Problems that we have encountered during holidays in Mongolia include the following (not ruling out new situations):

a) You are to arrive to Mongolia via China and your passport has only been stamped with a single entry visa. Even if you apply for a double entry, it is your duty to check it. Passengers returning to China from Ulaanbaatar, will not be permitted to board the plane without valid travel documents. It should be noted that often the Chinese visa is cancelled as an entry just by being in transit at Beijing airport.

b) Horse riding. Horses are big animals and you sit on them. It is dangerous to fall off a horse. Please make sure that your insurance has coverage for this activity. Please bring your own helmet/hard hat.

c) Climatic extremes may cause Nomadic Journeys to re-route your trip. In ten years of its operation, (as per Sep 2002) it has happened for three groups due to excess rain (once), excess heat (once) and excess heat with flies (once). Probabilities are low, but most of our trips are in the great outdoors and trips to Mongolia are very exposed to weather conditions. Fortunately, our weather record for good conditions is also above the average. Additional potential weather related hazards are flooded rivers, which possibly means that one can’t cross a river at a particular spot, if at all.

d) Vehicle break-downs. On many of our journeys this hazard is reduced since we operate a lot with nomadic traditional support structures such as horses, yak-carts, camel carts, pack-horses, pack-yaks. In any case, the more you travel by vehicle, the more the probability that your vehicle will need to be fixed en route. This is normal and not unexpected in Mongolia. All vehicles used for the Mongolian countryside are Russian and suitable for repair on the spot. Due to the very poor road conditions, the wear and tear on Mongolian vehicles are immense. Russian vehicles can be repaired by the drivers. Nomadic Journeys drivers carry the most common spare parts with them.  Such repairs will cause delays if they happen.

e) Please make early reservations, since air capacity into Ulaanbaatar is low compared to demand. Only the smallest Boeings can land there, since our runway is too short for larger jets.

f) Spring forest fires. In recent dry years large areas of forests in the north may be on fire. Usually they are not strong blazes, rather small fires over huge areas. In Mongolia, although fire is not desirable, it does not have the same catastrophic impacts as in built-up environments. Over the last ten years, none of our trips have been negatively impacted by fires.

g) Quarantines. There is Foot and Mouth disease (does not affect humans), which is a problem for livestock. When such outbreaks occur, there may be imposed quarantines. Although this regularly happens in different parts of the country, our operations to date have not been affected by one. Mongolia is a big country, and should it happen, re-routing will be possible.

h) Bubonic Plague. A serious disease – if not treated - connected to flies on marmots. It is well known among Mongols and quickly contained. It is easily treated with broad range antibiotics (such as vibramycin). Visitors have to date, to the best of our knowledge, never been infected by this. The chances are slim. Unfortunately, the number of marmots has declined by 80 percent in the past 5 years due to excess hunting, which is reducing this hazard even more.

i) Check-in weight on domestic flights is 15kg per passenger.  It is possible to pay excess luggage at the counter in cash, preferably Mongolian currency (MNT).