Mongolia Naadam Festival - Gobi Desert Tour

Customer Reviews

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  Eugenio

  · July 19th, 2023
  Dreamt for a long time, we finally realized this tour. All went good; you can only supply better food, but all the rest is ok
  Trip date: July 2023
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  Caram

  · July 30th, 2019
  The guide should be pro active esp. During traveling from one place to another. He should be talking about anything, eg. Country, people, culture, etc. And not sleeping. In the car. We traveled the world 2 to 3 months a year with a tour operator and the guide talks a lot about the country, and others. We don't get bored and asked questions as well. The company should implement this system. Some ger camps accommodations is terrible esp. The one in the park, ulaanbaatar. The hotel is excellent and should have stayed there. There's only one good ger camp out of 4.
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  Trip date: July 2019
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  Willi

  · July 28th, 2018
  Your hotel that you housed us in Ulaanbaator was horrible. It had no services, a very poor quality breakfast, air conditioning that did not work, a restaurant that gave me very bad food poisoning. The only highlight was you guide Billy who was very good and did everything he could to make us comfortable. The very poor quality of the Ulaanbaator hotel is particularly disappointing and alarming as you claim in your promotional brochure to have selected these hotels based on your expert judgement !!! In terms of your tour management, there is insufficent time to view the activities you describe as being part of the tour for the Naadam festival. You live in UB and must know that traffic is a disaster at the best of times which makes it difficult to move around from the stadium to the horse racing in the outskirts of UB. You must plan these better. We did not see any wrestling for example which was listed as an activity we would witness. In terms of the Gers in the Gobi, the first Ger we stayed in was poor in quality especially with regard to bathroom and toilet facilities. the second Ger was an improvement but not perfevt. The last Ger was good. The vehicles you use in the Gobi need to be fitted with eskies (small fridges) to allow cold water and snacks to be stored for consumption during the day. It is not appropriate to expect guests to drink bottled water that has gone warm during the day. The Gobi drives are long and this demands good quality and well equipped vehicles capable of serving passengers for an 8 hour day. Inadequately equipped vehicles simply irritate clients. In conclusion your only saving grace was your excellent guide Billy who was very attentive and did a great job keeping the tour participants motivated and interested. What you need to do is examine how such a ridiculously bad hotel (the worst I have stayed in) can be part of your tour. It is simply not good enough and brings into question your judgement and selection process or lack of it. Their lack of service and bad condition has caused me to move out of the hotel and incur additional costs to stay in a hotel that provided an excellent service.
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  Trip date: July 2018
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  Tatyana

  · August 2nd, 2016
  I wanted to thank the entire Amicus team for fantastic tour and excellent travel arrangements. I have enjoyed my time in Mongolia and it was a delight to learn about Mongolian culture and customs. I would highly recommend Amicus for your trip to Mongolia. First of all, working with Jamaa was a pleasure and she was very responsive and helpful with planning my trip. Further, she was very understanding of my personal health circumstances, which fortunately resolved before the start of my trip. Our guide, Ariunaa, and driver were both fantastic and I am thankful for their care and guidance throughout our trip. I would highly recommend Amicus for your travel in Mongolia! What a great team - thank you!
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  Trip date: July 2016
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  Chuck

  · April 4th, 2016
  This trip was more than we could have expected. Started off being met by our guide at the airport and taken to our hotel. The town guide was great for the period we were there. Decent English. The hotel was average at best but you really do not spend much time there. We then did tours of the city and then spent a half day at the Opening Ceremonies for the Festival. The parking lot scene outside was great as we were able to buy local items and taste local food. We then traveled out of the town in nice vehicles to watch the horse races. Very interesting, I do not think one racer was over 10 years old. It was a beautiful scene and we got lots of great pictures. Then it was off to the Gobi. The flight down was hassle free but packed. Very limited flights down to that area and lots of tourist heading down. When I say lots, I mean like 40. We were met there by out driver and a guide. They were the best! Both grew up in nomad lifestyle and gave us lots of great information. The sights were unreal, hours of driving on flat desert land without another living being in sight, beautiful valleys, unbelievable sand dunes, camels, horses, rock climbing and dinosaur bone digging. Sleeping camps were clean, restrooms were fine and dining was actually pretty good. Did take a leap of faith to drink the fermented mare milk, but learned to enjoy it. In all, I highly recommend this trip with this company. They were top notch and very knowledgeable.
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  Trip date: July 2015
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  David

  · December 27th, 2013
  The services provided by Amicus Mongolia Travel were excellent. Our travel consultant, Oyunaa was very efficient and helpful and our Ulaanbaatar and Gobi guide were very knowledgeable and spoke good English. Our Mongolia highlight was the Nadam festival and Gobi desert. We went for the Nadaam. The opening ceremony was fantastic, as too was the Festival horse race. The Gobi desert is not just sand dunes. It diversifies bizarre rock formations, canyons, the Gurvansaikhan mountain range and sand dunes, as well as forests of small saxaul trees and other desert vegetation. Most of the populations have a nomadic lifestyle, frequently moving with their round white felt yurts (Ger) and herds of camels, goats and horses. This trip is a fascinating cultural experience. Our visit in Mongolia was very new experience and enjoyable thanks to Amicus team and we have no hesitation in using their services again in the future.
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  Trip date: July 2013