degas - you're going back again already? My husband will be so jealous.

atravelynn, my husband is from Mongolia (Ulaanbaator) and has been living in the US for almost 5 years. I have yet to meet my in-laws! Every time we've planned a trip, something has come up and stopped us from going. (Not a cheap trip from here) We are crossing our fingers to be able to go this summer. And being a vegetarian, I know I'll be bring a lot of snacks in my luggage! :)

Degas and Traveladdict, you both have assignments to complete. Looking forward. Feel free to email me with a heads up if you post here or send me a duplicate.

I am still missing Mongolia, but I am sure Travel Addict's husband is missing it even more. Are you returning Travel Addict?

How about anyone else? No Olympics to crowd the flights or inflate prices.

Hi Lynn

What a surprise to find you over here, too !!!
We are headed to Mongolia this July 2009 !!! This is our 17 days itinerary from/to Ulaanbaatar includes:

Uran Toogo Mountain (Bulgan Province)
Moren
Lake Huvsgul
Jargalant Hot Springs
Khorgo Terkh NP (Khorgo Volcano and Terkh Tsagaan Lake)
Karakorum with Naadam Festival (July 11th)
Ongi Monastry Ruins
Bayanzag
Khongor Sand Dunes
Yoliin Am Gorge
Tsagaan Suvarga white cliffs
Baga Gazariin Chuluu mountain

selena travel looks good and affordable for our budget. We know that those tourist camps are very basic and we do not need and expect any luxury. The entire loop is covered by car, no domestic flights. Can't wait to go and to report afterwards. !!!

You stopped planning a trip for this july !!??....... we might have crossed our paths somewhere...!!

I'm in UB now. We had a week of warm weather and clear skies, but it's snowing this morning.

Fabio, we do have similar travel interests! I've looked at Selena and liked their offerings. The area between Moron and Lake Huvsgul was one of my favorites. You may want to make some stops to just enjoy the scenery and herds. All driving will give you a great feel for the country.

We'll just have to meet up somewhere else, or in Mongolia in the future.

Degas, is snow in May common?

WOW, I'LL go the this summer!!!

Lynn

In the meantime today our waitlist on the non-stop flight Berlin - Ulan Bator has been confirmed !! Avoiding to transit through Beijing we can gain 2 additional days in this way. Somehow we can now extend our trip to their 21 days published loop.
Selena has also an office over here in Italy and the guy is very helpfull and ready to answer all our questions. Moreover they have great family discounts, while other travel agents don't, so this time I should be able not to go into bankruptcy with our party of 4 !

I will post the trip report with some pictures once back !

It might be we will meet somewhere in the future, maybe this time in Pantanal ? or Tibet ?

have a great summer !
fabio

Maybe, or Tanzania!

2 more days is great.

We've convinced ees12 to go now.

Lynn

Lynn

17 days left to go !!! I can't wait !!!

But it is a bit sad that this part of the forum (Mongolia) is not very active.. !!!!

You did a good job here and achieved your target to encurage others to go to Mongolia. I will report the trip once back end of july and I will try to do the same.

Have a nice summer, wherever you go !!

fabio

Thanks in advance Fabio! If I don't respond to your report for a while, it is because I'll be in Africa around that time. But I'll definitely be interested in your experiences.

have a nice trip to mom africa !!! I will enjoy reading your report but especially watching your awesome pics of wildlife !

@ michael31 -- your writeup and recommendation convinced me to book with Blue Wolf Travel in Olgii/Olgy/Ulgii/Ulgyi to photograph the Golden Eagle Festival (Oct 2013). I'm sorry to advised that Blue Wolf has gone downhill since your visit.

Based on my experience with them, they have proved themselves to be completely disorganized, uncoordinated, unprofessional, and unreliable! We tried to meet up with Canat (the manager) to discuss our problems and he actually hid from us. Although we made several appointments with Canat thru his office, he was a no-show every time. His office would make some fake excuse that he was in a meeting in the next village and there were no cell phone coverage there. Once, we requested an early morning meeting (since his house is next door to the office) and we re-confirmed the time with the office. When we arrived, we were told he was still asleep. When I'd advised the office that I was willing to wait until he is available, the office suddenly remembered that he really wasn't asleep in his house, but that he was actually in a meeting in another village and that this village didn't have mobile phone coverage!

Prior to this trip, I've confirmed all of my requirements with Canat in email. Then, at our first meet-n-greet meeting, I'd double-confirmed the details. But, sadly WORDS ARE WINDS with Blue Wolf! Services that were agreed (and paid for in full and in advance) were not rendered. I've finally managed to secure an agreement for a partial refund with Canat. And although we have an agreement, WORDS ARE WINDS because he is now ignoring my emails. Given his track record of avoiding the issue, I doubt I'll get to see a penny of the refund.

Based on my experience, I would advise all travelers to avoid this organization. Not only are they amateur and unprofessional, traveling with them under certain circumstances can actually be dangerous!!!! We meet a fellow traveler at the airport and we'd exchanged our horror stories about Blue Wolf. In her case, the young guide-translator (who could neither guide nor translate) that got bumped from my trip was assigned (recycled) to this traveler who had made arrangements with Blue Wolf to take her to the mountains on horseback. This young girl had NO mountain experience. It's a long story but the outcome was that the traveler had enough common sense and mountain experience to know that snow, dropping wind chill factor and darkness are ingredients for disaster. And thus, she convinced this sweet but useless guide that they needed to turn around and head to shelter. But, sadly, there was no shelter as Blue Wolf double-booked the overnight ger and it was already filled to capacity with other travelers! In the end, this traveler had to rely on the kindness of complete strangers who provided her with overnight accommodations.

In summary and in my opinion, avoid Blue Wolf like they are the plague. You'll have a better time in beautiful and wonderful Mongolia without them!

A truly damning post!

So sorry about your experience with Blue Wolf, Pixie. Unsettling that borders on life threatening. Scary stuff. Glad you still found the country of Mongolia to be beautiful and wonderful.

Hi Atravelynn, I'm just about to pull the trigger on a Mongolia trip and saw your post. I'm going with a friend who goes every year (she's a wildlife artist) with Nomadic Journeys. We leave in mid-May for three weeks. Here's a link to the trip info. I'll report back in June and let you know how it was (or maybe you'll decide to come with us). http://foxstudio.biz/2016/01/22/anno...ace-available/

Thank you for the kind invitation, Kmania. Not able to go at this time, but I wish you a fabulous trip and luck with the Gobi Bear. Will look for your report when you come back. If you decide to repeat this itinerary for your 11th trip, do let me know in advance.

My profile contains a contact.

Hello,

I visited for a month and am still posting stories on my blog. You can read all about my trip here:
http://www.longestbusride.com/where-...esert-central/

I loved it!!!!

Jess