Trip Planner

Unless you plan on freezing your tootsies off, summer is the best time to visit Mongolia. Late summer (mid-July to late August) is optimal as there will be sufficient rainfall to make the steppes lush and green. September is also a decent month in Mongolia, but by October things are getting a bit chilly.

Winter arrives for good in November and you'll need a couple hundred layers of clothing to keep you toasty until February. Fortunately, there isn't much wind or snow so you can still get around pretty easily. As long as you are bundled up good you'll be fine. It’s really the extremities you need to worry about. Bring a big pair of mittens, a wool hat and a scarf. It can be really hard to keep your feet warm if you have to stand outside for more than an hour. Locally made Buriat books work OK, or bring some Sorels from home (and thick socks).

If the anti-Christ were a season, it would be a Monoglian spring. Its definitely the worst time in Mongolia. Its a windy, dusty, depressing nightmare that seems never-ending. It's real Man vs. Nature stuff, but if you are simply a traveller looking to enjoy Mongolia, this may not be the best time. If you have no choice its still OK to travel in March and April, but if possible, try to plan your visit for after Naadam.

May is a crap shoot, you could get snow early in the month but things will be warming up in the last 10 days or so. June is warm but still not optimal. The landscape is still a little brown and the grass thin. Naadam is a good time to arrive (if you can get a flight or train ticket) but definitely see the festival outside UB. As stated early, late July and August are great.

•USA citizens: No visa needed for 90 days. (note that if you intend to stay more than 30 days, you'll need to register your passport within the first 7 days of arrival).
•Israel citizens: No Visa needed for 30 days.
•Canadian & UK citizens: $55 single entry, good for 30 days
•Everyone else: single entry: $30, good for 30 days. Double entry visa $60. Multiple entry visa $65.

It takes about 2 days to process a visa if you need one. For those who need a visa and want to stay longer, its possible to get an extension in Ulaanbaatar. A one month extension costs around $60. Your guesthouse or hotel should be able to help arrange this.

Most visas issued by embassies are entry/exit visas. But under some circumstances you may be issued only an entry visa, this usually occurs if you are working in Mongolia. In this case, you need to have an exit visa to leave the country. For most citizens this costs $20 but for Americans its $100. Some view the policy as a total rip off (we'll let you in for free but you have to pay $100 to leave!), but the only thing you can do about it is complain loudly. Maybe if enough people winge and whine they get sick of us and change the policy. Though maybe that is just wishful thinking.

VISA EXTENSIONS
If you have come into the country on a 30 day tourist visa, its possible to extend for another 30 days. You can do this at the Office of Immigration (INFC) in Ulaanbaatar, which is down by Peace Bridge (look in the LP). Extensions cost around $2 a day. You can get the extension about a week before your visa expires, but only if you already registered at the INFC office when you arrived.

If you have come in on a US passport and stayed your 90 days you can't extend the visa (because you never got a visa!). However, if you buy an exit visa (for $100) you can stay an extra 10 days, which gives you 100 days in the country for $100.

If you get a job in UB, like teaching English, your employer will get you a long term registration. Otherwise, you could pop down to Erlian (on the Chinese border) and come straight back, but this involves a lot of work as its a two day train trip and you'll need to buy a Chinese visa.

VISAS FOR ONWARD TRAVEL TO CHINA AND RUSSIA

Visas for China are normally easy to get. However, in the run up to the Olympics it has become more difficult to get a visa for China. Expect long lines at the embassy in Ulaanbaatar. Hopefully, when the Olympics end the situation will return to normal and visas will be easier to get.

The embassy is over by the university on Bag Toiruu (that's Little Ring Road to you, my friend). Pay in US dollars. The lines here can sometimes be long so queue up before it opens.

Russian visas and headaches are synonymous. Red tape is just part of the whole Russian experience so you might as well start getting used to it as the consular office. However, it’s probably easier to get a visa here compared to Beijing. The consular will give you a card for his local hook up travel agency and tell you to come back when you've got your papers together. Sadly, its pretty much impossible to get a visa for longer than 21 days, which isn’t much to explore a huge friggin country like Russia.

The agent will may require pre-paying up front for hotels and train tickets. But if you ask nicely they may just hook you up with a letter of invitation (LOI) at a reasonable cost. Once the invitation is prepared it takes a couple of days to process the visa (the actually cost of the visa can range from $25-200. Oh, the name of the agent you'll probably work with is Legend Tours (tel: 315 158). Look out for hidden costs.

The last few days before any trip are always a bit nuts. You put things off and end up staying up all night before the flight try to figure out what the hell you want to bring. Then after you've squashed everything in your backpack, gone through security and boarded the flight you realize you forgot something. Fortunately, Mongolia pretty much has everything you might need so if it’s really important you can replace whatever you forgot once you're there. All right, here are a few things to remember in the days leading up to departure.

•Before leaving home, make copies of all your records (credit cards, passport, drivers license etc.). Take one copy with you and leave another in a safe place at home. If anything goes missing or gets stolen you'll have a copy, which makes getting stuff replaced easier.

