Eagle Hunters (Mongolia)

Nine nights from Ulaanbaatar to Ulgii, guided, almost entirely off-road on a KTM 350 EXC, to meet the Kazakh eagle hunters of western Mongolia.

This is the hardest thing the operator runs anywhere. Most days are marked as a hundred per cent off-road, the bike of choice is a competition enduro rather than an adventure tourer, and one stage is described as a mini Dakar day without much exaggeration.

The Mongol Els dunes open it, eighty kilometres of sand across three provinces to the Khugnu Khan range, then the Orkhon waterfall by way of Karakorum, the old Mongol capital, in a world heritage valley. A mountain hot spring follows with a nomad village visit, then White Lake under the Khorgo volcano, Black Lake in Zavkhan over sand, rock and clifftop tracks, and Khyargas Lake, a thousand square kilometres of water ringed by white marble. Ulgii closes the route on the toughest day of the trip, where Kazakh hunters still take game with trained golden eagles from horseback.

The bike hire is included, with a KTM 350 EXC or a Royal Enfield Himalayan; the full inclusions are not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking. June to September is the season. Ten days at this intensity needs real enduro fitness and experience, and anyone whose dirt riding has been occasional should look at the operator’s other Mongolian tour instead. The eagle hunting is the oldest continuous falconry tradition of its kind and not a performance put on for visitors, which is what makes the ride out there worth it.