Phew, our Mongolia 2025 trip is now in the books and it was a special one. I mean, a photography trip to Mongolia is always special. It’s one of those destinations where you really have to work for a photo. The roads – if you can call them that – are bad, the distances are large, the spaces are vast, and the sheer scale of everything just seems immense.
That said, it’s also one of those countries that rewards you with some fantastic images. With the challenges of the country, you can leave wondering if you managed to capture it. But almost always, when you get home your realize you got some absolute bangers.
We asked our group members this year to share some of their favourite moments. Here they are.
Oh, and if you’re wondering? Yeah, we’re going back in 2027!
People might be drawn to Mongolia for the vast landscapes, but the stories they tell later are usually about the culture. Mongolian culture is just so unique and there are so many ways to engage with it. One of those ways is by spending time with a Mongolian throat singer.
Mongolian throat singing, which is also call khöömei, is a unique type of music where singers produce multiple pitches simultaneously. By manipulating the mouth, throat, and diaphragm, they create deep drones and high harmonic overtones that is said to mimic nature’s sounds. There are notes that can sound like wind, rivers, or animals. It’s really special.
Check out the below video from Art Fernandez (@silverhallide)
One of the most elusive animals on the planet is the snow leopard. Not only are they sparse in numbers, but they live in some of the remote places on the planet such as Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and here in Mongolia.
Our group got very lucky on their excursion searching for snow leopards, and caught one out taking a nap on a mountainside. While the leopard was certainly not close, this image from TRVL° co-founder Greg Snell shows the epic scale of the scene.
There’s no escaping the “Ger Life” if you’re travelling Mongolia. And while at first it might feel like a bit of challenge to find yourself lodged in this style accommodation night after night, you learn to love the ger life.
It’s here inside the gers that this cultural interaction happens. It’s where you meet the children of Mongolia, and have great conversations. Life in Mongolia is the most social here in a ger.
Check out some of these images from out guests, including and aboslutely epic photo of the milky way by Efstathios Spinos (@fotografosspinos).
While many see Mongolia as mostly rolling green hills, there’s a part of the country that’s full of absolutely massive peaks.
Altai Tavan Bogd National Park is home to a range of mountains nicknamed “The Friendship Mountains” as the range forms a tri-border along with both Russia and China. The altitude up here isn’t super friendly, but the views are definitely spectacular.
Altai Tavan Bogd translates to “The Five Saints of the Altai” and these five peaks definitely reach into the heavans. In fact, the hightest peak “Khüiten Peak” is higher in altitude (at 4,374m) than the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies.
With its spectacular glacier and sharp peaks, this is one of the best photo locations in all of Mongolia.
One of the most popular things to do is to visit the eagle hunters!
The eagle hunters are primarily Kazakh nomads. They practice a centuries-old tradition of hunting with golden eagles. Their training starts from an extremly young age, and eventually they use the birds to catch foxes and hares during winter.
Capturing images of the hunters and their birds is one of the most fascinating things to do in this country. Here’s a set of images captured by our guests.
We’re heading back to Mongolia in 2027!
Brendan van Son will be leading a group into some of the best photo locations in Mongolia, and it’s going to be a really special trip. We’ll be visiting lots of these photo spots, and this is the best photo tour to Mongolia for a reason. We mix culture with photography. We go beyond the photos and try to let you get an indepth view into life in Mongolia.
Want to join? Visit the tour page here.
