Dornod
The Menen steppe
Open grassland running to the horizon in every direction, and the range of the gazelle herds that still migrate across it in numbers you have to see to believe.
The eastern steppe
Eastern
Mongolia.
No dunes, no mountains and almost no other vehicles — one of the last great temperate grasslands on earth, and the part of the country Mongolians themselves think of as home ground.
On requestHow trips here are built
Jun–SepWhen the grass is up
2–3 daysDriving from Ulaanbaatar
Private onlyNo fixed group dates
Grass, to the horizon, in every direction.
The eastern steppe is the flattest and emptiest ground in Mongolia and the hardest to photograph, because there is nothing in the frame to give it scale until a herd crosses it. It is also where Mongolian history starts: Chinggis Khaan was born in the north-east, and the country's founding sites are out this way rather than in the Gobi.
There are no ger camps for most of it and no scheduled departures, so an eastern trip is built around what you want to see and how much driving you will accept. It suits people on a second or third visit who already know what the Gobi and the Orkhon look like.
What you'll stop for
Khentii
Chinggis Khaan's birthplace
The north-eastern river country where he was born and raised — forested hills, the Onon river, and monuments put up where the sources say the events happened.
Sukhbaatar
Dariganga and Shiliin Bogd
Extinct volcanoes on the southern edge of the eastern steppe, and the stone figures scattered around them that predate the empire.
Built to order
Tell us what you want from it
There is no fixed itinerary here. Send us the time you have and what interests you, and we will put a route and a price together — this is the region where that is the only sensible way to do it.
When to come
June to September, on your own dates.
The grass is only up in summer and the tracks are only reliable when they are dry. There are no group departures out east, so the dates are whatever suits you.
Where you'll sleep
Ger camps where they existA handful of camps operate in the eastern provinces; we use them where the route allows.
TentsFor the stretches with nothing — full camping kit, a cook and a support vehicle.
With herding familiesHospitality is the norm out east, and a night in a working ger is often the best bed available.
Tell us how long you have.
Tell us your dates and how long you have. We'll shape a route around them, or point you at the group departure that fits.
