Why visit Kharkhorin?

My ger guesthouse is located in Kharkhorin  -  considered one of the highlights of a visit to Mongolia. It is roughly 335 km from Mongolia's capital city Ulaan Baatar but did you know that Kharkhorin used to be the capital of the Mongol Empire? Kharkhorin is also the home of Erdene Zuu Khiid - the oldest monastery in Mongolia. In more modern times, when Mongolia was part of the USSR, Kharkhorin was a state farm. My home town is an area  important to the history of the founding of the Mongolian Empire and of Buddhism in Mongolia.

The Golden Stupa at Erdene Zuu

Mongolia's weather can change very quickly and sometimes Kharkhorin is very windy and dusty. If you visit on day's like this, it can be hard to imagine what Kharkhorin once was. There is now a really good museum - it is small but with lots of information on the history of the area.


Kharkhorin is located close to the Orkhon River and since 2004, the Orkhon River Valley and Kharkhorin have become part one of Mongolia's three World Heritage Sites. Even if you are not that interested in history, I think Kharkhorin is a really interesting place to visit. Erdene Zuu is beautiful and so is the Orkhon River. 

The Orkhon River

Above my ger camp is a hill that has artefacts left over from Ogodei Khan’s capital city including one of the four turtles said to have been located at each of the main city gates. This hill provides a great view out over the entire town and the surrounding steppe and I think it is a great location to watch the sunset from and to spend time imagining just what the capital city of Ogodei Khan must have looked like.

Both my daughters Ganju and Nomioko  like to walk by the river and into the mountains. I think you will too. My old school friend Jargal and her husband Tumee are herders who live close to the Orkhon River in the summer months and then in mid-September move around 25km away. They are happy to offer horse trekking along the river and I am happy to organise this.

If you like the sound of Kharkhorin, my ger guesthouse is open to all travellers. Please just get in touch - I am happy to help and would love to welcome you to Kharkhorin.

Thank you for spending time on my blog. I will be back soon.

Saikhan Amraarai, Gaya

Where are we?! How to find us!

If you have visited Mongolia before and maybe UB or one of Mongolia's small towns, you may know how difficult it is to find an address. You may have the address but  many districts and roads do not have signs and it is easy to not find the address that you are looking for. I thought I would help you to find our guesthouse.

Kharkhorin is a small town in Ovorkhangai Aimag. Some guidebooks list it as its old name of Karakorum. It is roughly 355km from UB on an asphalt road (also sometimes known as the Millennium Road). 

Kharkhorin - my home town. Kharkhorin was known as Karakorum and was the ancient capital city of Ogodei Khan and other khans after him

There are daily buses from UB to Kharkhorin (both cheap and reliable) that go from the Dragon Centre in UB (located 10km west from Sukhbaataar Square. The ticket price is roughly  18,000 Mongolian Togrog. You can get to the Dragon Centre by a local bus or by taxi  - it is one of the biggest bus/auto  stations in Mongolia. In summertime is it very busy as many Mongolians are coming in and out of the city by bus  travelling to different aimags and rural areas. If you are travelling in the summer,  you should buy your ticket the day before.

On your arrival into Kharkhorin, you are most welcome to come at stay at our ger guesthouse! If you contact me before (using the following phone numbers or email address) then I am happy to come and collect you from the Kharkhorin bus station.

Email: gaya_0303@yahoo.com
Phone:  +976 99893809 / +976 96333809, / +97688445699

If you like to be independent, you can ask your bus driver to let you off at the gas station named PETROVIS. From Petrovis our guesthouse is located 600m away and it's quite easy to find from there. If you stand with your back to the gas station, you can see that there are ger districts opposite you. You should go to the right side of  the PETROVIS gas station then cross the road, and our ger in the first row (left hand side) at the bottom of the hill.  Our guesthouse is the fifth gate which is blue.

(Remember, I am very happy to collect you from the bus station if it sounds too confusing!)

This my family dog who will greet you! His name is Baatar which means hero in Mongolian. He is our guard dog as well but is very friendly to our guests so don't worry! 

Just be careful, when you get off the bus, there are other guesthouses that say they are Gaya's and then will take you to their guesthouse. You do not have to stay at ours but if you would like to then just be careful of the above!  

My ger guesthouse is open to all travellers. Please just get in touch - I am happy to help and would love to welcome you to Kharkhorin.

My friend Jess (who is the owner of Eternal Landscapes) is helping me with this blog. You can always email her as well.  

Thank you for spending time on my blog. I will be back soon.


Saikhan Amraarai, Gaya