The Travel Intern

Mongolian tourism is very new — it’s only been 20 years since first welcoming commercial tourists! While this makes Mongolia a unique destination, it’s also not easy to visit on your own.

Most commercial tours only offer trips to the Gobi Desert, and not the less-explored lands of Northern Mongolia. Without close local contacts, it’s also impossible to meet the Tsaatan reindeer herders who live here, since nomads constantly move through the massive plains.

With the local expertise of our travel partner, we’ll get to try everything that Northern Mongolia has to offer, especially off-the-beaten-path experiences that most tourists don’t have access to.

What’s more, our Travel Intern Content Experts will be on the ground as your personal photographers. We’ll be producing a trip video and edited photos for you to remember all the epic moments. Also, aspiring photographers can attend our pre-trip photography workshop specially for trip participants, and we’ll guide you in taking and editing photos during the trip itself!

International flight to and from Mongolia are not included in the cost of this trip! We believe in giving travellers the ability to determine how long they’d like to travel for and where they’d want to travel from! So flights can be booked independently!

But if you want us to book flights for you, we do book flights for participants!

If you’re adventurous, open-minded, and excited to immerse in a new culture, this is the trip for you!

You should also be ready to embrace the great outdoors. Though we will have comfy hotels and Western-style toilets in Ulaanbaatar, restroom and shower facilities in the Mongolia countryside will be a little more basic.

All nationalities are welcome to join.

For Singapore passport holders, tourist visas aren’t required for up to 30 days in Mongolia. For all other passports, check here. If you need a visa, we’ll help you out with the info required for the application.

We’re looking for 22 fun-loving travelers who’d love to explore Mongolia together! Whether you’re a solo traveler or want to tag along with some friends, you’re in for a great time. Rounding off the team are our Travel Intern Content Experts, local expedition guide/personal chef, and driver.

Mongolia is one of the most peaceful countries in the world, and is generally considered safe for tourists. However, petty theft is still an issue, and solo travelers often end up stranded in the countryside if their horse gets stolen.

We will take the following precautions for a smooth and safe trip:

• Travelling in a big group of at least 22 people, to prevent targeting by thief syndicates
• A local guide will accompany us at all times, with firsthand knowledge of the areas
• Travelling in a private all-terrain vehicle with a local, experienced driver
• Staying in home-stays in the countryside with trusted nomad families

Participants will be briefed further on safety precautions closer to the trip date.

Not really, this is a moderately easy trip that’s suitable for all ages! However, you should be prepared to rough it out, as we’ll spend two nights camping in the wilderness. 

In the countryside, we’ll be riding in a hardy 4×4 all-terrain vehicle, which is spacious and well-ventilated, with padded seats for extra comfort. However, as most roads in the countryside are unpaved, the ride can get very bumpy. We’ll also be riding horses for up to five hours at a time. 

While with the Tsaatan reindeer herders, we’ll rest in sleeping bags, in a teepee, on soft ground. There’ll be no toilet facilities at the nomad’s camp, so you should be ok with doing Number 1’s and 2’s in the wild (it’s actually quite freeing). You can also choose to go on casual hikes around the nearby mountains, but this is completely optional — there’s still tons to do in the camp itself!

Upon confirmation, we’ll be providing a detailed packing list specifically for this trip.

If you’re coming on the October trip, expect to pack for sub-zero temperatures (camping gear not necessary).

Our trip price covers everything you need, though we recommend bringing US$100 – US$300 for souvenirs, tips for locals (purely voluntary basis), and in case of emergency.

In Ulaanbaatar, USD can be converted for local currency, the Tulgrik (MNT). Credit cards (mostly VISA and Mastercard) are also accepted in many shops, sometimes even in the countryside.

We’ll get to try different types of accommodation in Mongolia, each promising a unique experience. In Ulaanbaatar, we’ll be staying in three-star hotels, while in the countryside, we’ll be in a mix of guesthouses, Mongolian traditional gers, and Tsaatan teepees.

The guesthouses and gers have proper beds with mattresses. While at the Tsaatan camp, we’ll rest in thick sleeping bags, in teepees, on soft ground.

As for sleeping arrangements, it’ll be twin-sharing rooms in the capital Ulaanbaatar (first and last day). If you’re travelling alone, you’ll be paired with another traveller of the same gender.

In the countryside, it’ll be 3-4 people per tepee and 4-6 people per Mongolian ger. These will be gender-divided unless you have special preferences (e.g. signing up with friends).

If you’ve got any accommodation requests, let us know and we’ll see what we can do. 🙂

All meals are included on the trip. Our local expedition guide is also an experienced chef who will prepare anything from Mongolian, Italian, and even Korean cuisine. We’ll also get to try authentic Mongolian food in Ulaanbaatar city and during our nomadic home-stays.

You’ll be paying a $500 deposit to confirm your slot on the trip! We will be collecting the full payment two months before the start of the expedition.

If you need to cancel the trip:
As we will be confirming more travel arrangements, the refunded amount will decrease based on how close we are to the trip dates.

Refunded amount before trip start date (based on full tour price)
More than 4 weeks before: 50% refund
Between 2 to 4 week before: 40% refund
Between 1 to 2 weeks before: 20% refund
Less than 1 week before trip: No refund

If we need to cancel the trip:
TTI Experiences will make our best effort to run a trip according to prior arrangements. However, we reserve the right to cancel or change a trip due to insufficient bookings and/or reasons beyond our control that might make travel undesirable or unsafe.

In the event that a trip is cancelled, participants can use their full payment toward a similar TTI Experiences trip, valid until 31 Dec 2022.

Drop us your questions by email at [email protected], or by Whatsapp at +65 83183676 🙂