Common Questions

8 Lakes Tours is a 9-day / 8-night small-group horse trekking expedition in Mongolia, focused on the Orkhon Valley and Naiman Nuur / Eight Lakes region. Guests stay with a nomadic family, ride Mongolian horses, sleep in traditional gers, and experience daily life on the steppe.

8 Lakes Tours is organised by Robert Zaher after travelling and riding with Ganbold's family in the Orkhon Valley. Bookings, preparation, and payment communication are handled through 8 Lakes Tours, while the local family portion goes directly to your hosts in Mongolia.

Yes. Email info@8lakestours.com with any questions before paying. Rob's Instagram is @robzaher108, but tour enquiries currently stay centralised through info@8lakestours.com.

All official prices are in USD. The 2026 rate depends on group size: $1,999 per person for 1–2 guests, $1,949 for 3–4, $1,899 for 5–6, and $1,799 for 7–8. Group rates apply when guests book together for the same departure and are confirmed personally by Rob before payment.

The website currently shows seven fixed 2026 departures from June through September, plus private group dates on request through late September. Each departure is capped at 8 guests and final availability depends on host-family, horse, guide, and group logistics.

Many of the nomadic families we work with cannot reliably receive online payments or bank transfers. Paying the family portion directly in clean USD cash ensures that money reaches the hosts transparently.

No. It is best understood as the online booking payment that confirms your place for standard bookings. For groups of 3–8, Rob confirms availability first and then sends the correct payment link or custom order. The separate family portion is paid locally in clean USD cash to the host family and varies by group size.

For standard 1–2 guest bookings, you can continue to the online payment and receive confirmation once payment is complete. For groups of 3–8, Rob reviews the request, confirms availability, and sends the correct payment link or custom order before payment. Before arrival, Rob or the tour operator coordinates timing with you and the host-family pickup from Bat-Ulzii.

If your plans change more than 3 weeks / 21 days before departure, the $999 online booking payment is refundable minus unrecoverable Stripe/payment processing fees. Within 3 weeks / 21 days, we will still try to help with a transfer to another date, an approved replacement traveller, or a partial refund where costs have not already been committed. If 8 Lakes Tours cancels your departure, the online amount you paid to us is refunded minus unrecoverable Stripe/payment processing fees. The local family payment is paid in cash in Mongolia and is not collected online by 8 Lakes Tours.

No. Beginners are welcome, although a reasonable level of fitness is recommended. Local guides teach basic horse handling before the trek.

This is a real remote adventure, not a perfectly controlled resort itinerary. Weather, horse conditions, road access, and group dynamics can affect the plan. We ask guests to arrive with flexibility, patience, and a willingness to adapt. That said, you never have to do every challenge or activity. If something feels like too much, you can say no, rest, or take a quieter day around the host family and ger life.

The Eight Lakes region sits in real steppe country, where distance, weather, animals, and road conditions can shape the day. A simple Mongolian hospitality story explains the mindset: when travellers lost their way between distant gers, they could stop at another family home for tea, food, shelter, directions, or supplies. The trip asks guests to embrace that same culture of flexibility, hospitality, and variance rather than expecting a perfectly controlled resort itinerary.

No. The landscape is wide and remote from city life, but it is not empty or abandoned. Mongolian steppe culture is famously hospitable: neighbouring families visit each other, share food and tea, help with animals and work, and know the land around them. You should expect simple conditions, but not a survival scenario where food, people, or basic support disappear.

The host-family setting is cross-cultural, and not every moment will happen in perfect English. Guides and organisers help with the main logistics, but Grok has worked best for simple Mongolian communication so far; ChatGPT voice mode also works well for translation. The host nomadic camp has strong Starlink and a solar-powered inverter for charging phones, cameras, and other electronics, though remote trek days can still be more offline.

Sometimes, yes — gently and with common sense. The trip is built around the idea that wild places, movement, weather, and challenge can be good for people. You may be encouraged to try more than you expected, but participation is never forced. This trip suits people who are open-minded and mentally prepared for simple conditions, physical discomfort, changing plans, and sharing space with a group without needing everything to be polished or predictable.

No. Once you leave the city, countryside toilet facilities are simple outhouses with squat toilets rather than Western flush toilets, and there are no regular showers. The cabins and ger stays can still be warm, welcoming, and comfortable in a rural way, but bathroom facilities are basic. Bring wet wipes for cleaning hands and body between river washes; optional daily river ice baths can be part of the simple, therapeutic steppe rhythm when conditions allow.

Bring a small personal first-aid kit, blister care, any prescription medication, basic toiletries, and any painkillers or anti-inflammatory medicine you normally use and can safely take. Guides carry basic first aid, but they are not medical professionals and cannot replace your own personal medical supplies.

The trip includes accommodation, meals, horses, local guiding, ger stays, and the hosted horse trekking experience described on the site. Flights, visas, travel insurance, and personal expenses are not included.

This trip is not a good fit for strict vegan travellers, and it may be unsuitable for anyone with serious dairy or lactose intolerance. In rural Mongolia, daily host-family food is traditionally meat- and dairy-heavy: milk tea, yoghurt, cheese, meat, and animal products are normal parts of the diet and hospitality. The dairy is also one of the highest-quality parts of the experience: families always produce their own milk from yaks or cows and serve it fresh in traditional foods. Vegetarian guests may be possible with advance notice, but remote families cannot reliably provide fully separate vegan or dairy-free meals. Please contact us before booking if diet is a major health, allergy, or ethical requirement.

Fly into Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Guests then travel onward into the countryside before the host-family stay and trek begin.

Yes. Comprehensive travel insurance is mandatory and should include medical treatment, emergency evacuation and repatriation, and horseback riding or adventure activity coverage.

For the full horse trek, we generally encourage families with younger children not to book the standard expedition because the riding days, remote conditions, weather, and group pace can be too much. Riders aged 16+ can join the trek with a parent or guardian if the fit is right. For younger children, a custom stay-only setup with shorter horse rides around the host family can be arranged — the families can facilitate that without problem.

Use the booking form on the website or email info@8lakestours.com. Instagram is available at @8lakestours, and Rob's personal Instagram is @robzaher108.