Nomads and Fibers
of the Steppes

ARRIVAL

You will be welcomed at the airport with a traditional Mongolian blue sky khatta and escorted to Best Western hotel. Making your way through the steppes to the bustling city, we will reach the centrally located Best Western located next to Sukh Baatar Square and the parliament building for a good rest after a long flight.

August 9, Day 1: ORIENTATION, TRADITIONAL CONCERT

Some may choose to sleep in and rest, while others, after breakfast, will explore the National Museum, rich with artifacts that tell the extraordinary story of steppe history. We will focus on extraordinary textiles and especially the Musuem’s felt collection. We will lunch at Rosewood with orientation, with free time afterwards to roam the city (some may choose to visit a felt cooperative) or pack and prepare. In the evening we enjoy a magnificent traditional concert of Music and Dance followed by a special dinner before we leave the capital for the countryside. BEST WESTERN

August 10, Day 2: WILD HORSES, STEPPE ECOLOGY

After breakfast, we will stop briefly at Ganden Monastery to pay our respects at the capital’s largest Buddhist Monument which means “Place of Joy” before we leave the city for the grasslands rich with herders and grazing animal herds. We make our way to Hustai Nur National Park and stop to see the Prezalwaski Horse—once almost extinct, thought to be the only wild horse left alive on the planet, we will learn the story of its astonishing recovery and return to the steppes. We will explore the ethnobotany of the steppes with a renowned Mongolian botanist, learning the connection between soil and fibers. We will also learn the horse’s critical role in the survival of all the 5 fiber jewel animals of Mongolia and learn about how horse hair was and is traditionally used. HUSTAI NUR NATIONAL PARK

August 11, DAY 3 STEPPE DOGS, BACTRIAN CAMELS & ANCIENT CAPITAL

After breakfast we will depart the National Park stop to see a project with barkhor guard dogs before reaching Khogno Khan mountains and the Eden Camp for lunch. After lunch, we may stop at the Elsen Tasarkhai sand dunes, also known as "Little Gobi” to meet some Bactrian camels and camel herders. There will be camel wool demonstrations as we dive deep into learning not only about the evolution of this incredible animal and how it has adapted to survives harsh conditions, but we will get a chance to meet and learn with camel herders about the care and deep relationship they have with their animals. Our journey will continue as we reach Karakoram, once the legendary capital of Mongolian Empire, established by Genghis Khan and his son in the 13th century. This will be our first night in a gher. URGOO CAMP, KARAKORAM

August 12, Day 4: HISTORY, UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE, YAK COOPERATIVE VISIT

Waking up in the steppes, after optional yoga and breakfast, we will investigate recent archeological discoveries at the Karakorum Museum, before exploring Erdene Zhu monastery, with an opportunity to visit with Khambo Lama, the leader of the monastery and learn about textiles and their symbolism in Buddhist monasticism. After lunch our journey will continue onwards to Tsetersleg, the capital of Arkhangai district. We will stop for coffee and treats and meet with Ar Arvidjin Delgerekh Yak Cooperative, an innovative NGO started in 2010, helping yak herders learn to comb, process, spin yak wool to get the most value out of their fibers. Here we will see products made from the cooperative and learn about the processes from yak to refined wool. Afterwards we will reach our final destination, Lapis Sky Camp, established in 2004 by National Geographic anthropologist and photographer Carroll Dunham and Thomas L. Kelly with Mongolian partners Toro and Gerlee. LAPIS SKY CAMP

August 13, Day 5: DEEP IN YAK NOMAD COUNTRY, HORSE RIDING & FELTING

Waking in our yurts in the Bunkhan Valley beside the Tamir River, we will have chances to ride Mongolian horses on the steppe, meet yak herders, and learn and felt together while learning about Mongolian felt making and its role in history. We will learn about the different animals, their ecological impact on the steppes, and the challenges of nomadic herding. In the evening we will be serenaded by local musicians with sounds full of the animals for which they care for and that produce fine wools. LAPIS SKY CAMP

August 14, Day 6: DEEP IN YAK NOMAD COUNTRY, SHAMAN VISIT

For anyone who wants, there is meditation and yoga offered in the morning, some may choose to help or learn how to milk a yak and yak milk can be savored in morning coffee and yoghurt. We might even hear the traditional song sung to encourage a non-lactating yak mother to nurse her baby calf. There is options to ride horses, explore natural plants on a nature walk, learn to make yak rope, fish for grayling in the Tamir River, work on felt projects and identify natural plants.What is the future of this way of life? We will learn from the nomad herders themselves. In the early evening, a local shaman will come for a ceremony before the sun sets in the Bunkhan Valley, as the yak herds are brought in for the evening. LAPIS SKY CAMP

August 15, Day 7: NAADAM- MONGOLIAN FESTIVAL

We wake this morning and after optional yoga, meditation, morning breakfast, we can choose to dress up for the local Naadam- an event that brings young horse riders, beefy wrestlers, and a crowd of watchers in this ancient Mongolian rite of passage: horse racing and wrestling to become a warrior and please the mountain spirits. Men show their herding skills and ride bucking horses. We ride on horse or jeep back to the camp for a last night bonfire under the stars with serenading herders of the steppes. LAPIS SKY CAMP

August 16, Day 8 STEPPE JOURNEY

Rising early, we say goodbye to our home in the Bunkhan Valley, home to ancient Bronze era monoliths and depart for our return to the capital. But first, we stop for morning coffee, some may choose a quick visit of the Arkhangai museum, others a last visit to say goodbye to our friends at the Ar Arvidjin Delgerekh Yak Cooperative who might have a surprise for us. before, like a ship at sea, we make our way across the vast open space steppe grasslands before reaching the big city of Ulaan Baatar. Settling in, everyone will have an option of dinner on their own this evening. BEST WESTERN

August 17, Day 9: EXPLORING CONTEMPORARY FELT ART TRADITIONS

On our final day in Mongolia for many of us, many of us will choose to go and visit the renowned artists Enkhbold Togmidshiirev and his wife Mungentsetseg Lhvaksuren at their workshop, for one final exploration and play with fibers. Enkhbold and Mugi created a 5-fiber jewel quilt that was on display at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and their work hangs in the National Art Museum in Ulaan Baatar. Afternoon is free, with some choosing to visit the Gobi Factory to see and purchase high quality cashmere, camel, others to Bodios to purchase camel and others to purchase yak wool yarn. Others will choose to visit the Mongolian Museum of History where we will be shown ancient felt pieces to truly appreciate the value and heritage of felting and its deep roots on the steppes. We will cap off our stay with a farewell dinner before saying our goodbyes. BEST WESTERN

August 18, Day 10: DEPARTURE

We will have transport and be escorted to the airport for your journey home.