Gobi Glimpse+ Central

Long drive south on paved road. Baga Gazriin Chuluu is a granite outcrop with a small monastery hidden inside — worth the 30-minute detour. We arrive at a ger camp on the steppe edge by sundown.

Into proper Gobi. Yoliin Am is the famous ice canyon — even in June it holds slabs of ice on the river floor. We walk in about 2 km in the afternoon, get to where the cliff shadows turn cold and the vultures circle overhead. Family ger for the night.

Four-hour drive to the Singing Dunes — 100 km of sand, up to 800m tall. Camel ride at golden hour, gentle pace, about two hours. Climb the main dune for sunset. Sleep at the foot of the sand.

Drive east to Bayanzag — where dinosaur eggs were first identified in 1923 by Roy Chapman Andrews' expedition. The rock turns deep red at golden hour. We walk the rim, drop into a small side canyon for the last light. Ger camp for the night.

This is the leg that earns you the second half. Mostly paved, occasionally washboard. We stop at a few overlooks, pick up groceries somewhere along the way. By dusk the landscape has changed completely — grass, herds, the first proper rivers.

Tsenkher is 86°C at the source, piped into wooden tubs at varying temperatures. First proper bath in a week. You soak, you read, you soak again. By dark there's nothing but you, the water, and the stars.

Tsetserleg is the capital of Arkhangai — small green provincial town built into a hillside, the kind of place you'd happily get stuck in. We meet the horse family by mid-morning and spend the day in the saddle: gentle climb into the larch hills behind the town, picnic on a ridge with the valley spread out below, slow ride back as the light goes long. Night at the family camp — fire, khorkhog (lamb cooked on hot stones), milk vodka if you want it, stars if the sky cooperates.

Slow morning, then we point east. Erdene Zuu Monastery in Karakorum is the oldest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia — 16th century, built from the stones of the old Mongol capital. Walk the courtyards, then UB by evening.