Altai Mountains Expedition: 12 Days — Eagle Hunters, Glaciers & Kazakhstan Borderlands

Tour Overview

Itinerary Highlights

Day 1: Arrive Ulaanbaatar — Capital Orientation

Arrive UB. City tour: Gandan Monastery, National Museum, Zaisan Memorial for city panorama. Evening: traditional music performance. Overnight in UB.

Day 2: Fly to Bayan-Olgii — The Kazakh Far West

Morning domestic flight to Olgii, the capital of Bayan-Olgii province (3 hours, the farthest western point in Mongolia). Bayan-Olgii is unique among Mongolia’s 21 provinces — its population is 90% ethnic Kazakh, Muslim, and Kazakh-speaking. The Kazakhs migrated to this region in the 19th century, fleeing Russian and Chinese imperial expansion, and have maintained their distinct culture ever since. The landscape is the Mongolia of popular imagination: the Altai Mountains, the highest range in Mongolia, with peaks exceeding 4,000m and glaciers — an alpine landscape more akin to Switzerland or Patagonia than the Gobi steppe.

Arrive in Olgii (1,710m), a town of approximately 30,000. Visit the local museum to learn about Kazakh culture — their distinctive eagle-hunting tradition, their intricate embroidery and carpet weaving, and their nomadic pastoral lifestyle. Walk through the town’s market where Kazakh herders trade and the Green Mosque (Olgii’s central mosque) where the call to prayer echoes five times daily — a sound rarely heard elsewhere in traditionally Buddhist Mongolia. Overnight in a local guesthouse or tourist ger camp.

Day 3-4: Eagle Hunter Families — The Berkutchi Tradition

Drive into the Altai Mountains (2-3 hours) to the summer pastures where Kazakh eagle hunters (berkutchi) live with their families in gers. The tradition of hunting with golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos — Berkut in Kazakh) is at least 2,000 years old, passed from father to son through generations. The eagle hunters capture young female eagles (females are larger and more aggressive hunters) from nests high in the Altai cliffs, train them for 3-4 years, and hunt with them during winter when fox, hare, and wolf pelts are at their thickest. After approximately 7-10 years, the eagle is released back to the wild to breed — the Kazakhs believe the eagle deserves freedom after its years of service.

Spend 2 days with an eagle hunter family: learn how the eagles are trained (the relationship between hunter and eagle is profound — the eagle perches on the hunter’s arm, hooded, and the hunter speaks to it in a low, rhythmic chant), watch an eagle flight demonstration (the hunter releases the eagle from a ridge, calls its name, and the bird — with a 2.2m wingspan — swoops down across the valley to land on the hunter’s gauntleted arm with astonishing grace), and if visiting in October, attend the annual Golden Eagle Festival where over 100 eagle hunters compete in events. Ride horses through the Altai valleys with your Kazakh hosts — Kazakh people are as much a horse culture as the Mongols, and their horsemanship in the mountain terrain is legendary. Share meals in their ger: beshbarmak (“five fingers” — boiled mutton with wide noodles, eaten with your hands), kurt (dried salty cheese balls — an acquired taste but indispensable for nomadic life), and kumys (fermented mare’s milk, the Kazakh version of airag). Overnight in tourist ger camp or with an eagle hunter family.

Day 5-6: Altai Tavan Bogd National Park — The Five Sacred Peaks

Drive deep into Altai Tavan Bogd National Park. Tavan Bogd means “Five Sacred” — the five highest peaks in Mongolia, all exceeding 4,000m: Khuiten (4,374m, Mongolia’s highest point), Nairamdal (4,180m), Malchin (4,050m), Burged (4,068m), and Olgii (4,050m). These peaks, permanently glaciated, mark the tri-border point where Mongolia, Russia, and China meet. The Potanin Glacier — Mongolia’s largest, stretching 14km — descends from Khuiten Peak. The landscape is absolutely spectacular: snow-covered peaks reflected in alpine lakes, glacial rivers carving through green valleys, and the absolute silence of one of the most remote places in Asia. Spend 2 days in the park: hike to the Potanin Glacier viewpoint, visit alpine lakes, explore the petroglyph sites in the park (the Tsagaan Salaa rock art complex contains over 10,000 petroglyphs spanning 12,000 years — from the Neolithic to the Turkic period — making it one of the world’s largest rock art sites), and camp in pristine alpine wilderness. Overnight in expedition tents or tourist ger camp (weather and season dependent).

Day 7-8: Tolbo Lake & Western Steppe

Drive from the Altai Mountains to Tolbo Lake, a large freshwater lake in the western Mongolian steppe (1-2 days including travel time). The lake sits at 2,080m and is a crucial stopover for migratory birds. In 1921, a significant battle of the Mongolian Revolution was fought on its shores — Mongolian and Soviet Red Army forces defeated a White Russian army, a pivotal moment in Mongolia’s independence. Visit the battle monument and enjoy the tranquility of the lake — fishing, bird watching (demoiselle cranes, whooper swans, bar-headed geese), and walks along the shore with nomads’ gers and their livestock dotting the landscape. Overnight in ger camp.

Day 9: Olgii — Kazakh Culture Immersion

Return to Olgii. Visit a Kazakh embroidery and carpet workshop — Kazakh women create stunning wall hangings (tus kiiz) and carpets using traditional patterns. The embroidery, with its distinct curling motifs (kochkor muyuz — ram’s horn patterns), has been passed through generations. Visit the local bazaar — the Olgii market is a crossroads where Kazakh herders, Mongolian traders, and occasionally Chinese merchants from across the border exchange goods. The produce section during summer is surprisingly vibrant with vegetables grown by local Kazakh families using traditional irrigation systems. Afternoon: visit Kazakh families living in ger districts around the town to understand urban Kazakh life — the blending of traditional ger dwellings with satellite dishes, solar panels, and motorcycles, the classic Mongolian juxtaposition of ancient and modern. Overnight in Olgii guesthouse.

Day 10-11: Return to Ulaanbaatar & Terelj National Park

Morning flight from Olgii to Ulaanbaatar. Transfer to Terelj National Park. Visit Turtle Rock, Aryabal Meditation Temple, and enjoy the accessible beauty of Terelj after the remote vastness of western Mongolia — the contrast highlights Mongolia’s incredible landscape diversity, from glacier-capped Altai peaks to granite tors to the Gobi’s singing dunes. Evening: farewell dinner at a traditional Mongolian barbecue restaurant in UB — you’ve traversed from the Kazakh west to the Mongol heartland. Overnight in UB.

Day 12: Departure

Morning: last exploration — Zaisan Memorial, State Department Store for cashmere and souvenirs. Transfer to airport — departing with the cry of the golden eagle, the silence of the Altai, and the hospitality of Kazakh nomads echoing in your memory.

Included

• 11 nights: UB hotel(3), Olgii guesthouse(2), Western Mongolia ger camps & tents(6)
• Full board throughout (except UB dinners)
• English-speaking guide + local Kazakh-speaking assistant in Bayan-Olgii
• Domestic flights: UB-Olgii-UB
• 4×4 vehicles for all overland travel
• Eagle hunter family visit & demonstration
• Altai Tavan Bogd National Park fees & permits
• Horses for riding in Altai (Day 3-4)
• All museum & cultural site entries
• Airport transfers