About 8 Lakes Tours
8 Lakes Tours is a small-group horse trekking journey through the Orkhon Valley and Naiman Nuur / Eight Lakes region, hosted with nomadic families and guided by people who know the land from the inside.
The idea
The trip exists because Robert travelled through Mongolia, met Ganbold's family, rode with them, stayed with them, and saw that this valley could host something deeper than a standard sightseeing product.
Guests do not come here to consume something polished and disconnected from the natural rhythms of the steppe. They come to live closer to generational nomadic ways of being for a short time: ride, eat, rest, laugh, drink tea, look at the sky, and remember what simplicity feels like.
That includes embracing variance. In steppe life, the plan is shaped by the land, the animals, and the people you meet along the way. The ancestral customs of hospitality are still very much alive here: tea, food, shelter, and help are offered to the traveller who appears at the door of a ger. Despite the variance of weather, animals, and distance, there is always a gracious and helpful hand on the steppe.
Who you're booking with
Robert leads the 8 Lakes Tours experience and customer communication. He is the bridge between international guests and the Mongolian host family relationship behind the trip.
His role is not to over-polish the experience into something fake. It is to make the booking, preparation, expectations, safety, and communication clear enough that guests can arrive ready for the real thing.
How it works
Robert met Ganbold and the Sandagdorj family while travelling through Mongolia on horseback, then returned to shape this trip with them directly. This is not a generic route bought from a distant operator — it is a small hosted journey built around a mutual love for the steppe and all she has to offer.
Guests stay close to nomadic life: gers, horses, shared meals, and a daily rhythm attuned to the steppe by people who have adapted to it over millennia. The local family portion of the price is paid directly in cash to the hosts because many families cannot reliably receive online transfers.
8 Lakes Tours is not a polished resort product. It is built around real environments over artificial comfort and a host-family experience that asks guests to arrive open, flexible, and ready for the land as it is.
An honest fit
Out here the weather, the animals and the distance set the pace, and the group matters. Come ready for simple living, some physical discomfort and a plan that bends. You will be invited past your comfort zone at times, but the choice is always yours: ride on, rest, or stay back and share the day with the family at camp.
Life gets simple quickly once you leave Ulaanbaatar. Showers are rare, toilets are squat outhouses, and signal comes and goes. Many guests find that is exactly what they came for. If being offline and without everyday comforts would weigh on you, it is worth thinking about before you book.
Traditional Mongolian meals are usually meat- and dairy-heavy: milk tea, yoghurt, cheese, meat, and animal products are normal. Vegetarian guests may be possible with advance notice, but strict vegan diets or serious dairy/lactose issues may make this the wrong tour.
Transparent payment
Group rates apply for 3–8 guests.
Many nomadic families live outside reliable online banking. The online half confirms your place with 8 Lakes Tours, and the other half is paid directly to your host family in clean USD cash in Mongolia.