Wild Frontiers

Flight Information

There are no direct flights to Ulaanbaatar from London. The most common route is via Moscow with Aeroflot which takes around 11hrs.

Useful Tips

• Make sure you pick up some cashmere for souvenirs - it is quality and supplies are running low

• Learn to drink your tea "salty" like the nomads

• Be prepared for all weathers - the sky is huge and changeable

• Hark back to boy scouts or girl guides and fine tune your fire skills - you will need them for the nights in gers

• Keep a torch close by at nights; it is very dark when there is no electricity

Recommended Reading

Rec Reading
If you want to read up on your destination we recommend a variety of guidebooks such as the Bradt Guide, Odyssey Guides, The Rough Guide and Footprint Guides. All these publications have good general information as well as more specific country information that will help orientate you in the areas you visit.

Good books and maps of Mongolia are available at Stanfords in Covent Garden, London or online at www.stanfords.co.uk

Relevant Reading:
The first to mention is The Horse Boy, by Rupert Isaacson, about a father and his autistic son, seeking help from a Shaman. Tulga, who guides the Wild Frontiers trips, assisted Isaacson on his journey.

For a historical perspective, we recommend The Secret History of the Mongols by an unknown author; it is Mongolia's most famous book, recording the life and deeds of Genghis Khan.

The Secret History of the Mongols: the Origins of Genghis Khan, by Paul Kahn, is regarded as the best study of The Secret History.

Written by Charles Bowde, The Jebtsundampa Khutukhtus of Urga is a renowned Buddhist history of the greatest Mongolian lamas.

Well written and full of beautiful photographs, In Search of Genghis Khan provides an in depth and fascinating look at the nomadic life of the Mongols.

If you are looking for a novel, we suggest The Lost Country: Mongolia Revealed by Jasper Becker and/or The Cave of the Yellow Dog by Byambasuren Davaa & Lisa Reisch.

A contemporary travel book option would be The Long Way Round, by Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman which talks in details of the Mongolia they experienced when riding motorbikes across it in 2004.

When To Go

Although it boasts over 260 sunny days a year and is known as the "Land of the blue sky", Mongolia's climate is extreme. August typically is a great month for travelling with cooler temperatures and occasionally rain, which fills the rivers and brings fresh grass to the steppes. Weather across the globe is ever changing as seasons and climates alter every year, so always worth travelling with an open mind towards unexpected weather patterns.

Packing List

Below is a list of general items you might take with you on a Wild Frontiers trip to Mongolia. With your booking confirmation you will receive a packing list specific to your tour, so please treat this as a general guideline only.

Luggage:
It is best to use a soft bag - rucksack/hold-all/duffel bag - so it can be transported and stored more easily.
On all our trips a small daypack is practical for keeping general items (e.g. camera, books, wallets etc.) at hand when your main pack is out of reach. It is also handy for day trips and excursions.

Clothing:
In general you should bring clothes you feel comfortable with, as a guide we suggest a packing list something like this:
• 4 x Light cotton shirts or T-shirts, short sleeved and long.
• 2 x Lightweight jumpers or sweatshirts
• Good quality fleece or warm jumper
• 2 pairs of cotton trousers. If preferred, women can wear sensible dresses and skirts.
• Waterproof jacket (and trousers if you like)
• Socks, thick ones for walking as well as light weight ones for evenings etc. towel, travel soap and toiletries
• Swim suit or trunks
• Sun hat or cap
• Warm hat and gloves
• Pair of comfortable hiking boots/shoes
• Pair of recreational shoes
• Pair of flip flops " useful for washing/bathrooms

Equipment:
The following is useful extra equipment for your trip:
• Sleeping bag liner/sleep sheep (cotton, fleece or silk)
• Travel towel, travel soap and toiletries
• Torch (LED head-torch keeps your hands free)
• A bandanna or large handkerchief is useful for dusty tracks
• Pair of good quality sunglasses
• Water bottle
• Plug adapter (see ‘Electricity’ section)

Personal First Aid Kit:
While we do carry a large medical kit on all our group tours, we would advise that you take some of the basics with you. This should include:
• Any prescription medication required (please inform the tour leader at your pre-departure meeting about these)
• Antibacterial dry hand wash
• Painkillers: paracetamol & ibuprofen
• Rehydration salts (Gastrolyte)
• Travel motion-sickness tablets if required (e.g. natural ginger tablets)
• Diarrhoea remedies
• Antihistamines
• Cold/flu decongestants
• Mosquito Repellent
• Insect bite cream
• Laxatives
• Plasters/Bandage/Steri-Strips/Blister pads
• Sunscreen (30+ factor)
• Moisturiser/after sun cream/lip balm
• Contact lenses and solution if required
• Tweezers
(A kit with most of this in is available at www.nomadtravel.co.uk)

