Lots of eagle hunters with their eagles and horses

GOLDEN EAGLE FESTIVAL

4 Nights in gers

Tour grade: Easy & moderate

6 Nights / 7 Days

No camping

2 nights at 3* hotels

TOUR & EVENT OVERVIEW

The Golden Eagle Festival is a lively celebration of the eagle hunting tradition practiced by the nomad Kazakh tribe who reside around the Altai Mountains of Mongolia. This unique, two-day-long festival is held in October annually. It showcases Kazakh and Mongolian traditional games and the eagle contest in which many eagle hunters gathered from nearby villages and mountains compete with each other to see whose bird is in its best shape for the upcoming hunting season.

If you are interested in this festival, you must travel to Ulgii town in Western Mongolia because only Kazakh nomad people do eagle hunting and live in the far western corner of Mongolia.

Around one hundred eagle hunters participate in this festival each year, and some of them even travel to the festival from a two-day horse ride distance.

Additionally, traditional games such as camel race, archery, coin picking while riding a horse, and tug of war add color to the festival mood. You will find plenty of things to photograph during the festival and have the chance to see and shop for many kinds of handicrafts and handmade souvenirs sold by locals.

Additionally, we also not only visit western Mongolia but also have an opportunity to discover Central Mongolia such as the 13th-century capital Kharkhorum, ErdeneZuu monastery, Hustai National Park to see wild horses, and Elsen Tasarkhai semi-desert so on. Enjoy every moment with us!

Tour Highlights & Destinations

Attend the Golden Eagle festival
Horse riding & camel riding for 1 hour each
Eat traditional Mongolian BBQ
Visit a nomadic family
Plenty of chances to take amazing pictures
13th-century capital Kharkhorum
Erdene Zuu monastery
Khogno Khan Nature Reserve
Uvgun Temple
Hustai National Park
Terelj National Park
Aryabal Meditation temple
Chiggis Khan Equestrian Statue Complex
City tour
Chinggis Khan Museum
Mongolian National History museum
Gandan Tegchilen Monastery
Visit Chinggis Khan main square

Day 1. Arrival Day & City Tour (L)

(29 Sep) This morning, we will pick you up from the Airport and transfer you to a hotel. if you want, you can rest for a while, and then we will start a city tour with the National History Museum, Chinggis Square, and Gandan-Tegchilen monastery. Overnight at the hotel***.

Day 2. Golden Eagle Festival, opening ceremoney (B/L/D)

(30 Sep)This morning, we will fly to Ulgii, the capital of western Mongolia, and then we are going to drive to Sayat Tobe (Falconry Hill), where the festival will be held. It is about 15 15-minute drive to Falconry Hill. The festival will not only attract travelers but also locals from Ulgii town. Mixing with the locals, enjoy this unique festival of eagle hunters who look like old warriors from ancient times. The festival starts with a parade of eagle hunters and then continues with the main event, which is the contest between the eagle hunters to test the ability of their specially trained golden eagles.

The contest consists of a couple of rounds that eliminate most contestants who performed poorly. Several traditional games, such as archery, coin pick while galloping, camel race, etc., will also be displayed. You will spend the whole day at Falconry Hill, giving a break for lunch. The dinner will be served at a restaurant in town. Overnight at a hotel.

Day 3. The Golden Eagle Festival, Award ceremony (B/L/D)

(01 Oct) Drive to Falconry Hill for the festival's second day to see the contest winners. If you plan to buy a souvenir, this is where you will find colorfully embroidered Kazakh handcrafts.

The second day is a bit more interesting than the first because today, golden eagles try to catch a fox’s skin dragged by a hunter, and the eagle that catches the skin in the shortest time gets the highest score. Today's traditional game (tug of war over a goat carcass while on horseback) will be displayed. The dinner will be served at a restaurant in town.

lots of camel are lying down in front of Mongolian traditional ger

Day 4. Fly back to the city & Elsen- Tasarkhai semi desert (B/L/D)

(02 Oct) This morning, after having breakfast, we will drive to the local airport to fly to Ulaanbaatar city. Then, we will drive to Khogno Khan Nature Reserve, about 280 km from Ulaanbaatar. Khogno Khan Nature Reserve has an extraordinary sand dune called Elsen Tasarhai. The scenery perfectly combines desert, picturesque mountains, rivers, and green grassland. Once we get there, we will discover the Elsen- Tasarkhai semi-desert and Khogno Khan nature reserve; after that, we will ride a camel for 1 hour.

Then, we will visit the Uvgun monastery, one of this area's main attractions. Then, we will visit a Nomadic family to see and feel how nomadic people live and learn from them about their culture and heritage. The nomadic family will cook a traditional Mongolian BBQ for dinner. Mongolians cook this dish for their very honored guests. You can see how they are cooking. If you want, you can attend. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Then we will drive shortly to our tourist camp overnight.

Day 5. Drive to Kharkhorum, Erdene Zuu, Hustai NP (B/L/D)

(03 Oct) This morning, we will drive 70 km to the 13th-century great Mongolian empire’s ancient capital, Kharkhorum. The city served as the Mongolian capital for 40 years (until Khubilai Khaan moved it to Beijing). Chinese soldiers later destroyed most of the city during the second half of the 14th century. The remnants of the town were used to build the ErdeneZuu Monastery in the 16th century. After that, we will visit the Kharkhorum Museum and the ErdeneZuu monastery.

Our next stop is Hustai National Park. The park lies in the foothills of the northern Khentii mountain range, where you can see wild horses called Takhi, known as Przewalski horses, to the world. Wild horses survive in nature by themselves because they have been reintroduced successfully to their homeland after 40 years of extinction. Currently, the number of Takhi has already reached more than 450. Overnight at the Hustai National Park tourist camp.

Day 5. Drive to Chinggis Khan equestrian statue complex via Terelj NP (B/L/D)

(04 Oct) This morning, after having breakfast at our tourist camp, we will drive to Chinggis Khan Equestrian Statue Complex, about 160km. The complex was built in 2008, on the eight-hundredth anniversary of the Mongolian Empire's foundation, in honor of its founder, Chinggis Khan. It's the tallest statue in the world, representing a man on horseback. The complex also has a museum to explore and some souvenir shops.

Our next stop is Terelj National Park, considered one of the most beautiful places worth visiting because it combines sharp mountains with granite cliffs, forests, and rivers. Once we get there, we will see the Aryabal Buddhist meditation temple. From the top of the temple, the park looks so amazing. Then our last activity is riding a horse for 1 hour through the beautiful valley—an overnight tourist's camp.

Day 6. Drive back to Ulaanbaatar & City Tour (B/L/D)

(05 Oct) After breakfast, we will go back to the city. Once we arrive in the city, we will drive to Gandan-Tegchilen Monastery. The monastery features a 26.5-meter-high statue of Migjid Janraisag, a Buddhist bodhisattva. It came under state protection in 1994.

The monastery was established in 1838 upon the order of the Fifth Jebtsundamba and is the principal center of Buddhist learning in Mongolia. At lunchtime, we will go shopping. Mongolia is very famous for its cashmere if you want, we can visit a cashmere shop and department store, etc. Farewell dinner / Transfer you to your hotel.