Things to Do in Mongolia

Meaning 'gravel-covered plain', the Gobi measures over 1,500 kilometers from southeast to northwest and 800 kilometers from north to south. Nomadic peoples have lived in the rain shadow desert – it was formed by the Himalayas blocking the passage of rain clouds – for thousands of years, with Mongols, Uyghurs and Kazakhs inhabiting it in the early 20th century.

Home to the largest lake in Mongolia – the 3,350 km² Uvs Nuur Lake – the Basin is the meeting point of the most northern desert in the world and the globe's most southern tundra. With temperatures swinging from -72 degrees fahrenheit in winter to 117 degrees in summer, it's home to rather more animals than people, including argali and the endangered snow leopard.

360 kilometers to the west of the capital, Ulaanbaatar, lies this UNESCO World Heritage site, home to over two millennia of nomadic pastoral practices along the banks of the Orkhon River.

Accessible by road from the capital, although much of this vast national park is practically inaccessible, highlights include the Yestii Hot Water Springs and the 20-meter-deep glacial Khagiin Khar Lake.

A Tibetan-style monastery in Ulaanbaatar, it was converted to a museum in 1938, while Mongolia was under a Stalinist government. The Main Temple contains a well-preserved 18th century gilt statue of Buddha Shayaryamuni, while its annex houses a heated yurt.