Mongolia is huge - three times the size of France, but with a population of only 2.5 million. With no western airlines flying there and a rail network consisting of one line, the sense of space and isolation is even more intense.

Officially, Buddhism is the national religion. Many Mongolians are non-believers, however, and there is also a grassroots belief in Shamanism, which is officially denied but most certainly exists.

Don`t come to Mongolia expecting to see great palaces or splendour - it's not like that at all. Life on the Mongolian Steppe is harsh, and for many centuries there were no real "towns" at all - or not in the sense that we understand the idea. Instead, the Royal Court would move around the country, visiting the different buddhist monasteries according to a religious calendar - and to the availability of fresh pasture for the sheep, horses, camels and yaks which were part of this royal retinue. The people would live in gers, the Mongolian framed felt tents, which were ideally suited to this nomadic existence. A ger can be put up in a day - and taken down in just a few hours, put on a wagon, and taken to the next location.

It was only in the later C19th that the Mongolian Khans decided to stop their wandering, and the city of Urga settled in a permanent location - at the Gandantegchinlen (or just "Gandan") Monastery, the largest and most important in the country. It's still there, but was renamed after the 1924 Socialist Revolution (when the Mongolians threw-out the ruling Manchu Chinese, who had ruled them for centuries) to Ulaanbaatar ("Red Hero"). Finally, in 1927, the Trans-Mongolian Railway was built, linking Mongolia - for the first time ever - to its neighbours in Russia and China.

Ulaanbaatar is the main halt for most visitors to Mongolia. The Gandan Monastery is the outstanding highlight of a visit, but don't miss seeing the Choijin Monastery (now a museum), the Residence of the Bogd-Khans of Mongolia, and try to find time fo the Natural History Museum too. However, most of Ulaanbaatar was built by the Soviets after 1924, and it's not either a pretty city, or at all typical of the life of the rest of the country. Around 75% of Mongolians still live a nomadic life on the Steppes, tending their animals, and living in gers of a kind that Genghis Khan would immediately recognise fromsix centuries previously.

That's why all our Mongolia stops include the chance to get outside the city and see the real Mongolia. On some of our trips, you visit Elstei - a great Tour Camp an hour's drive from Ulaanbaatar (and in Mongolia, once you've driven half an hour from the capital, you could drive three more hours and nothing would change greatly - you've really left the city behind!). At Elstei, you'll stay in ger tents. Toilets and Showers (western standard) are in an adjacent block, and apart from the lighting being electric (for reasons of safety) it's otherwise exactly as it would be in a nomadic ger. There's nice food, and the chance to go horse-riding, or walking - the location has dramatic and widely varied landscapes.

For real adventurers who want an authentic experience of Mongolia, take our Gobi Jeep Trip. You travel into the Gobi (8 hours off-road driving in a Jeep) to reach the Bayan-Gobi area. Your destination is the Erdene-Zuu Monastery, the second most important in the country - on a site known to have been used by Genghis Khan to hold his kuriltai (great meeting of the clans). You also visit a remote mountain monastery. Accommodation is with local nomadic herdsmen - please note that there is no running water, no hot water at all, and that toilet facilities are completely basic. Hygiene standards may not conform to levels in your home country.

Whichever of these options you choose, you will get the feeling of the massive space of Mongolia, and how the majority of people live there.

Returning to Ulaanbaatar is a total contrast! You might be surprised to hear that there are a variety of good restaurants, in addition to bars and nightclubs of a good standard, for extremely reasonable prices.

Come and see these huge, extraordinary, unique and varied country!

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