Three Camel Lodge
A Gobi ecolodge of gers with wood-burning stoves, a restaurant, a spa and stables.
- Neighbourhood
- Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, South Gobi
- Status
- Open
Why we recommend it
The Gobi is the reason to come, and the lodge is the most comfortable base from which to see it. The Flaming Cliffs, where dinosaur fossils are still excavated, Yol Valley, the dunes of Moltsog Els and a site of ancient petroglyphs are all within reach, and the camp’s own programme fills the hours between drives: a walk at sunrise, riding, archery, calligraphy, a lesson in putting up a ger, a lecture on the desert and, at night, stargazing.
It is also a camp with a purpose beyond hospitality. The lodge supports a partnership with a local school, an artists’ residency and the Bankhar Dog Project, and students from a local arts school perform for guests. It suits travellers who accept that the place is hard to reach and want that distance to be the point. It fits naturally into a longer itinerary of the kind described in our piece on crossing the Gobi on a private expedition.
Rooms & Suites
The gers follow the nomadic form: a latticed wooden frame covered in layers of felt and canvas, with a door facing south towards the desert and the mountains. Inside are a king-size bed in a hand-painted wooden frame, a private bathroom with hot water, and a wood-burning stove that staff keep fed. Mongolian-style robes, felt slippers and locally made toiletries, among them a camel-milk lotion, complete the furnishing.
Dining
Bulagtai Restaurant, a circular room in the main lodge, serves Mongolian and Western dishes: a buffet with eggs cooked to order in the morning, table service at other meals. Dairy comes from nomadic families nearby and meat from free-range herds, and the lodge’s own greenhouse supplies part of the produce, no small thing in a desert. The Thirsty Camel Bar sits in a naturally cooled room beneath the restaurant, with beer, wine and cocktails, and private dinners can be arranged. In the evenings staff musicians play traditional music, the horse-head fiddle included.
Design
The buildings are modelled on Mongolian Buddhist temple architecture and were raised by local people in Siberian timber and local stone using traditional techniques; the tour operator Remote Lands notes that no nails were used. The main lodge has a deep shaded porch that keeps it cool in the heat. The Dino House, a pavilion in the form of a traditional temple, serves as a quiet room for rest and contemplation.
The lodge has a 73.2 kWp solar installation, provides refillable water stations, and sorts and composts its waste. It is a member of Beyond Green, a portfolio of hotels selected for sustainable practice.
Wellness & Spa
A small spa offers massage and other treatments, welcome after a day on desert tracks. There is no pool or gym. The lodge keeps stables for riding, and has a library and a shop selling local crafts and artwork.
Location
The lodge stands in open desert in the South Gobi, within Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park. The nearest airport is at Dalanzadgad; the drive from there takes between one and a half and two hours. Most guests come as part of a wider journey through the country, which is introduced on OKYTO’s Mongolia destination page.
- Website
- Official website