Mongolia Photo Expedition

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Overview
Highlights
- Snap portraits of Mongolian throat singers, camel herders, and traditional nomad families, and learn about their age-old culture.
- Stay in an award-winning ger camp in the Gobi desert, and set off on photo hikes amid nearby gorges and dunes.
- Fill your lens with the vibrant pageantry of Naadam, Mongolia’s most celebrated festival, documenting wrestling, archery, and horse racing competitions.
- Meet with monks on a visit to Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar, and go on a photo shoot in the eccentric Winter Palace of Bogd Khan.
What's this trip about?
Details
Travel Themes
Destinations
Activities
Trip includes
- Accommodations and meals as indicated in the itinerary
- Educational materials
- Pre-departure information
- Entrance fees, excursions, and sightseeing noted as included in the itinerary
- All gratuities except those for train or ship's crew, unless otherwise noted on the itinerary page
- Ground transportation during the expedition
- Transfers to and from group flights where applicable
- Services of National Geographic experts and/or local guides, lecturers, expedition leaders, and any other staff
- Taxes, port charges, baggage handling, and service charges
- Internal airfare is included on some international expeditions as indicated in the itinerary
Itinerary

Accommodation: Tuushin Hotel
Depart on an overnight flight to Ulaanbaatar and check into our centrally located hotel upon arrival on Day 2.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Tuushin Hotel
Spend the morning at a specially arranged photo shoot at the Gandan Monastery, Mongolia's largest functioning Buddhist monastery—one of the few to survive the Stalinist purges during the 193...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
This morning, join a senior U.S Embassy official for an introduction to the current political and economic climate over breakfast. Then drive east to Gün-Galuut, a nature reserve near the Khentii Mountains where the steppe con...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Spend the day exploring the mountains and wetlands of the reserve on a photo hike or an optional horseback ride, and keep an eye out for endangered Argali mountain sheep and a number of endangered crane species. In the afterno...
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Accommodation: Tuushin Hotel
Enjoy a morning at leisure before returning to Ulaanbaatar. Along the way, stop to frame a 131-foot-tall Genghis Khan equestrian statue, and venture into small villages to document daily traditions ...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Soar over the vast steppe on a flight to the mystical Gobi, site of some of the most important paleontological discoveries of the 20th century. Over the next four days, photograph the wildlife and varying landscapes of the des...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Three Camel Lodge
After breakfast, encounter the "Singing Sands," dunes known for the uncanny, deep groan the sand emits when the dunes' surface is disturbed. Stop in at the camp of a camel herding family...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Three Camel Lodge
Awaken early to capture scenes of the desert infused with glowing hues of sunrise. Travel to Yolyn Am, or Eagle Valley, a dramatic chasm that cuts a narrow path through the foothills of ...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Three Camel Lodge
Drive to Tugregiin Shiree, where paleontologists discovered the famous “Fighting Dinosaurs” fossil in the 1970s. Continue to Bayanzag, also known as the Flaming Cliffs. Here, brilliant r...
Meals: Breakfast and Lunch
Accommodation: Tuushin Hotel
Fly to Ulaanbaatar this morning, arriving in time for lunch at a local restaurant. Venture into the Winter Palace of the Bogd Khan, home of Mongolia's last theocrat and eighth Living Buddha. Focus o...
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Tuushin Hotel
With your camera in hand, immerse yourself in the spirit and pageantry of Naadam—Mongolia’s centuries-old annual festival and sporting event. Dressed in traditional garb, participants compet...
Meals: Breakfast
After breakfast, transfer to the airport for your return flight, or continue on the extension.
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Dates & Availability
Check Current Availability, prices, specials with National Geographic Expeditions.
The total tour cost includes the tour price (regular or promotional) and the compulsory local payment. The promotional price is subject to change. Check directly with the operator for the latest price offer. The tour operator requires you to pay only the tour price to purchase your travel. The compulsory local payment will be paid when you join the trip. All prices are based on double, twin or triple share occupancy. Solo passengers will be accommodated in a double, twin or triple room according to availability with a passenger(s) of the same gender. Single supplement only needs to be paid if the passenger does not want to share and requests their own room. Discounts can only be applied at the time of booking and cannot be added at a later date, regardless of any changes made to the original booking.
Prices may vary due to local taxes and trip seasonality. Click "Request Info" to inquire directly with the tour operator for the final trip price.

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Logistics
What's excluded
- Air transportation and related fees (except as indicated in the itinerary)
- Activities noted as optional in the itinerary
- Passport, visa, and permit expenses
- Medical expenses and immunizations
- Baggage, accident, cancellation insurance
- Personal expenses, such as laundry, telephone calls, and alcoholic beverages
- Any other items not specifically noted as included
Accommodation
11 Breakfasts, 10 Lunches and 8 Dinners
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