Emad's South Mongolia Gobi Tour

The Gobi, driven yourself, in a Land Cruiser that the operator provides. From Ulaanbaatar, sold as nine, thirteen or twenty-two day versions, and the longer ones take a considerable detour through the Khangai Mountains before turning south.

The route out of the city crosses the Tuul River valley off-road to a lakeside camp, then the dunes at Elsen Tasarkhai with a night at a nomadic family or a camp, then Karakorum with the Erdene Zuu Monastery, horse riding and a calligraphy session. The Orkhon Valley lava fields and waterfall follow, then the healing springs and mud baths at Tsenkher, then deer stones and high plateau camps through the Khangai with snowfields and canyons.

The Gobi proper is the second half and the reason to go. Khongoryn Els, the singing dunes, are climbed for sunrise and camel-ridden at sunset. Yolyn Am is an ice canyon that holds its ice into summer. Bayanzag, the Flaming Cliffs, is where the first dinosaur eggs known to science were found in the 1920s, and Tsagaan Suvarga is a striated escarpment that turns red at the end of the day.

Explorer.Company supply the Land Cruiser for up to four travellers, camping equipment, airport transfers, the prearranged route with navigation support, and the accommodation and activities along it. No nights count, departure dates or formal inclusions list is published, so settle those at enquiry. For a first Mongolian self-drive, the Gobi is the obvious target, and this route covers it about as thoroughly as anyone could ask.