Wild Mongolia
with Tugi
← 2026 Season
Mongolia's national holiday · 820th anniversary
NaadamFestival
The Three Manly Sports — wrestling, horse racing, archery — done right. Not the UB stadium spectacle. A single central province, a village stadium, the families who've hosted me for years.
TourJul 8 – 14Days7Group5 – 7Price$700
Last year's field · the wrestling · the race
Dates
Jul 8 – 14, 2026
Days
6
Group
6 – 8
Region
Zavkhan + central
Festival
Local village
Price
$700
A letter from Tugi
Mongolia’s biggest holiday, without the crowd.
Naadam is the three-day national holiday — wrestling, horse racing, archery — that happens every July. Most travellers see it in Ulaanbaatar: a stadium, a lot of tourists, a great show but a packaged one.
I run this one differently. We drive out to a single central-Mongolian province and catch the local Naadam there — the village version. Smaller stadium (sometimes just a roped-off field), actual neighbours wrestling, horse races you can watch from the fence, women in full holiday deel, the best khuushuur you'll ever eat.
Around it we wrap the central highlights — Zavkhan's lakes and forests, Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur, Khorgo's crater rim, Tsenkher hot springs, and a couple of nights with a nomadic family we know. The route bends with the festival schedule — which is the whole idea.
— Tugi
Itinerary
Seven days with the holiday at the middle.
01
UB → Central Mongolia
📍Ulaanbaatar·Roadside guanz lunch·Family ger camp
🚐🛖🍴
Morning drive west out of UB. Lunch at a roadside guanz. Arrive at our first family ger camp by evening.
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We leave UB about 8am and drive west through the steppe — paved road most of the way. Lunch at a guanz (roadside diner) — the kind with sheep on the floor and a hot meal for $3. Settle into the family ger by sundown.
02
Pre-Naadam · settle in
📍Family camp·Village square·Naadam grounds
🛖🛕🍴
Slow morning at the family camp. Walk into the village for the Naadam opening preparations — costumes, kids racing horses to warm up, the smell of buuz everywhere.
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Naadam is a holiday, and like any holiday the day before is half the fun. The village will be in motion — kids in deels, jockeys on the warm-up track, women cooking enormous trays of buuz. We walk through, meet people, settle in. Quiet ger night.
03
Naadam · opening day
📍Village Naadam grounds·Horse-race track·Wrestling ring
🎉🐎🍴
Horse race in the morning (riders are kids aged 6–12, some galloping 25 km). Wrestling in the afternoon. Archery alongside. Holiday food all day.
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Opening day. We're at the track for the long-distance race — kids on Mongolian horses, no saddles in some cases, a 25 km gallop across the steppe. After lunch, wrestling and archery. Holiday food is its own event: buuz, khuushuur, aaruul, milk vodka if someone presses some on you.
04
Naadam · finals
📍Naadam grounds·Champion's tent·Family camp fire
🎉🍴✨
Second day of the village Naadam. Final wrestling matches, the horse races that crown the champions, costumes and speeches. Night around a fire.
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Finals day. The wrestling brackets are down to the last few, the horse races crown a champion, there are costumes and speeches and a lot of milk tea. Evening is back at the family camp with a fire — by now you're part of the group.
05
Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur + Khorgo
📍Family camp·Khorgo volcano·Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur
🚐🏔️🥾🌊
Drive east to the lava-dammed White Lake. Hike the crater rim of Khorgo volcano (~40 min up). Swim in the lake if you're brave.
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Khorgo is a dormant volcano whose lava once dammed a river to create Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur — a lake nobody expected, sitting in basalt. Crater rim walk is about 40 minutes up, easy grade. Lake is COLD. Swim or don't; either is fine.
06
Tsenkher hot springs
📍Terkhiin·Tsenkher springs·Wooden pool camp
🚐♨️✨
South to the springs. 86 °C water piped into wooden pools under the stars. A proper reset after three hard-and-happy days.
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Tsenkher is the antidote to four busy days. 86°C at the source, piped into wooden tubs at varying temperatures. You soak, you read, you soak again. By dark there's nothing but you, the water, and the stars.
