Cross the Gobi on a private expedition

The Gobi stretches across southern Mongolia and northern China, a desert of extremes in heat and cold and very little rain. It is not a sea of sand: it is gravel plains, mountains, canyons and a few great dune fields.

What the experience is

A private expedition crosses the South Gobi in a 4×4 with a driver, a guide and, usually, a cook. Days involve long hours on unpaved tracks, with stops that are the reason for going. Khongoryn Els, the Singing Sands, a dune field in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park. Bayanzag, the Flaming Cliffs, red sandstone where the American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews found fossilised dinosaur eggs in the 1920s. Yolyn Am, a mountain valley in the same park with an ice field that lasts through most of the year.

Gobi Gurvansaikhan, founded in 1993 and expanded to its present size in 2000, is Mongolia’s largest national park, at nearly 27,000 square kilometres. It takes its name from the Gurvan Saikhan, the “Three Beauties”, mountain ranges, and protects snow leopards, argali sheep, Siberian ibex and wild Bactrian camels. Dalanzadgad is the usual gateway.

Nights are spent in ger camps, round felt tents with a stove and limited power, or in a camp the operator provides. The private format is about control of the route and time: you stay where the landscape is best, not where a group schedule ends.

Good to know

An experienced local driver and guide are essential: tracks are unmarked and the distances are large. Carry plenty of water, and expect mobile coverage only in provincial centres. Some areas near the Chinese border need special permits, which an operator arranges. Check the season: summer is hot, the shoulder months are milder, and winter is severely cold.

Why OKYTO recommends it

Because the Gobi rewards distance and quiet. It is one of the last places where a day’s drive shows you almost nothing but landscape, and where a private expedition is the sensible way to do it.