Mongolia remains a mysterious presence in the heart of Central Asia, a traditional country where foreign visitors are still an unusual sight. Nomads wander the grasslands, setting up their white gers (tents) where the pasture is lush for their horses.
The local people are warm and welcoming and we share their experience of life under a felt or canvas roof. The landscape is both beautiful and varied, and we follow good trails across wide, open steppe, into expansive mountain scenery, and through larch and pine forests.
Camping wild under the wide skies adds an adventurous edge to what is certainly one of our most intrepid cycle tours. We end our riding at Mongolia's ancient capital Karakorum, once the centre of a vast empire and site of the largest monastery in the country.