Travel to Mongolia with Boojum Expeditions: Mongolia's Travel Soruce Since 1984 Cultural Travel, Adventure, Horseback riding

Planning a Private Trip

More than half of our business consists of custom planned itineraries with the vast majority going to Mongolia. A private departure allows you to travel when, where and how you want. For those with limited schedules, very specific interests or a family group, a private departure is ideal. Our staff in the US and in Mongolia have the timely information, with all due respect to Lonely Planet and others, needed to insure a practical, well designed itinerary. And you'll be surprised how reasonably priced a private departure can be.

Other US based companies sell you a trip and then pass you off to a completely different company in Mongolia. We operate all our own trips so continuity and quality are maintained. Ask to speak with one of our happy travelers whose interests and needs are similar to yours.

For private departures to China and Tibet, with emphasis on special interest groups or for private depatures on our horseback rides in Argentina and Uruguay, please contact our office for an obligation free consultation.

Click here for examples of Private Departures

Call our Bozeman office toll-free for an obligation free consultation, 800-287-0125.

OUR SERVICES INCLUDE:

Complete and customized private itinerary packages for groups of any size.
Hotel and Ger Camp Reservations
Homestay Arrangements
Jeep and driver rental on a day, week or monthly basis
Specialized interpreters and translators for the needs of business people
Support services in the countryside and Ulaan Baatar for film and video projects
Meal service, cooks, horse and specialized equipment rental

DON'T TRY TO DO TOO MUCH: Our staff will help you with a realistic schedule so that your days are full, but not crammed. In the Mongolian countryside, life has a more sedate pace and understanding the culture, and its link to nature and the seasons, requires getting into that pace yourself. If you insist on an itinerary that is too tightly scheduled, you run the risk of having the entire trip compromised by events (weather, flight delays, bad roads) beyond our control. More importantly, you may have to forego some spontaneous and delightful opportunity that was unforeseen, because you have a plane to catch.

PLANNING FEE: Only AFTER we have clarified your basic itinerary and confirmed your date of arrival, we will then require a $150 USD planning fee. We put our hearts and minds into your trip and the planning fee covers the time and expenses of our staff in the US and in Mongolia who work together on the itinerary. Additionally, at peak travel times (like early July in Mongolia) we have to make financial commitments to reserve hotels and other components of your trip.

YOUR LOCAL GUIDE: Before your arrival in Ulaan Baatar and conditions permitting, we will introduce you to your guide through email. This will give you a chance to get to know the person who is so critical to your trip's success and directly discuss details of the itinerary and your interests.

OUR GUARANTEE: If, during the planning process, we are not able to provide you the level of expertise your itinerary needs, we will be happy to refer you to the local company or individual best suited to meet those needs.

Examples of Private Departures:

Conrad Anker, Jennifer Lowe Family Group: In honor of world reknowned climber Alex Lowe, the first event sponsored by the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation after his death was to build a climbing wall at the University in Ulan Bator in conjunction with the Mongolian Altai Climbing Club. Boojum staff acted as liaison with the local authorities, the climbing club and local press. After the dedication of the wall, Boojum arranged an adventure travel itinerary designed to meet the needs and interests of the adults in the group, while keeping four boys ages 5-12 busy and safe.

Bill Jurgelski, the Camel Man: Bill Jurgelski is a man with a passion... camels. He raises dromedaries at his farm in Virginia and wanted to visit Mongolia in the off season, to meet camel breeders and the camel breeders' association members. Boojum arranged for a camel trek, homestays with camel breeders and helped Bill assess the viability of exporting camels from Mongolia and llamas to Mongolia.

Phil Borges, Photographer: Phil Borges is a renowned photographer (www.philborges.com ) and advocate for disappearing traditional cultures around the world. He wanted to photograph the Tsataan or Reindeer People of northern Mongolia. Boojum arranged to send a copy of his book, Enduring Spirit, to the Tsataan camp months prior to his arrival, with an introductory letter explaining his purpose and requesting permission to live with the Tsataan and document their lives. Phil subsequently spent several weeks with the Tsataan and the results can be seen in his book The Living Link.

Felting Group: A group of Canadian women who are avid practitioners of the art of felt making contacted us for an immersion in the Mongolian techniques of felt making. We arranged with a countryside family to take the ladies in for a homestay and timed events so that they were busy making felt while the visitors were resident.

Buddhist Studies Group: Organized through a Buddhist temple in the Eastern US and led by an English and Mongolians speaking Tibetan monk, this group wanted to not only see all the major monasteries in Mongolia, but be able to meet the monks and participate in services. We provided a local, English-speaking monk as guide.

Western Folklife Center: We have worked with the WFC (sponsors of the Elko, Nevada National Cowboy Poetry Gathering) since 2001 to develop an cowboy to cowboy exchange between Mongolia and the US. We created the fact finding trip in 2001 for staff and board members to meet and select Mongolian cowboys to visit the US, were instrumental in arrangements to bring the Mongolian performers to Elko in 2003 and arranged a "return the favor" visit to Mongolia for US Cowboy performers and friends in 2005.

We specialize in Mongolia travel but we also offer adventure travel to Patagonia, Uruguay, Tibet. Horseback riding was our original interest when we pioneered travel adventures to China and Inner Mongolia and Tibet. We now offer tours and travel packages of all kinds in Mongolia (formerly Outer Mongolia) including camel riding, trekking, photography, fishing, horseback riding, culture, visiting Naadam, the Gobi, Lake Hovsgol (Lake Khovsgol) and the nomadic herders of Mongolia. In Ulan Bator we have our own offices though we are not really a travel agent, but an outfitter of travel and adventure in Mongolia. If want a riding vacation; whether a horseback riding vacation, a camel riding vacation or a jeep riding vacation, we'll be glad to create a travel adventure across Mongolia for you.

In Patagonia and Uruguay remember you can combine two adventures and do both horseback riding trips in just two weeks of travel. A Patagonia horseback riding vacation or a Uruguay horseback riding vacation is just the thing for beginners or experienced equestrian travelers. An equestrian vacation, horseback riding in Patagonia, Argentina or Uruguay or Mongolia or Tibet is a great way to have a guided adventure.
Mongolia travel can also include rafting, trekking or a combination of rafting, trekking, horseback riding and culture. Mongolia travel means visiting the Gobi, Lake Khovsgol, Buddhist monasteries, or even fishing. The fishing in Mongolia and Patagonia is very good. In Mongolia the fishing is for taimen. In Patagonia, the fishing is for trout. Being an outfitter, we don't call our adventure horseback riding or other mongolia tours "tours" per se. We think that Mongolia tour sounds like it lacks adventure. A Mongolia tour can include paleontology, horseback riding, a river trip or rafting, trekking or culture. Whatever you call it, a Mongolia tour or Mongolia travel, we will be sure to make your Mongolia tour feel like a private tour.

Those of you who have endured reading the awful prose just preceding are probably wondering what kind of idiot wrote it. We must confess to both a capacity for better prose and an ulterior motive in writing so badly. Search engines look for correlations between your keywords like Mongolia travel, horseback riding, mongolia tour, Patagonia, Uruguay, Tibet, Gobi.. (see there I go again) and the frequency with which they appear on your page. In this ever changing cyber world, we need to keep up, I guess. Have a good riding vacation or adventure and come for Mongolia travel.