Semi-Gobi Tour: Experience Nomadic Culture and Traditional Mongolian Food in One Day

One of the best ways to experience and travel around Mongolia, if you are in a tight schedule. In this tour, you will see and experience Mongolian steppes, semi-Gobi, Bactrian camel, local nomadic culture, host family and traditional Mongolian food only in one day with a professional English speaking guide, driver and private vehicle.

Duration: 11 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Elsen Tasarkhai (Sand Dune Mini Gobi) - You will have the opportunity to experience local nomadic culture in an authentic way plus ride a Bactrian camel with an astonishing view over the mountains in the beautiful semi-Gobi. We’ll start the day early in the morning in order to get much out of it. After a short drive, we’ll make a stopover to have some snacks, coffee or tea with a beautiful view. After arrival at semi-Gobi, we’ll visit the local family and get introduced nomadic culture. Then ride a camel (horse) over the sand dunes, which will be instructed by our host family. After riding a camel, traditional Mongolian lunch will be served. Then we’ll explore the surroundings and make hiking over the sand dunes. We’ll be on the road back to Ulaanbaatar after we enjoy the day in semi-Gobi. Plus snacks will be served on the way back to Ulaanbaatar. Transfer to hotels will be provided as well.
What's Included
  • Private transportation
  • Snacks
  • Lunch
  • In-vehicle air conditioning
  • All fees and/or taxes
  • Tea and coffee
  • Camel or horse riding fees for an hour
  • Bottle of water
Location
Elsen Tasarkhai (Sand Dune Mini Gobi)
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
3.9
(41 Ratings)
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Miguel
Sep 14, 2024
An extraordinary experience. - Extraordinary experience. A long, instructive journey h fun. Great landscapes. Our Guide, Ungar, great. Miguel Hernandez
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Frankychunchu_h
Sep 9, 2024
Great experience - Overall good experience. Orta (guide) and the driver were very accomodating and nice and made sure we were comfortable. The semi gobi and camel ride was excellent despite only being 1 hour out of the 11 hour trip. The ride was long but the sceneries were amazing. It is the perfect opportunity to really appreciate nature and relax.
Review provided by Viator
Mohammad
Aug 22, 2024
Nice but long - This is a good tour to see the country side and enjoy a good long ride. The car, the driver and tour guide Mary were all nice. Marys English is great and explained things all the way. The ride was long for the short Camel ride. However Mary recognized that and we visited a monastery as a bonus. That was really nice with a cool hike. I suggest combining that as a practice. The lunch place was really nice and clean along the way. If you plan on this plan on being out 12 hours or so. Thanks Mary
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Darthbob58
Jun 23, 2024
Great one day trip to Gobi! - This was a wonderful day trip out to the Gobi desert. We got to ride on the camels, visit a local herdsman and his family who offered us the traditional fermented milk and the hardened milk snack. It was a wonderful experience and our tour guide and driver were very helpful and kind throughout the entire day often times explaining the history and pointing out different places of interest. They provided breakfast and we had one of the traditional soups for lunch. It was a day well spent with good company. Yes, it is lot of driving, but if you are booking such tour, you should count with it. Highly recommend!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Helen_d
Jun 21, 2024
Gobi trip - The driver and guide Orta were excellent. They happily stopped for me whenever I wanted to take a ohoto
Review provided by Viator
Robert_m
Jun 19, 2024
Wonderful day trip to Gobi - This was a wonderful day trip out to the Gobi desert. We got to ride on the camels, visit a local herdsman and his family who offered us the traditional fermented milk and the hardened milk snack. It was a wonderful experience and our tour guide and driver were very helpful and kind throughout the entire day oftentimes explaining the history and pointing out different places of interest. They provided breakfast and we had one of the traditional soups for lunch. It was a day well spent with good company. Highly recommend!
Review provided by Viator
Gavin_s
Aug 21, 2024
Long drive with great views - I'm going to break this review into two parts. First is the trip as planned. The guide and driver picked me and a couple of others up from our hotels then began the long drive west. When booking this tour you need to realise that the drive is the majority of the experience. It takes about 5 hours to reach the Semi-Gobi from Ulaanbaatar, but it is an amazing drive with spectacular views. Our guide (Bat, I believe) always checked if we were ok, bought us sandwiches for a picnic with a great view, and was happy to let us stop to see things or take pictures. When we arrived at the Semi-Gobi we were put on camels and led around the sand dunes for about 30 minutes, stopping for photos. This part of the trip is very short, but 30 minutes is enough before your bum starts getting sore. We also got to see inside the gers there. After that began the long drive back, where the guide took us for lunch at a nice roadside restaurant. Come prepared for a long drive and know what you're in for so you don't set yourself up for disappointment. As mentioned, I was picked up with tourists from other hotels. This in itself is not a problem, and they were good company for the drive. However, Viator advertised this as a solo, private tour and that was what I was charged for. Prices should reflect the group size. I mentioned this to Viator and so far they have refused to refund the difference. I booked solo at a price of around £180 but ended up in a group of 3. If I had booked as a group of 3 it would be £93.21 per person. TO MAKE IT CLEAR - MY PROBLEM HERE IS WITH VIATOR AND NOT WITH THE TOUR OPERATOR IN MONGOLIA. Now the second part. On the long drive back to Ulaanbaatar our car broke down about 100km from the city, in the middle of nowhere. This is bound to happen from time to time when the cars are used for such a long journey on the harsh roads of Mongolia. It added to the experience and was quite fun. However, we were given little information by our guide and you would expect them to have a contingency plan for such an occurrence. We were towed to about 20km outside the city when a replacement car arrived. We moved to that car and towed the broken one behind us. Traffic in Ulaanbaatar is a nightmare so it was slow going from here. Instead of dropping us off at our hotels or in the city centre, we were first driven into the dangerous ger district at night to drop off the broken car. Then we drove further into this district to drop off the driver's daughter. This led to us being stuck in traffic for a long time, and I didn't get back to my hotel until 11pm (it should've been closer to 6 or 7pm). Viator is also refusing to acknowledge this issue. Perhaps find a different tour operator to book through.
Review provided by Viator
Ea_m
Jul 17, 2024
nice - It is a long trip, but it allows one to see part of the country. The camel ride was good, and the visit of the nomadic family was great.
Review provided by Viator
William_o
Jul 10, 2024
Long van ride for short camel ride. But bucket list fulfilled. - Guide offered to take pictures, but has yet to forward them, so I have none of this event. Long ride to site- traffic jam for an hour. Short photo op camel ride and traditional meal at truck stop. If. I get my pictures- he took plenty I would give this full marks. The team was quite helpful.
Review provided by Viator
Alan_h
Jul 16, 2024
Waste of time - much better things to do from UB. - The guide and driver were fantastic, however this is a terrible trip and a waste of time. The semi gobi is nowhere near the Gobi and the trip is literally just to get to some sand dunes, get on a camel and they take your pictures, then return back. Was on the camel for ten minutes in total. Animals were severely mistreated as well and was glad it was shorter than expected. Guide was engaging though and supplied lots of information on Mongolia.
Review provided by Viator
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