We are aiming to promote cultural exchanges between tourists and locals along with helping breeders diversifying their income. We complete and achieve collective projects on a local community scale. As a result and despite the classic horse and motorised tours, we organise TOURS & STAY WITH LOCALS. The trip is a touring journey : you are going by foot or by horse from families to families.
This is an excellent way to discover both the Mongolian culture, the tradition and the nomadic way of life of breeders and to get an in-depth geographical area knowledge.
You will experiment with the families you will be living their everyday activities : milking the cows or the goats, gathering the cattle, cooking meals, going for water, wood and collecting dung. You also will be given the opportunity to ride horses and to learn typical Mongolian games or songs.
How does it work? You will share the meals with the family and you will sleep in a separate ger near the one of your hosts. Luggage and bags are carried by carts or by pack horses.
For now on, our tours & stay with locals take place in Arkhangaï (Central Mongolia), Khentii (Eastern Mongolia), Khuvsgul (Northern Mongolia) and Bayan-Olgii (Western Mongolia, where the Kazakh minority live).
Stéphane Ronarc’h’s testimony:
I could not have dreamt about a better experience than the one I experimented in Mongolia… It had been 10 years since I had that idea in mind; In March 2009 I finally decided to visit this country which, for me, was synonymous with huge spaces, harsh climate, steppe inhabitants… in a word, nomads who would not cheat with their identity, to cut a long story short, human beings…
I was wrong under no circumstances. I knew few things about Mongolia : some movies, some documentary films, but it is above all The cave of the yellow dog that was telling. I did have to make this journey
By the time I, for the first time, dreamt about Mongolia and I realised that dream, the country became a fancy destination. I think people are attracted to the country because a trip there leaves a trail. We are wandering through amazing landscapes, we are meeting people… Moments that are hard to forget.
It is the hazardous part of a trip I like about. One can totally come back disappointed and bitter or, on the other hand, completely be boosted. I was lucky I met the good persons at the right place so that this experience be a-one-kind-experience….
I thus want to thank Emeline Bettex and the whole team of Ciel Mongol (and of course Chuka at the guest house) : they made my dream come true by living for a week with a nomadic family.
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