2020 GeoEx Catalog

Mongolia

L ike most nomadic folk, the Mongols love to gussy up,  get on their horses, and ride over to a big celebration. We’ve created this trip to share one of the most interesting of these events, the Altai Eagle Festival, while also showcasing some of the country’s other highlights. Smaller but just as thrilling as the better-known Golden Eagle Festival, the Altai Eagle Festival celebrates the Kazakh tradition of hunting with trained golden eagles. Though this practice, passed down from their Turkic fore­ bears, is rapidly disappearing in other centers of Kazakh culture, it is alive and well in Mongolia. Each year eagle hunters gather to pit their birds against all comers, testing the raptor’s mettle and the hunter’s skill, as well as the bond between hunter and raptor. We get a front-row seat to the action at this intimate affair, and beforehand, we accompany Kazakh friends on hunts with their eagles. We round out the Mongolia experience with time in Ulaanbaatar, visiting its resurgent Buddhist temples and proud museums (whose Tibetan art and sculptures stack up well against Lhasa’s), and in the Gobi, where we meet nomads and soak up the desert’s ethereal landscapes, based from beautifully arranged ger camps. We end with a day in Khustain Nuruu National Park, known for its wild Przewalski’s horses. New �  Mongolia’s Altai Eagle Festival TOURING · DAY HIKING | 14 DAYS · GROUP

sept. 3–16 from $9875

Day 1  arrive in Ulaanbaatar ✦  2  Ulaanbaatar ✦  3  fly to Gobi Desert, Havtsgait petroglyphs ✦  4 & 5  visit Khongoriin Els, Flaming Cliffs, and nomad family; camel riding and dune climbing ✦  6  Yol Valley ✦  7  fly to Ulaanbaatar ✦  8 & 9  fly to Olgii province, outings with eagle hunters ✦  10 & 11  Altai Eagle Festival ✦  12  fly to Ulaanbaatar ✦  13  Khustain Nuruu National Park ✦  14  depart Ulaanbaatar.

BELOW  A Kazakh eagle hunter with his bird and steed, Bayan Olgii.

TUUL AND BRUNO MORANDI / ALAMY

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