Mongolia

Sweet Gobi is one of the two ecolodges of the brend "Out of Nowhere", a new generation of ecological lodges born in Mongolia in the previous years.

It's located 260 kilometres (161,56 miles) from Ulan Bator, facing to the Khögnö Khan National Park, in the area of Bayan Gobi also called small Central Gobi.

Infrastructures

The site is composed of 15 to 20 yurts nestled at the foot of the golden sand dunes of Elsen Tasarkhai. They're prettily decorated with traditional materials and fitted out in order to ensure a great comfort : king size beds or two separated single beds, silk sleeping bags, furniture painted in warm colours, felt carpet on the ground, and traditional objects. All the rooms are exclusively for two persons maximum, unlike most of the other camps that sometimes host 3 or 4 persons per yurt. The lodge can welcome up to 50 customers.

There is no running water in the camp. Twice a day (or three on demand), the service gives the customers four warm towels profumed with essential oils for them to wash. In each yurt, a screen marks out a personal space in which there's a small reserve of water, in order to wash oneself better.

In a special yurt called "Hair Cocoon", you can have your hair washed "with the teapot" by a Mongolian hostess dressed with a traditional costume. Do like you always do at the hairdresser's, sit in the chair and enjoy a professional hairdressing service : shampoo, massage of the scalp, brush and cut. This is a totally free service, except the cut.

Water closets are dry toilets set up inside tents around the camp. They have a seat and a wooden toilet seat, a bucket of sawdust and a ladle. Using it guarantee a dry and clean place, with no smell.

Other services

• STEP & SPA : inspired by the health and beauty centres, the warm towels is a voluptuous, therapeutic and ecologic service. It's possible to book a massage (made in the yurt by a professional).
• Restaurant : place of honour for lamb and mutton, cooked with aromatic herbs in a traditional way or freely performed by the head chef. Breakfast is served on a buffet (occidental or English breakfast) from 6 to 11. If you want to taste Mongolian food, order boortsog (a very substantial cake, perfect if you'll have a hectic day) and white food such as tarag (cow milk yoghurt with a slightly acid taste).
• It's possible, on request, to go and watch the rich fauna and flora of the area ; a powerful spyglass of the brend Swarovski will be lent to you. For example, you can see the majestic flight of the cinereous vulture or the demoiselle crane, one of the two only birds in the world that can fly at a height of more than 8000 metres (4,97 miles) through the Himalaya range to migrate and reach India !The Batkhan Uul Reserve, located a few kilometres from Sweet Gobi, houses many species such as the black grouse, the amur falcon, or the red deer.

Activities

• Hiking and watching the fauna and flora around Lake Taraa or in the Batkhaan Uul Reserve.
• Bactriane camel trek (Gobi's endemic species) among the sand dunes of Elsen Tasarkhai.
• Pony trek in the dunes.
• Visiting horses breeders.
• Visiting Khogno Khan and Erdene Khamba Monastery.

This lodge is affordable but knows how to mix with a great deal of taste some simple but slick infrastructures, and a service of superior quality. Experience the nomadic life in a quiet, natural and wild environment. We like it!

To know more about the camp and its services, please visit their page here.