Western Mongolia

Western Mongolia includes five provinces. They are Hovd, Zavhan, Govi-Altai, Uvs and Bayan – Ulgii. Bayan –Ulgii is the province which borders with China and Russia. Bayan – Ulgii has 14 soums with the population of 120.000. Minority is Kazakhs and composed with Mongolian tribes such as Khalkha, Durvud, Uriankhai and Tuvans.

Altai Tavan Bogd is the national park  which covers 6362 km square area and  the highest mountain of Mongolia is located in this province. Highest peak is called Khuiten Peak and it is 4374 meters high. The area is protected since 1996.

The province is famous with the traditional practice of hunting with the Golden Eagles.

Hunting with Golden Eagles is one of the most interesting and ancient tradition in Kazakh minority in  Mongolia. It has been continued for centuries and annual Golden Eagle Festival is one of the must-see events in Mongolia. The annual Eagle Festival includes many kinds of traditional games such as grabbing coins while riding a horse, “Kyz –Kuar” –  girl chasing a man on a horse, Uriankhai archery, ( Uriankhai is one of Mongolian tribes located in the western part of Mongolia) and “ Kukpar”.

“Kukpar” is one of the most interesting traditional games  that two horseman wrestle on an (slaughtered)  adult male goat which is about 15-20 kilos of weight to check their horse riding skills and physical strength.  Annual Eagle Festival is held in the first week of October every year and smaller Eagle Festivals are organized by the tour operators during September in Sagsai, Ulaanhus and in Altai soums. Soum is the second smallest  administrative units in Mongolia.

• Golden Eagles are the birds with incredible speed, great eyes and sharp talons
• Can live in harsh weather conditions
• Average weight is 3.7 to 8 kilos
• Hunts foxes, rabbits and marmots

Hunting season is between October to March.  Golden eagle festival is one of the must-visit events for professional photographers and portrait photographers. The Eagle hunters are called “ Burkitshi”.  They are very skilled in training and hunting with eagles

Our team is specialized on snow leopard and eagle hunting photography/filming tours and collaborating with many professional photographers and filmmakers from all the corners of the WORLD.

Snow leopards are the most mystic cats that live in the Govi desert area and in the Altai mountains of Mongolia. Mongolia has the second largest population of snow leopards which is approximately  1400 of them living in different mountainous areas.