Optional Extras:
• Ear plugs (if sharing a room / camping)
• Alarm clock
• 3-4 plastic carrier bags are very useful for dirty washing, dirty shoes and rubbish
• Binoculars
• Small packs of tissues
• Money belt or secure pouch for money and passport etc.
• Eye patches if light affects your sleep
• Sewing kit/scissors
• Writing materials
• Spare batteries/camera memory cards
• Swiss Army knife
• Universal bath plug
• Calculator (for currency conversion)

NB: If you wear glasses, it is advisable to bring a spare pair since opticians are rare. If you wear contact lenses you may find that climatic changes and dust can create visual irritation, therefore, it is advisable to bring a pair of glasses. You might be tempted to buy a few souvenirs here and there, so leave a little room for those extra purchases!!

Hand Luggage:
Although it is very rare that luggage goes missing on flights, it has been known to happen and so it’s a good idea to carry a spare top, toothbrush, wash kit, underwear and any other essentials in your hand luggage so that you can at least freshen up while waiting for your bags to catch you up. If you wear your sturdy shoes/boots it will also reduce weight in your luggage and keep them safe.

Practical Information

Time:
Mongolia is 8hrs ahead of GMT.
A useful website to check the time zone differences is www.worldtimezone.com

Food & Alcohol:
An old Mongolian saying goes something like: 'Breakfast, keep for yourself; lunch, share with your friends; dinner, give to your enemies'. The biggest and most important meals for Mongolians are breakfast and lunch, which will usually consist of boiled mutton with lots of fat and flour and maybe some dairy products or rice. Vegetarians can be accommodated with advance notice and the variety of restaurants in Ulaanbaatar continues to expand, and currently includes French, Korean, Mexican, Thai, Russian, Italian and Indian. Meals in the Ger camps and at backcountry campsites are prepared by cooking staff, and are as varied as possible given their remote locations but still offer a great spread of food.

The Mongolians are big tea drinkers and the classic drink is süütei tsai (salty tea). Men who refuse to drink arkhi (vodka) are considered less manly, while herders make their own unique home brew airag, which is fermented horse's milk with an alcoholic content of about 3%. Many Mongolians distil it further to produce shimiin arkhi, which boosts the alcohol content to around 12%.

Electricity:
Those bringing video & digital cameras that require battery chargers should also bring a two-pin, continental style adapter. Keep in mind though that power can be both rare and unreliable.

Money:
In Mongolia the official unit of currency is the Tugrik.
To check out the latest exchange rate for the places that you are visiting you can go to www.oanda.com

A few points to help you plan:
• It is strongly recommended you travel with cash but Sterling, US dollars and Euro’s are all feasible to exchange.
• US dollars dated before 2002 are unacceptable. Newer notes offer the best means of currency within the country for flexibility and ease.
• Only the few large hotels and banks accept credit cards and Travellers Cheques so they are useless outside the capital.
• Payments are mainly made in cash.
• If using ATM machines, be sure to notify your bank before you travel.
• It is useful to bring lots of small denomination notes.

Language & Religion:
Khalkha Mongolian is the official language of Mongolia and is spoken by 90% of the population. Today Mongolian is written using the Cyrillic Alphabet. Statistics state that half of the population follow the Tibetan Buddhism, with 40% having no religion, 6% being Shamanist, Baha’i and Christian with 4% Muslim.

Cultural Sensitivity:
At Wild Frontiers we are very aware of the ethical impact tourism can have on ancient cultures. We realise that taking a group of tourists through such a region can have a negative impact on the lives of those who live there and on all our tours we therefore go to great lengths to minimise the negative and accentuate the positive…after all, there are also many good things that the tourist can bring.

To help this process we ask that our clients do not hand out pens or sweets to children. As one sign in Egypt emphatically put it, ‘Please don't make beggars out of our children!' No matter how well intentioned, in our opinion the dolling out of free gifts fosters a ‘beggar mentality' that is ultimately extremely destructive to a society. In addition we do not condone giving out money to beggars or ‘students'.

However, we also realise that we are exceptionally privileged to be travelling in areas where most of the people have far less than us and that the desire to ‘help' can be very powerful. As a result we ask that you refer to your trip dossier for information on the Wild Frontiers Foundation which supports specific projects in the areas where we travel.

Photography:
Please remember, we are guests in the countries through which we travel and we may sometimes inadvertently cause offence by taking photographs without first asking permission.