07
Back to UB
📍Tsenkher·Karakorum·Erdene Zuu Monastery·Ulaanbaatar
🚐🛕🏙️
Slow morning at the springs, then the drive back east. Stop at Erdene Zuu Monastery and Karakorum ruins. UB by evening.
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Final stretch. Erdene Zuu is the oldest surviving Buddhist monastery in Mongolia — 16th century, built from the stones of the old Mongol capital. Slow walk through the courtyards, then we point east. UB by evening.
The festival
Three sports, one holiday.
“The kid riders gallop in bareheaded and the whole village runs out to check which horse was first. That's the finish line.”
Holiday food
Khuushuur, airag, and then some.
Naadam is the biggest khuushuur weekend of the year — deep-fried mutton hand-pies eaten straight off the pan by the stadium fence. Everyone has a count. Ten is modest. The record on one of my trips is twenty-three.
Add fermented mare's milk (airag), dried curds (aaruul), milk tea, and the occasional glass of vodka someone's grandfather insists you try. We eat well.
Your first ger visit
- ·Enter right foot first, move clockwise inside.
- ·Never touch the two central columns — they hold the sky up.
- ·Receive food and drink with the right hand.
- ·Don't step on the threshold; don't whistle indoors.
- ·Accept the bowl of milk tea — a sip is enough.
The central leg
Central Mongolia
The country's heart. Orkhon Valley waterfalls, Erdene Zuu and the ruins of Karakorum, the dormant Khorgo volcano, the pale water of Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur, Tsenkher hot springs, and long evenings at a family ger camp with khorkhog on the fire.
Orkhon ValleyKarakorumErdene Zuu MonasteryKhorgo volcanoTerkhiin Tsagaan NuurTsenkher hot springsNomadic family staysKhorkhog cookouts
Practicals
What’s included, what to bring.
✓Included in $700
- ·4×4 vehicle, fuel, driver
- ·English/Mongolian guide (Tugi)
- ·All meals on the road
- ·Nomadic family ger stays (4 nights)
- ·Hot-spring camp (1 night)
- ·Local village Naadam entry / seating
- ·All park and site entrance fees
- ·UB airport pickup + drop-off
◇You bring
- ·Festival-friendly clothes — sun hat, sunglasses
- ·Warm layer for evenings (10–12 °C)
- ·Rain shell (afternoon storms in July)
- ·Swimsuit (hot springs + lake)
- ·Hiking shoes for the Khorgo crater
- ·Small cash bills for khuushuur and airag
Photography note: always ask before photographing wrestlers, riders, or families. Tugi will help with the hello.
Before you apply
Answers to the usual questions.
Why the local Naadam instead of the big UB one?+
The stadium Naadam in UB is a huge show but also heavily commercial — thousands of tourists, assigned seats, everything behind a fence. Village Naadam is what the holiday actually is: your neighbours wrestling, kids racing, grandmothers selling khuushuur from a tent. Real.
Will I see opening ceremony fireworks?+
The village ceremony is smaller — speeches, a horse parade, maybe a military honor march. The UB ceremony is the bigger spectacle. If that matters, pair this with a day in UB around July 11 (the official holiday) for the stadium opening.
How far is the drive?+
UB to the province is ~6 – 7 hours on day 1. The festival site is close to the family camp. Day 4 – 6 are shorter drives, 3 – 5 hours each, all stopping at real places.
What about the heat?+
July in central Mongolia: 15–26 °C, which is pleasant. Evenings drop to 10 °C. Afternoon thunderstorms are common but usually pass in 30 min.
Is this good for photographers?+
Yes — the light is clean, the subjects are striking, the access is personal. Long lens for horse racing, wide for the crowd, fast prime for portraits. Tugi will help you get close without being in the way.
What if Naadam dates shift?+
Naadam falls on July 11–13 nationally. Village Naadam starts a few days earlier or later. We confirm exact dates 60 days out — the Jul 8–13 window catches most cycles.
Come with me
July 8 – 14, 2026 · $700
One village, one holiday, one small group. Bring a friend and save 15% each. Limited seats — Naadam is the year’s busiest week.