Mongolia 2004 Part II Horsetrekking in the Mongolian Steppe

“Do you want to go horse trekking in the Mongolian steppe?” they asked me. “It will be FUN, EASY, and CHEAP.”

These are the three magic words every dirtbag traveler wants to hear, so naturally I was in.

The Mongolian National Festival of Naadam had ended and life in the capital city of Ulaan Baatar was calming down. I had met a number of other backpackers in the previous few days and as restaurants, hostels, buses, and trains began to return to normal service, it seemed like the perfect time to explore more of this fascinating country. We met at a local hostel to talk about options. The super friendly Mongolian dude working the front desk (24 hours a day, it seemed) assured us the horse trekking was the one activity we couldn’t pass up.

“You have a few options,” he told us. “The best place to do it is in the north, at Khovsgol Lake. The water is so pure you can see fish swimming 100 feet down. There are beautiful mountains and picturesque camping locations. And we can set you up with an outfitter who will provide all transportation, food, camping equipment, and friendly ponies. The cost is $60 per person per day for a 10 day trip, so $600 total for each of you.”

$600 per person??? That was an OUTRAGEOUS sum of money to me in those days. $600 was enough money to live for a month in Laos. $600 was about what I paid for a used car in New Zealand. $600 could buy me a train ticket across Russia and back THREE times. There was no way in hell I was going to pay $600 for 10 days on a horse. The other backpackers, also massive cheapskates like myself, agreed.

“Ok, so that’s a no?” The hostel worker asked. “In that case, there is one other option: you can take a private bus to a rural community called Uyanga where there are lots of herders. You can bring all your own supplies and food, and you can probably negotiate with one of those herding families to rent some horses for a week. If you do it this way, you can probably make it happen for about $10 a day, but you have to do everything yourself.”

No problem! We all saw ourselves as super sophisticated travelers, used to finding our way through strange situations in foreign countries. Plus we all had camping experience. This is something we could easily handle. At least, that’s what we told ourselves.