Reflection on Equity and Challenges in Tourism

In September, we received some tough feedback about one of our tours—feedback no one wants to hear, but the kind that prompts reflection, especially on equity in tourism and its true meaning. Tourism is about people—not just those we take on holiday but also those we employ. All our trip assistants are women, many of […]

Our Mini Plastic Free Mongolia Challenge

Last year, I wrote a post about how we need to have a rubbish revolution in tourism. This was as a result of our annual two-day rubbish clean-up of Terkhiin Tsagaan Nuur National Park in Mongolia where we noticed an increase in discarded wet wipes, sanitary items and hygiene products. Our wilderness areas (and our […]

The Positive Impacts Of Tourism – Meet Our Zumbee

Meet our Zumbee … Zumbee is a dedicated and long-term member of our EL family – one of our team of female Mongolian trip assistants. Zumbee is from a herding family in Dungobi Aimag in Mongolia’s Middle Gobi although she is currently based in Ulaanbaatar (UB – Mongolia’s capital city) where she moved to start […]

Providing toilets in tourism – For those that don’t give a s*!t

Toilets in tourism - Mongolia

Toilets. Always high on the list of travel stories and experiences – especially the ones involving a dropped passport out of the back pocket into a long-drop pit toilet (I sense a nodding of heads). In health and safety terms, long-drop toilets should have a risk assessment heading all of their own. What if there […]

Gobi Gua Undur Mongolia – What’s behind a name?

Gobi Gua Undur Mongolia

Let me introduce you to a place. It is called Erdenedalai in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert in Dundgobi Province – also known as the middle Gobi. It’s where the open steppe starts to turn into the desert steppe. Where grass meets gravel plains. The views are expansive. Is it considered a highlight? A must-see destination? No. […]

Slow Lane Tourism

Dakhar - a member of our slow lane tourism

Let Me Introduce You to Dakhar Dakhar calls the Tsambagarav Uul National Park his home. High above the provincial borders of Khovd and Bayan-Olgii Aimag in western Mongolia, this snow-capped peak stands tall at 4208m, surrounded by vast open valleys. It’s part of the magnificent Mongol Altai Mountain Range, and it’s where Dakhar has lived […]

Falling In Love With A (Mongolian) Landscape

For some, Mongolia is just a business decision. For me, it’s been a long-term love affair, filled with peaks, valleys, and countless challenges. May 2024 marks the 19th anniversary of my first arrival in this extraordinary country, and as I look back on that moment, I’m filled with a sense of nostalgia. It’s a bittersweet […]

Coronavirus and its impact on travel and tourism

Coronavirus and the impact on travel and tourism

The coronavirus is a crisis for many industries including the travel and tourism industry. The tourism industry has always been resilient – recovering from the Eyjafjallajökull ash cloud, the Boxing Day tsunami and multiple terror attacks – but the coronavirus and its impact on travel and tourism is something bigger, something more wide-sweeping and something […]

Dog Sledding Mongolia (why we have said no for now)

Up until 2019, we offered dog sledding itineraries as part of our series of Mongolia winter experiences. However, even though often the dog sledding was often the highlight of their trip for our guests, in early 2019 we decided to stop offering dog sledding options. The main reason is cultural –  we describe our winter experiences […]