kacollier

My husband and I are very well traveled and have visited most of our 1st, 2nd and possibly 3rd tier countries. This year we have limited time for any trip---7-9 days at most. We like to bike, hike, are active travelers but also enjoy different cultures and history. Spiceroads is offering a short biking trip to Mongolia in the Khan Khenty region. Beyond that, we are also considering a few other unvisited countries that would meet the "short" criteria....Brazil, Columbia, Iceland, and Taiwan. Is Mongolia worth a trip or do we need to travel more extensively to enjoy the country and your thoughts on our other destinations. Right now, we hope to travel sometime in August or September. Thank you for your thoughts and please be honest in offering your Mongolia opinions since right now, we would be tent camping throughout the Spiceroads bike trip with a day or two in Ulaanbaatar and possibly a stop in Seoul, Korea.

thursdaysd

I found Mongolia more interesting than I expected, but if you're cycling out in the country it might get boring after a few days.

atravelynn

Is biking your only option?

Your timeframe is excellent to see the wild Mongolian horses, locally called Takhis. After feeding all summer they are more relaxed in Aug/Sept. Also water is less plentiful elsewhere so they can be counted on to make trips to the river. Hustai Nuruu, where the horses live is about 2 hours from Ulaan Baatar.

A good plan for a short time frame is to base yourself in UB and do day trips. Terelj is a beautiful park about an hour from UB. Horseback riding is popular here. Manzhir Monastery is even less than an hour away. Home stays with a family in their ger can be arranged not far from UB. None of this is biking. The ancient capital of Karakhorum might require an overnight and can be done with Hustai Nuruu.

Maybe you already decided on your Aug/Sept trip, but after a visit to Mongolia you might move it up to Tier 1!