Mongolian Winter Magic: 6 Days — Ice Festival, Dog Sledding & Eagle Hunters on Lake Khovsgol

Tour Overview

Itinerary Highlights

Day 1: Arrive Ulaanbaatar — Welcome to the Coldest Capital

Arrive UB in winter. The city under snow has a different character — the coal smoke rising from thousands of ger district stoves creates a haze that mixes with the crisp, bone-dry cold of the Mongolian winter (UB is the coldest national capital on Earth, with January temperatures averaging -25°C). The cold is part of the experience — Mongols have thrived in this climate for millennia, and you’ll be equipped with traditional del coats, fur hats, and felt boots to handle it. Afternoon: National Museum of Mongolia and Gandan Monastery (the winter atmosphere inside the temple, with butter lamps glowing and monks chanting, is especially powerful). Evening: welcome dinner with hot Mongolian milk tea and mutton soup — the winter fuel of the steppe. Overnight in UB.

Day 2: Fly to Khovsgol — The Frozen Blue Pearl

Domestic flight to Murun, then drive 2 hours to Khovsgol Lake. In winter, the “Blue Pearl” transforms into an ice world of extraordinary beauty. The lake freezes to a depth of 1.5m — the ice is so thick that fully-loaded trucks drive across it, and the ice road is a crucial winter transport route for local communities. The frozen surface isn’t a dull white but a mesmerizing crystalline blue-green, cracked into geometric patterns, with bubbles trapped in the ice creating otherworldly formations. The ice groans and booms as it shifts — a constant soundtrack of the frozen lake. Drive across the ice to a ger camp on the western shore. In the winter ger, the stove is stoked with wood, and the felt walls keep the temperature a cozy 20°C+ inside while it’s -30°C outside. Overnight in winter ger camp.

Day 3: Khovsgol Ice Festival — The Liveliest Winter Party in Mongolia

The Khovsgol Ice Festival (typically the first weekend of March) is Mongolia’s premier winter celebration. Events include: ice sumo wrestling (Mongolian wrestlers in traditional zodog slipping and sliding on the frozen lake — the spectacle is as entertaining as it sounds), horse-drawn sleigh races across the ice (teams of Bactrian camels and Mongolian horses pull traditional sleighs at surprising speeds), ice archery competition, traditional ankle bone shooting (shagain kharvaa — a game using sheep ankle bones flicked at a target, requiring extraordinary dexterity), bonfire rituals with shaman ceremonies (Mongolian shamans, dressed in elaborate costumes with mirrors and bells, perform blessings and purification rituals around bonfires built on the ice), and the “ice ger” competition (local families build gers entirely from blocks of lake ice).

Participate in or spectate the events — the festival has a genuinely local character, with herders from surrounding provinces arriving by horse and sleigh, their cheeks red from the cold, their spirits high despite (or because of) the extreme temperatures. Hot airag and khuushuur (fried meat pies) are served on the ice. The festival celebrates not just winter survival but the joy of Mongolian winter culture. Overnight in winter ger camp.

Day 4: Dog Sledding & Reindeer Herders — Two Arctic Traditions

Morning: dog sledding across the frozen lake. A team of Siberian huskies, bred for the cold, pulls your sled across the ice — the silence as you glide across the frozen surface, with only the sound of the dogs’ breathing and the runners on the ice, is meditative. You can drive the sled yourself under instruction or ride as a passenger — either way, the experience of dog sledding on one of the world’s largest and oldest lakes is something very few travelers have done.

Afternoon: visit a Tsaatan (Dukha) reindeer herder family in their winter camp. The Tsaatan live year-round in the taiga, and winter is the most traditional season — the reindeer paw through the snow to find lichen, and the Tsaatan follow them on their seasonal migrations. In the warmth of their canvas tepee (ortz — a conical tent similar to a Native American tipi, used instead of a ger in winter because it’s easier to heat), share reindeer milk tea and listen to stories of life in the taiga during the 9-month winter. The Tsaatan’s connection to their reindeer — they call them their “children” — is profound, and their traditional ecological knowledge, tracking reindeer migrations, reading weather signs, using medicinal plants, represents a unique human adaptation to one of the planet’s harshest environments. Overnight in winter ger camp.

Day 5: Return to Ulaanbaatar — Terelj Winter

Drive to Murun, then fly back to Ulaanbaatar. Afternoon: transfer to Terelj National Park (1.5 hours). Terelj in winter is a snow-covered wonderland — the granite rock formations dusted with snow, the river frozen solid. Visit a nomadic family’s ger in the park, then experience horse riding in the snow (if conditions permit) or a horse-drawn sleigh ride through the pine forests. The winter landscape, with horses galloping through the snow kicking up powder, is a photographer’s dream. Return to UB by evening. Farewell dinner: khorkhog (Mongolian stone barbecue) — the hot stones passed from hand to hand have a new significance after your days in the Khovsgol winter. Overnight in UB.

Day 6: Ulaanbaatar Morning — Departure

Morning: Zaisan Memorial for the snow-covered vista of UB, then visit the Cashmere Factory store for winter-weight cashmere (Mongolia’s cashmere is among the world’s finest — goats grow an especially thick undercoat to survive the -40°C winter). Transfer to airport — leaving with ice-crystal memories of the frozen Blue Pearl and the warmth of Mongolian winter hospitality.

Included

• 5 nights: UB hotel(2) + winter ger camps at Khovsgol(3)
• Full board throughout
• English-speaking guide
• Domestic flights: UB-Murun-UB
• 4×4 vehicle for all transfers
• Khovsgol Ice Festival entry & activities
• Dog sledding experience (1 hour)
• Tsaatan reindeer herder family visit
• Traditional del coat, fur hat, felt boots (rental)
• Airport transfers