Hiking in Mongolia: An Epic 8-Day Adventure

Rain poured down on the tent, and lightning was striking the rolling hills in the distance, setting the Mongolian steppe aglow.

We wondered if we had made a mistake trying to hike 120 kilometers of “trail” in Mongolia that had never been visited by tourists.

Just as our doubts started creeping in, we heard the trit-trot of horse hooves outside.

We unzipped the tent and there in the rain was a man on a horse. He came bearing gifts.

Without a word, he hopped off his horse and handed me a ridiculously large bag of strong-smelling dried cheese before smiling, hopping back on his horse and galloping off into the horizon.

This was the first of many visits on a hiking adventure that would go down in our books as one of the best experiences in our 12 years of travel.

This story starts in 2012 and while that may seem like a long time ago, the great thing about Mongolia is that it hasn’t changed much in the past…