Balade à cheval à Turtle Rock et Aryabal

A good day out in the sun! Our guide Enhrgl was great: easy-going, informative and enthusiastic. He took some great photos of the horse ride. A couple of horses were skittish; we were led by ropes past traffic/cows for most of our ride. While we were eventually allowed to ride on our own when surroundings were calmer, I'm not sure if more experienced riders would enjoy being tied by ropes to the horse at the front. The ride was mainly past ger encampments, sadly not the most picturesque of landscapes at times. The hillside meditation centre was lovely but the statue complex unfortunately had the air of a tourist trap. Lunch at Big Sky Lodge was excellent with a home-cooked feel.

Lunch at Big Sky Resort was excellent. Bat was a charming guide to the Buddhist Meditation Center and it was well worth the effort to make the climb. That view was excellent! I have enough riding experience that I would have much preferred to ride without my horse being led. My stirrups were not adjusted for my height. I was refused an adjustment until the kid leading my horse noticed I had removed my feet from the stirrups. (I prefer to ride bareback so that was an option I was comfortable with.) At this point my stirrups were adjusted to my comfort. I raised teenagers so found amusement in his looks of annoyance. It was the difference between asking to head back to the stables and continuing the ride. The kid leading my horse watched TV or a movie on his phone, texted and called his friends. At one point he had a smack talk conversation with someone his age. That kid was herding horses from higher up the mountain to the valley we were in. It gave a sense of adventure to have his herd surround and pass us. I could have done without the hat slapping and shoulder punching between his buddy and the guy leading my horse. Later in the ride the kid leading me almost walked his horse into a pole while on his phone. I don’t know the relationship between Rara and the stable we used. Hopefully there are other options available in the future. The reputation of horses here are independent and skittish, frankly I don’t blame them. Given the young person leading my horse I was skittish too. I will seek an alternative horse riding experience before I leave Mongolia.

This was a great experience! Easy logistics and packed in everything I wanted to do in the Mongolian countryside.

Wonderful experience! Guide was on time for hotel pick up, very nice clean vehicle. He was very informative on the drive to the national park. The ride was in beautiful country, my horse was well trained and was so much fun to ride. Again, the guide was very pleasant to speak with and gave alot of info about the Mongolian horse. Lunch was at a nice restaurant and I was provided with a tasty vegetarian meal. The final stop was at the statue, where we also enjoyed an informative tour of the museum. A great way to spend a day in Ulaanbaatar.

My tour guide's name is Bat. He is the best! He shared a lot of insightful facts about Mongolia's history and culture. He went beyond, gave me plenty of opportunities to take photos and I also got to try the Mongolian milk tea and dumplings. It was yummy! I would give him more than five stars for all the efforts and memorable experiences. Also the horse riding was so nice and fun. The good thing about doing this activity during winter time is that you can enjoy the places all to yourself.

Great guide! I love the landscape of Mongolia, the guide would stop the car and let me takes as much pictures as I want. However ... The horse riding part came a bit short for the first time, basically just 1 round around the village. Then I told the guide about it, he did makes things right, the groom went for the second time through the woods.

English speaking tour guide was super helpful and easy to converse with, horses are very safe, stunning national park, turtle rock and Chinggis Khan statue complex are great stops! Lunch was good! A winner across the board. Just be ready for UB traffic on the way back lol. Nothing the tour can do about that!

We had a really good time with Belgudei. The nature at the park was amazing and really calmed us down after a while.

Overall, this tour was disappointing. To begin, the tour did not go according to the itinerary as advertised. The tour advertised a morning horseback ride through Terelj National Park, but we began the tour at the Chinggis Khan Statue Complex, which was supposed to be visited in the afternoon. It's possible there may have been an issue with the horses in the morning, but the tour guide didn't provide an explanation for the change. Second, contrary to the tour package, no helmets were available or offered for the horseback ride. The owner of the horses didn't speak English and got annoyed/frustrated with us when those of us on the tour didn't understand his instructions. The actual tour guide didn't join because there weren't enough horses. Probably best to have the company's tour guide join, especially if it is known that the horse owner doesn't speak English. Third, the horseback ride got cut short because one of the horses got spooked and the person on that horse fell off, no fault of that person. For about 30-40 minutes we traversed what seemed like the backyard of a community of Gers and never ventured into the forest to observe the natural scenery as advertised by the photos. Fourth, communication was spotty with the tour company. The itinerary said the pickup would be at 0800 in the hotel lobby. But no one showed up in the lobby at 0800. When I contacted the tour company, they said a notice had been sent that the pickup time got pushed to 0900. I didn't receive such a notice. It's possible technological issues played a factor, but I didn't hear about the change. Fifth, the tour guide, while very friendly and kind, was inexperienced. He took a hands-off approach and let us roam the Chinggis Khan Statue complex, when he should have taken us through the exhibits providing background regarding the artifacts. When asked, he did provide information, but those of us on the tour had to inquire first. All that said, it was a neat experience seeing Mongolia and one of its national parks. The tour guide did give us latitude to let us stop at various places we wanted to take photos and was good about fielding our questions. He also made sure we were comfortable and had ample time to take photos. With more experience, I'm sure he can be an even better tour guide.

The scenery on the road and in the park was amazing!!! It is always brilliant to relax in such beautiful nature after working days :) The arrangement was reasonable, the day was full, and many attractions were viewed without becoming tired. The steel Chinggis Khaan Statue was very stunning and the view from the top of the statue was excellent. The horseriding across the hills and bush was chilled and tranquil. The tour guide Belgudei was very professional and friendly, spoke very fluent English, caring and drives very well :D Highly recommended!