Off the Map: Mongolia

Arrive into Chinggis Khaan International Airport (ULN) and meet your Program Leaders who will be with you for the duration of the program. Settle in, relaxing after your long flight. Join the group for an orientation discussion about the week ahead, expectations for your adventure, and an introduction to the local culture.

Visit the National Museum to learn about the history of Mongolia, focusing on Chinggis Khaan and his daughters and grandsons who built the world’s largest contiguous empire in history. Explore Chinggis Square and the city’s downtown area. Relax in the evening at a local restaurant rest up for a big week ahead.

Catch a flight to Ulgii, the capital of Mongolia’s northwestern province Bayan-Ulgii, considered by many to be Mongolia’s “wild west.” This is the historical home of Mongolia’s Kazakh ethnic minority and has a landscape as stark as it is beautiful. Meet our service partners and important members of the small village of Sogoog, and get to know your host community. Experience the formal hospitality of Kazakh culture as you settle into your warm ger for the night.

Immerse yourself in the local culture! Ride camels and hold a golden eagle from the world’s last remaining Eagle Hunters. Learn how to sew traditional Kazakh handicrafts and partake in nomadic dances to the tune of the dombor, a traditional Kazakh stringed instrument. Play fun competitive games with our hosts and feel truly welcomed by this generous community and way of living.

Say goodbye to your host village and drive to the Altai Tavan Bogd mountain range – Mongolia’s highest peaks in one of the most remote areas on the planet. On the way, visit the famous petroglyphs – rock drawings from the Bronze Age. Based at the park’s entrance, take day hikes through the area, famed for its stunningly green alpine lakes, a backdrop of snow-capped mountains, and the area’s milky river called the Tsaagan Gol, which aptly translates to “white river”.

Set up camp at the figurative “end of the world” – the actual point on earth farthest from any ocean. On our hikes, expect stunning views as the mountains’ massive grey glacier melts into bright blue lakes which trickle into a mineral-rich river which feeds into fertile green valleys below.

Reconvene in Sogoog to attend a closing ceremony hosted by your village hosts, and reflect on your service projects from the previous week. Say goodbye to the friends you’ll undoubtedly have made here, and enjoy a celebratory final meal with our service partners. Join your group for a post-service debrief, discussing what you experienced and learned through hands-on work in the community.

In the morning, make the two-hour return drive to Ulgii and hop back on the plane to Ulaanbaatar. The hustle and bustle of the city may surprise you after your time in the remote west, so relax, reflect, and enjoy the luxuries that city life affords like electricity, hot showers, and flushing toilets.

Visit Ulaanbaatar’s souvenir shops to shop for your friends and family back home. Mongolia’s most famous export is cashmere, loomed from the wool of the copious amount of goats found in the region. Enjoy a rousing cultural show in the evening that features traditional dances, folk music from Mongolia’s various ethnic groups, and the one-of-a-kind khoomi throat singing. Take part in a ceremonial closing activity.

At the end of each program, students reflect on their experiences and the issues they engaged with, and talk about how to apply this new understanding to their own worlds. During or after their closing discussion, groups participate in Rustic Ties, a unique and powerful activity that allows students to capture the memories and learning moments of their program to process and share with their communities back home.

Say goodbye to Mongolia and your new friends before heading home. Your Program Leaders will take you to the airport for your departure as you say goodbyes and reflect on your adventure.