Attractions:
Karakorum
Karakorum is one of the country’s major tourist destinations. The site of Chinggis Khaan’s fabled city, administrative center of an enormous empire, Karakorum was founded in 1220 in the Orkhon valley, at the crossroads of the Silk Road. It was the seat of power of the Mongol Empire until Khubilai Khaan transferred it to what has nowadays become Beijing. The city was destroyed and its materials used to build the monumental 400m walls and 108 stupas that surrounded Mongolia’s first Buddhist monastery of Erdene Zuu, built in 1586. Inside the walls by 1792 there were 62 temples and 10.000 lamas, and stone turtles marked the boundaries, two of which can still be found. Nearby are the Turkic monuments and rock inscriptions dating from the 8^th and 9^th centuries.

Gobi:
The Gobi desert, in the south, is a vast zone of desert and desert steppe covering almost 30 percent of the country. The area is often believed to be a lifeless desert, but is actually mostly steppe, inhabited by camel herders, rich in wildlife. Mongolians count 33 different sorts of Gobi, and sandy desert makes up only three per cent. The temperature climbs to plus 40C in summer and as much below freezing in winters. It is home to the bactrian (two-humped) camel, and Gobi people hold a camel festival and camel polo every year. Here, in 1923, a US Natural History museum expedition led by Roy Chapman Andrews found the first nest of dinosaur eggs the world had ever seen.

Khuvsgul:
Known as the Dark Blue Pearl Lake Khuvsgul is Mongolian deepest lake. In the northernmost aimag, its outlet is the largest tributary to Siberia’s Lake Baikal. At 1,645m above sea level, it is frozen from January until April or May, after which a ferry runs between Khatgal and Khankh, the northern and southern towns within the boundaries of the National Park. Here, shamanism survives as a religion among the Darkhads, and the Tsaatan reindeer tribesmen. Lake Khuvsgul is an important migration route for birds from Siberia, haven for birdwatchers.

Gorkhi-Terelj:
Open all year, Terelj is a spectacular valley park only one-hour drive from Ulaanbaatar, with green meadows carpeted with a dazzling variety of edelweiss and other wildflowers, fascinating rock formations against a backdrop of pine-clad mountains and wooded streams.