Gobi Gurvan Saikhan National Park is in Mongolia.

Sand dune in the Gobi Gurvan Saikhan National Park

The Khongor dunes

Understand

If you stay with local families (not tourist ger camps), prices seem to be pretty much standardized:

• Bed in a shared ger: 5,000 ₮ (tögrög)
• Food: 3,500 ₮
• Camel ride (1 hr): 5,000 ₮
• Guide (1 hr): 5,000 ₮

History

Gobi Gurvan Saikhan (Three Beauties of Gobi) National Park is west of the city of Dalanzadgad. The park was protected in 1965 for the Yolyn-Am of the East Saikhan Mountain. It is comprised of 27 million hectares in area, 2,400-2,600 meters above sea level.

Landscape

The park has rocky and sandy desert areas among them; the most famous is the Khongor dunes. There we can see many rocky formations, dried up basins, saltwater rivers, sources, and oasises.

Flora and fauna

More than 620 species of endemic plants from Central Asia grow there. The park also houses many animals: Mongolian gazelles, goitered gazelles, onagers, Siberian ibex, mouflons, argalis, wild goats, and the very discreet snow leopard. In total, 52 species of mammals are registered in this area, among which eight are protected species.

Get in

The park is easily accessible from Dalanzadgad, the capital of the province.

Fees and permits

Entrance fees to national parks and protected areas are 3000 ₮ or US$3 for one person. It is paid one time when you enter. Museums at the Yol Canyon ticket cost 1000 ₮.

Get around

The only option to get around is by hired jeep.

See

Yol Canyon, Bayanzag (Red Flamming Cliffs), Khongoryn Eels (Singing Sand Dunes), Khermen Tsav, Energy Center

• The Yolyn Am (Vulture Valley): at the northeastern part of Zuun Saikhan Mountain. This area has been main attraction of tourists for many decades. Very wide at the entrance, it narrows gradually into a remarkable gorge. A spring two or three km long winds its way through the defile and in July, freezing into a thick corridor of ice that stretches along a considerable distance.

• The Dungeneegyn Am: is at the southwestern part of Zuunsaikhan and Bayandalai soum or county. The area's length is 12 km. There are cliffs, canyons, caves and rivers. Tourists can see mountain sheep and mountain goats in here.

• The Khongor Sand Dunes: Also known as the "singing dunes", they are up to 800 m high, 20 km wide and about 100 km long, and bordered by lush green vegetation supported by a small river Khongor, which is fed by underground sources from surrounding mountains.

Do

Camel riding, horse back riding, climbing to the dunes, hiking in the Yol canyon.

Buy

Some souvenir shops are in front of the museums, and monastery.

Sleep

• Gobi, Umnugobi Aimag (Dalanzadgad), ☏ +976 91109109. Nomad camp US$10.