2-Day Gobi Fly-In: Moltsog Els & Yol Gorge
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Fly to the Gobi: Moltsog Els, Bayanzag & Yol Gorge
We pick you up from your accommodation (pickup time confirmed according to your flight) and transfer you to the airport for the one-hour flight to Dalanzadgad. On arrival, your local guide and driver meet you and drive about 80 km (2 hours on dirt roads) to the Moltsog Els dunes. They're small compared to the far-off Khongor dunes, but still great fun. Admire their majestic shapes and the colors that shift throughout the day, and enjoy a proper one-hour camel ride. Bactrian camels walk slowly and gently, and you sit comfortably supported between their two humps. Next, drive about 30 km on dirt roads to Bayanzag, which explorer Roy Chapman Andrews named the 'Flaming Cliffs' in the 1920s; Protoceratops skeletons and the first dinosaur eggs ever discovered were found here. Walk around the site. After lunch, drive about 95 km (2 hours on dirt roads) to Yol Gorge in the Gurvan Saikhan mountains. 'Yol' means bearded vulture, and in this narrow, shaded gorge, winter ice often survives until mid-July. Take an hour's hike and visit the small natural history museum, then drive about 20 km on dirt roads to a tourist ger camp for dinner and the night.
Gurvan Saikhan Airport → Ulaanbaatar
Wake early to see the morning light spread across the desert. After breakfast, drive about 50 km (1 hour on a paved road) to the Gurvan Saikhan airfield and fly back to Ulaanbaatar, a flight of about an hour that gives you a final bird's-eye view of the Gobi's mountains and plains. After you land, our driver picks you up at the airport and takes you to your accommodation. The tour usually ends in the morning, depending on the flight schedule, leaving you the rest of the day free in the city.