Ganztägige private Tour in Terelj

Recently had the fortune to visit Mongolia which is not an easy destination, but totally worth. The vastness and beauty of this country can not be captured by any lenses and needs to be experienced. I have to say that the entire 9 days journey was made comfortable and enjoyable , thanks to Gana, our tour guide who was with us throughout these 9 days. Pleasant personality , good communicator , deep knowledge and above all very friendly and caring. I dearly miss Mongolia, my fellow travelers who became like family and Gana , our caretaker :)

This tour was absolutely phenomenal. Everything was perfect from the moment I booked it to the end. Through Viator, I was contacted by the tour company to confirm everything and I was able to ask more about the cooking class considering as my dietary needs meant I couldn’t eat their meat. They still insisted I attend and that everything would be vegetarian according to my needs. I was also able to request if a female tour guide was available for my own comfort of travelling solo and this was also easily fulfilled. Then on the day itself, I was picked up by Gantigmaa (Janice) and the driver, I believe his name was Jaga or similar. This amazing duo made every moment of the trip worthwhile. I requested not to visit the Aryabal Meditation Temple as I’d already been and Gantigmaa offered three other options. We went for the picnic option and stopped by a wholesalers to pick up some food. Then we headed off to Terelj. All three of us went horseback riding and Gantigmaa directed us to a beautiful valley. It was a calm, slow and scenic route. Genuinely an unforgettable experience. Then right by the horses was the archery experience. Never having shot an arrow before, both Gantigmaa and Jaga taught me how to hold and shoot the arrows. They also cheered me on and gave me a lot of confidence! There was also a gir full of traditional Mongolian clothes and Gantigmaa asked if I wanted to dress up in one. She went through the many options to try and find the perfect one to match my hijab and helped put it on me, taking lots and lots of photos. After that we drove to the gir for the cooking class experience, visiting a lovely family of a mother and her two kids. Everything was kindly prepared to suit my dietary needs. The mother, I unfortunately can’t remember her name, taught me how to make buzz with vegetable filling. Gantigmaa acted as a translator between us and the mother was patient and lovely as she walked me through each step. She also answered any question I had of her nomad life. We headed to Turtle Rock and Gantigmaa took me a little bit up the rock (holding my hand cause it was slippery!) She had some fun facts about the rock and I learned a lot. There were also some camels on site and I asked if it was possible to try them. Gantigmaa encouraged me to ride on one and talked to the camel guy for me. It was a day of brand new experiences! The day ended with the picnic. Gantigmaa knew a beautiful spot by the Tuul river and we sat on camping chairs as we ate the food we bought. I learned a lot about their stories as we watched the beautiful scenes and all three of us skipped rocks, seeing who could bounce them the most (Jaga won!) It was sad for the day to end. The drive back to Ulaanbaatar was long and filled with traffic but that gave us even more time to talk and share. I found a true friend in Gantigmaa. She has so much knowledge and experience. Her life is filled with so much depth and it’s so lovely to talk with her. The entire day was spent with her making sure I was comfortable and her taking MANY photos and videos of me doing the activities. She showed me the true beauty of Mongolian people and this tour was the best part of my trip. From tour guide to friend 🩷