•Call your credit card company and tell them where you are going. The minute they see charges in places like China or Mongolia they'll freeze your account, which can be a real pain in the ass if you are already overseas.

•More on the credit/debit card thing. Bring a debit card issued by your bank, make sure its associated with Visa or MasterCard, and get a PIN number for it. Organize all that with your bank before you go.

•Go to a travel health clinic, get a consultation and any needed jabs. They'll probably stick you with a hepatitis shot if you haven't had one in a while. If you don't already have one, request an immunization chart, a handy little yellow card that lists your history of immunizations.

•Pretend like you are leaving a day earlier. Get all your stuff packed up and walk out the door as if you were going to the airport. Maybe even walk down the block with your gear to see how your pack feels. If a strap break off your pack in the first minute you’ve probably brought too much stuff. Or maybe you just need a stronger backpack. Either way, doing this little exercise will help you be better prepared when you do finally leave.

Any trip to Mongolia involves some amount of camping. It's possible to hire tents and sleeping bags from guesthouses in Ulaanbaatar, but you'll probably appreciate the reliability of your own gear. If you plan on only jeep touring you'll do OK to bring a heavier tent, but if you are going to do some trekking, take something light. There are gear shops in UB to buy warm weather clothing.

USEFUL ITEMS INCLUDE
• Water filter: check out models by PUR

• Sleeping bag: get a good quality down-filled bag. Even in summer, up in the mountains, it can get bloody cold. If you are going to be there anytime outside summer bring the best damn bag you can afford. I use a bag rated to minus 30 but sometimes wish I had one at minus 40!

• Sleeping bag liner: another handy item. Slip this into your bag for extra warmth or use it in hotels instead the sheets you're given (they may not be clean).

• Sleeping pad: the inflatable kind work well. They provide comfort and will add an extra layer of insulation from the ground.

• Tent: This is definitely a good idea. Don’t bother with a flimsy, cheap tent or one only good for summer. A 3-4 season convertible tent should keep you warm. If you’ll be there out of season take a four season tent. Don’t forget a ground mat.

• Flashlight: headlamps are handy as they keep your hands free, but the basic ones are pretty weak. Shop around for the best quality headlamp.

• Back up pair of sunglasses: these always go missing and you won't find a good spare in Mongolia.

• Paper back books: check the Mongolia books page on this site for ideas. When you finish it, sell it to a local used book store or donate it to the bookshelves of a cafe like Amsterdam or Stupa.

• Mongolian phrasebook: Lonely Planet has one.

• GPS: I totally recommend bringing one. Sure, you'll still get lost, but it can be fun to use the GPS to try and find your way to where ever you're going. The LP book is loaded with GPS coordinates and you can also use Google Earth to find places. Any basic GPS made by Garmin or Magellan will do the trick.

• Travel medical kit: bring plenty of anti-diarrhea meds and some stuff for a headache. Also bring some ointment for burns or cuts and some bandages. That is the most important stuff, whatever else you want to bring is up to you.

• A zoom lens for your camera: For taking pictures of wildlife.

• A pair of binoculars: also good for spotting wildlife. Actually, this is one of the most important things to bring; you'll use it a lot. If you can get a few cheap ones they make great presents for nomads.

• Mobile phone / Satellite Phone: (you can buy a SIM card in Ulaanbaatar). Make sure your phone is a tri-band or other type that will work overseas. The phone network is GSM. You can also buy a used phone locally. Phones work in most towns in Mongolia and are very handy if you need to call your trip organizer back in UB. A local company called Monsat (tel: 323 705) rents satellite phones for $5 a day.

• Ziplock bags of various sizes. These are great keeping the dust off electronic equipment.

• Pictures of your family, country and hometown: Mongolians love looking at family photographs, even if its not their own family.

• Gifts for locals: in the countryside, good gifts for locals include wind-up flashlights and binoculars. You could give them vodka but you may well end up drinking it with them.

• Electric converters: power is 22V, 50Hz. The wall sockets are designed to accommodate two round prongs (Russian / European style).

• Fishing gear. You can buy all sort of fishing rods, lines, lures and tackle in UB. It’s available in the Northland gear shop on Peace Ave. But if you have a favorite fishing rod, bring it.

• Besides all the obvious clothing items, don’t forget: pair of long underwear, flip flops, wool hat, rain jacket.

• If you are going to Mongolia in winter, bring various layers of fleece clothing and use silk as a base layer. Smart wool socks are great but expensive. Good pair of mittens, boots, wool hat and a scarf. My North Face down jacket with a hood has served me well. Jeans are fine for an outer pant layer; in the countryside I sometimes wear insulated ski pants. Honestly, you can buy almost all this stuff in UB at cheaper prices. Fake North Face gear is sold at Northland shop, the State Department Store and elsewhere. Buriat boot are great but hard to get in big sizes. You can even get Western brand stuff at Seven Summits but prices will be the same (or higher) than in the US. You can buy down jackets in UB.