Tourism

Mongolia has its own unique culture, customs, and way of life that appears in its tourism sector. Though Mongolia has expanse, broad lands with rich history and cultural landscape, the tourism sector is not developing at a high level due to inadequate infrastructure, unprofessional services, lack of communications, insufficient investment, and seasonal effects. As of 2017, the contribution of tourism to the GDP of Mongolia was 3.1% that amounted to about 471,940 tourists a year. There are more than 270 tour companies, 499 hotels, around 375 tourist camps that are operating in this sector with a total of 54,000 working people.

Places that tell history

1. Terkhiin Tsaagan Lake: It is located in Tariat village of Arkhangai province near Khorgo volcano. A freshwater lake, tributary of the Terkhiin River that originates in the Khangai Mountains, formed by the hot melt of the Khorgo volcano. It is 16 kilometers long and 6 kilometers in the widest part and covers an area of 61 square kilometers. It is also 20 meters deep and is elevated 2060 meters above sea level.

2. 4 Hot Springs of Gurvan Lake: Surrounded by pine forests, 4 hot springs are located in the basin of Onon and Balj rivers south of the Deluun Boldog in Dadal Village of Khentii province, which is the birthplace of Chinggis Khan. It is elevated 1300 meters above sea level. If you travel from Ulaanbaatar through Chinggis city, the distance is 600 kilometers, while the distance is 500 kilometers if you go through Umnudelger village of Khentii province. The clay found in the sanatorium is chemically classified as saprophytic clay. It is especially suitable for the treatment of chronic respiratory diseases, remnants of lung surgery, laryngeal asthma, nervous exhaustion and joint diseases. However, it is not suitable for advanced forms of cerebrovascular atherosclerosis and after a heart attack. The spa is open seasonally from April 20 to November 1 and has a capacity of up to 500 people per shift.

3. Amarbaysgalan Monastery: It is located on the front side of Burenkhaan mountain and on the outflow of the Iwen River in Selenge province. In 1725, Emperor of the Manchu Dynasty, King Enkh-Amgalan issued a decree to allocate 100 thousand Lan (old unit of measure to weigh gold and silver bullion equal to 37.2 g) and ordered the building of a monastery dedicated to the first Bogd of Mongolia, Zanabazar as he respected Bogd Zanabazar's deeds, knowledge, talent and wisdom. In 1726, many Mongolian artists and blacksmiths started the construction work for the monastery, which was made with bricks and wood. Construction finished in 1737. The name Amarbayasgalant is a Mongolian name. Legend says that when a group of monks was searching and surveying the land to build the Monastery, they came across two children, a boy and a girl, who were playing by building a house out of stones. It is said that the names of the two children were Amar and Bayasgalant.

4. Khuvsgul Lake: Khusvgul Lake is said to have formed about 7 million years ago. It is located 101 km north of Murun, capital city of Khuvsgul province, crossing the territories of Alag-Erdene, Renchinlkhumbe, Khankh, and Chandmani-Undur villages of Khuvsgul province. It is 34-36 kilometers wide, 136 kilometers long, 262 meters deep and is elevated 1645 meters above sea level covering a total area of 2,760 square kilometers. Its water resource is the second largest in Asia and it accounts for 0.4 percent of the world's freshwater source. 70% of the lake’s depths are deeper than 100 meters. 12 species of fish including Siberian grayling and sharp-snouted lenok are the habitants of the lake. It completely freezes by the second half of November and the ice thickness reaches 1 meter.

5. Gurban Tsenkher Cave: It is a cave located 25 kilometers to the west of Mankhan village of Khovd province and 2100-2400 meters above sea level. It is composed of carbonate rock and white-gray calcareous marble. The height of the inner wall is 15 m, the height from the floor to the ceiling is 20 m, and the ceiling is hollow from the inside to the outside with a spherical roof. The walls of the cave have darkened due to flames of fire proving that the cave was inhabited for a long time. There are also 40,000-year-old petroglyphs on the walls of the cave.

6. Ulaagchni Khar Lake: Located in the Erdenehairkhan sum area of Zavkhan province, "Ulaagchni Khar" lake is a unique beautiful place surrounded by sand dunes in the north and reeds in the south. It is 110 km from the center of the province and 80 km north of Erdenehairkhan Sum. It is surrounded by the majestic mountains of Tovhosh. The depth of the lake "Ulaagchni Khar" is 48m, the length is 30km, and the width is 5-10km. There are three Avgash islands in the middle of the lake, which are more than 2500 meters high, which are nests of migratory birds. About 13 types of migratory birds visit the lake every year.

7. Baga Turgan Waterfall: In Bayan-Olgii province, there are several waterfalls on the west coast of Khoton and Hurgan Lakes, and in the middle of Turgani mountains. The largest among them is the waterfall of the mouth of the Baga Ori. It descends from a steep cliff with a total height of 36m, forming two waterfalls, one big and one small, which falls in a cascade pattern. The Great Waterfall is 23m high and the Small Waterfall is 13m high.

8. Ikh Gazriin Chuluu: There are more than 40 caves in the Ikh Gazariin Chuluu area including Toonot, Aguit, Ekhiin Umai and Rashaant located within granite cliffs found to the south of Ulziit and Sumber mountains. The cave named Aguit is located southwest of the granite cliff and has an oval shaped entrance 2 meters wide and 5 meters high and has a length of 11 meters until the end of the cave. Toonot cave is located at the foot of the Aguit rock. It is 27 meters long and is called Toonot because of the hole found at the end of the cave.

9. Altai Tavan Bogd Mountain: Altai Tavan Bogd mountain is located in the westernmost part of Mongolia and is 1821 kilometers away from the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. The mountain is located on the border of Tsengel and Ulaankhus villages of Bayan-Ulgii province which is 185 kilometers away from the capital city of Bayan-Ulgii province, Ulgii city. There are more than 280 mountains in Mongolia with the word” Bogd” included in the name, the highest being Altai Tavan Bogd /4374m/. There are many summits with snow all year round including Khuiten, Nairamdal, Burged, Malchin and Ulgii.

10. Equestrian Statue of Genghis Khan: The 40-meter-high giant equestrian statue of Genghis Khan, built in Tsonjinboldog, Erdene village, Tuvaimag province, is one of the nine wonders of Mongolia. Here you can see important historical places related to the history of Chinggis Khan, such as Burkhan Khaldun Mountain, Deluun Boldog Hill, and Khuduu Aral. The circular base building of the statue has 36 columns which represent the 36 kings of the Altan Urag /royal blood/ of Chinggis Khan.