ULAANBAATAR
Domestic flight – Accommodation based on the same category as day 1.

DAY 13. ULAANBAATAR
Guided tour of the city and free time for shopping.
Accommodation based on the same category as day 1.

DAY 14. INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT
At the agreed time, transfer to the international airport to take the flight back home.

PLACES TO VISIT
KHOVD

Khovd was a major shopping center located north of the Silk Road. In 1973, the Manchu administration built the Sanglin Kherem fortress with walls 3 meters high and two meters long that delimited the expansion of the city and it was reduced to an area of ​​4 hectares

The Khovd region has long been a crossroads and meeting point for different cultures and today up to 18 Mongolian ethnic groups live in its province.

Khovd is located in the west of the country, approximately 1580 km from Uaanbaatar and its name coincides with the department capital and the main river that runs through the region. Khovd is located at the foot of the Altai Mountains of Mongolia and has 5,000 inhabitants, of whom 90% belong to the Khazak ethnic group, living with a minority of 10% distributed among Chantuu people (of Uzbek origin), Myangad, Torguud, and Khalkh.

A large part of the province is encompassed within a strictly protected area, the Great Gobi Protected Reserve, and other smaller reserves such as Mankhan, which surrounds Lake Khar-Us some 25 km from the city of Khovd .

Climatologically speaking, Khovd is the coldest desert region in the country, with a long cold winter and a short summer. The precipitations are low.

GREAT GOBI RESERVE

A strictly protected area, it constitutes a natural refuge for various mammals and birds. This nature reserve created in 1975, is one of the largest in the world, with an area of ​​53,117 km2, and the largest protected area in Mongolia and the fourth largest in the world.

The reserve is divided into 2 sections:

*  Section A,  the east part of Gobi – Altai

*  Section B, the west part Gobi – Altai

Declared in 1996 a Biosphere Reserve, it encompasses a large number of flora, plants and animals, many of them endemic species and many others still to be discovered. Species as characteristic as the wild camel or the Gobi bear. Among other threatened species that live in the territory of the reserve, we can mention the wild ass, the snow leopard, the Ibex, the mouflon, the Saiga antelope and the black-tailed gazelle.

Great Reserve of Gobi Section B

Section B corresponds to the eastern part of Gobi. This section has an area of ​​9,000 km2. In this area we find some of the most unique animals in Central Asia, such as the Takhis (Prjevalkl Horse), wild donkeys, black-tailed gazelles, salgas and also different species of hawks, eagles and vultures. One of the points of interest in the area is the Takhi Reintroduction Center. Between 1992 and 2004, 90 horses born in captivity have been reintroduced across the entire surface of Mongolia, with more than 140 individuals currently free in this protected area.

Eej Khairkhan Mountain

The Eej Khairkhan mountain belongs to the Altai mountain range and culminates at 2275 meters of altitude, north of the strictly protected area of ​​Gobi and near the town of Tsogt. Since 1992, 22,475 hectares of this area have been declared a protected nature reserve. The Eej Khairkhan granite formations are considered sacred and revered by the inhabitants of the region, who think that the mountain protects their children. One of the most unique rock formations is that of a stream that features nine consecutive pools with diameters of 2 to 4 meters. In the area there are numerous cave paintings with representations of mountain goats, horses, horsemen with bows in hunting scenes. Also in a place near the mountain we can visit some caves with Buddhist statues highly revered by the inhabitants of the place.