Hi Julia and Thomas,
I was in Mongolia last summer and would strongly reccomend travelling by horse if you get the chance. It is the how Mongolians travel so you will be accepted more easily by them if you do. My first suggestion in terms of where to go is try not to do too much. You will have a much more rewarding trip if you stick to one or two areas. In the countryside the prices of horses varies, just as it does in Europe, with the quality of the horse. It is best to get another Mongolian to help you check the horse over and bargain for it as they will know what it is worth. In general horses will go for somewhere between 100-150USD.
There are certain things that you will need to know how to do such as how to hobble it in the night so as to allow it to move around a bit to graze without going too far. In general if you are adventurous then I would discourage you from going with a tour company as you can find yourself limited. If you don't fancy the idea of buying a horse then it is usually possible to hire one for a day or two from a local. This can be bargained for but bear in mind the cost of jeep travel when doing this (you should pay less than this for a horse).
Lastly in terms of water, except in the Gobi there are plenty of streams around. If you are over there for 5 weeks then it might be an idea to get a small water purifier.
If you have any more specific questions then send me a message
hope thats useful
pete

psykell
Posted: 01 Apr,
10:34pm
	
5. 	
   	  
Okay,

I did a Mongolian horse trip with a friend last summer. (Hey Dom!!) We bought three horses and travelled 1000km without a guide from Tsetserleg (central) to Ulaangom (north west) over a period of two months. It was a blast.

The asking price for our horses started at US$150, but we paid US$100. Many of the Mongolians we met on the trip thought we’d been ripped off. With resale at around US$60 it cost us $40 per horse for 2 months. If you hire a horse it’s about US$5 an hour, so depending on how long you’ll be riding for it’s much cheaper to buy, but you have to factor in the time taken to find someone selling reasonable horses and then stuff around reselling them at the end. Or you can just give them away to some random Mongolian.

Camping alone in Mongolia is fine if you know what you’re doing. Remember your GPS or compass at the least and get some topographical maps over here. Even with these aids it is very easy to get lost. The maps were made 10 yrs ago, the towns have changed their names, some have moved, others are derelict, seasonal water sources only flow at certain times of the year (well, obviously...) and roads that were once dirt tracks are now bigger dirt tracks with gravel on them qualifying as major roads. Confusingly, peaks that are under a certain height (can’t remember if it was 100 or 200m) aren’t marked meaning that you will be surrounded by hills but the maps will tell you are on flat ground. It takes a bit of getting used to.

Whatever you do, even in the summer, take warm clothes with you as well as t-shirts and shorts. We got snowed on twice during the middle of August and rained on every day bar one. Mind you we did ride predominantly in mountain ranges where clouds seem to hang out. Go figure.

If you want to take off on horses on your own make sure you do a trial run with a local guide for a few days so they can show you how to handle the horses, even if you ride at home. Mongolian horses are used to different things and if you try to use western practices on them they will think to themselves, “this person doesn’t know what they are doing” and then fuck off on you. And even when you treat them right they will still try to escape! These are tough horses who are running wild most of their lives. The herders only bring them in to the stables at night, the rest of the time they roam around the countryside. In winter they’re left to their own devices, usually sheltering from the sub-zero temperatures in forests where it’s a bit warmer. They are not tame, they just tolerate our presence. Generally they settle down once you’ve got the saddle on. Dom’s horse developed the habit of trying to kick him with his hind leg every time he tried to get in the saddle. And mine used to bite me on the arse when I tightened the saddle straps. Lots of things seem to piss them off too, making them tetchy and difficult to handle. Be it flies (on hot, windless days), hailstorms (we experienced a hell of a lot!), rain, white rocks, camels (our fellas were terrified of them!) or bridges. They didn’t seem to care too much about the ger dogs despite the buggers latching onto their tails and growling and barking menacingly, or the mosquitoes which sat on them in droves and sucked til they burst.

Where you intend on camping makes a big difference on how to find water. In the mountainous areas there are a million and one streams to get water from, mostly created from defrosting snow and ice up on the peaks. Further down on the steppe these streams peter out a bit and you’ll need to filter most of it because of all the cow, yak, dog, horse, sheep, goat and human waste that runs into it. (Oh, it’s not as bad as it sounds!) In the drier areas, semi-gobi there are wells and springs, but some of them have dried up and you will need a map and a water divining device to find them. Best bet is to camp near a ger as they will always be relatively close to a fresh water supply. Failing that you can drink horse piss. Just kidding. Be careful drinking from the lakes, a hell of a lot of them are actually salt water lakes, not fresh water. And in summer there are unbearably thick swarms of mosquitoes lining the shores and hovering maliciously for many kms around. The bastards also lurk heavily in the forests, along with giant bumble bees, flies, midges and other creepy flying things. Take a bandana along to wrap around your mouth and nose. And perhaps skiing goggles to keep them out of your eyes!!

Wolves are a very real threat too though you might no always be able to see them. We saw one wolf on the trip and came across two horses that had been attacked by wolves. And we met quite a few dudes with guns who were going off to hunt wolves in the forest. A fire left burning at your campsite at night is a good deterrent!

It’s hard to say about expenses. If you spend most of your time camping and eating rice your expenses will be very low, to the point of being non-existent. If you stay at a guesthouse in UB, go out to dinner every night and drink beer your expenses will be very high! ;)

Hope that helped! You will love Mongolia! Feel free to ask more questions.

kell:)