Curious about our Mongolia tour? Let these two riders fill you in.
When WomanTours introduced our first-ever Mongolia tour in 2025, we knew it was a tour unlike any other we have offered.
Riders use tented toilets and showers, sleep in tents and traditional gers, and travel without Internet and cell service. The weather is unpredictable (there could be snow in July), the mosquitoes can be fierce, and you're a day's drive from the nearest clinic.
Yet for anyone who can forfeit these modern comforts, the payoff is … astounding. But don’t take our word for it. We asked two participants from the 2025 inaugural tour for their impressions of the tour. Natalie B. and Diana P. are friends from Juneau, AK. We have edited their responses for clarity.
If you like what they tell you, consider signing up for our next Mongolia tour in July 2026.
Bicycle touring in Mongolia without modern amenities
WomanTours: Congratulations on your successful tour! Let’s get to the most embarrassing question first. What was the bathroom and shower situation like?
Natalie: That was not an issue at all. The locals pee on the side of the road. I would try to find a rock to pee behind it, but in the tundra, there’s not always much coverage.
Diana: The showers were very fun, an adventure. It was in a blue pop-up tent, you pump this thing like a bug sprayer and get water pressure. Our interpreter would keep checking to see if you needed more hot water. You could get a shower any time.
WomanTours: And how about the sleeping arrangements?
Natalie: I loved the camping and gers. I loved being out in the fresh air and waking up to the beautiful mornings with a fresh walk to the outdoor toilet. I am a backpacker so I love my tent and sleeping bag. Sleeping was plenty warm, and the cots (in the tents) were perfect.
Diana: I took a 10-20 degree (sleeping) bag and was perfectly comfy. They offered hot water bottles to people at night and it felt really good on my neck. It was cold at night, but the tents were nice and they protect you. Plus there’s two to a tent, which helps keep it warmer.
Bike touring in Mongolia on fat tire bikes
WomanTours: Describe the experience of cycling in this country. What was harder or easier than you expected? How were the fat tire bikes for you?
Natalie: It was more of a challenge than I thought. Actually, quite difficult in places. The river crossings were a challenge. I mostly walked the river crossings. Fat tire bikes are definitely not my thing and I wouldn't purposefully go on a fat tire bike trip in the future. My thought when I signed up was that I would probably be the last rider in most of the time. If things got too difficult I could walk the distance. I am a strong walker and one afternoon the headwind was so strong I walked about 5 kilometers to camp.
Diana: Someone at work was getting rid of a fat tire bike so I got it before the trip and rode it as I had never ridden one before. Crossing the water (in Mongolia) was a lot of fun. I had no idea if the bike was big enough or fast enough but there was always someone spotting us. I tipped once. I hit a boulder but my foot came down before I fell. It was so much fun riding through this terrain. You turn a corner and all of a sudden there are camels!
What's special about this Mongolian bike tour
WomanTours: Paint a picture of what the wilderness in Mongolia is like.
Natalie: The vastness was amazing. I live in Alaska and understand wilderness and vastness. Mongolia offered a similar experience. There are snow-capped mountains in some areas, and glaciers. We saw wide-open tundra with tussocks (dense, clumping grasses and sedges that form mounds in the country's steppe and wetland ecosystems). In those tussocks you can break a leg in a heartbeat! There are a lot of rolling hills with rocks. The people who live here are nomadic and the government supports this nomadic lifestyle. They graze herds --- sheep, goats, cattle, horses, even camels --- and every couple of months they move everything to another location.
Diana: It was just huge, it’s vast. I’m used to closed in areas with a lot of trees. There, it’s wide open and beautiful. There are forests and trees, but a lot of open area. They picked an area where you can ride out to many lakes and rivers and waterways and waterfowl. You’d come over a hill and there you’d find a lake in the middle of rolling hills, and the hills turn into huge mountains with glaciers. There were also flowers. The colors at dusk were just spectacular, the clouds were just beautiful. There was wind, always wind. It reminds me of Iceland.
WomanTours: What was the food like?
Diana: I really liked the food. We had plenty of vegetables. The curries were really good. At our camp the cooks were Western-trained so they did fusion cooking, so stir-fries with meat and rice and vegetables. Dinner one night was this meat-filled pie, like an empanada. There was also milk tea, and I loved that. We were invited into gers for dinner and on one night we had lamb with local pasta—that was really, really good. Breakfast would be this watery hot soup so you were hydrated, and eggs and vegetables, and this delicious fried bread. They did a huge variety. At the wedding they served horse meat. To be polite I tried some. Even that was really good.
WomanTours: How did you communicate with everyone?
Natalie: Nobody spoke English, but you can get your point across with sign language, facial expressions. I communicated with everyone I needed to successfully. We had interpreters once in a while.
Who would have guessed that a Mongolian bike tour includes a wedding?
WomanTours: What was the most memorable part of the trip for you?
Diana: For the places that invited us into their gers (homes), we would leave trinkets and gifts. The older kids, they really liked pencils and pens for school. The little girls love anything sparkly and fancy. Someone had a great idea to get a soccer ball and the kids loved it. Frisbees, coloring books, stickers, matchbox cars—they really liked things like that. They would sing for you. I couldn’t believe it, they were so cute.
Natalie: Being with the local families and sharing tea and meals with them. The wedding we attended was an amazing honor for me. Karen (Natalie’s sister-in-law who was also on the tour) and I had to pee but didn’t want to use the toilet due to the long line, so we looked for a car to pee behind. We are squatting, doing our thing, when these two girls maybe ages 10 and 12, are staring at us. So we laughed, stood up, and the girls, not embarrassed at all, came over and each said “Hi, my name is…. What’s your name?” and then put their hands out to shake our hands. We told them our names and talked a little then went back to the wedding. They stayed with us almost the entire day. They would come up and say a couple words , then go back to their family and talk with them, then come back and follow us. I guess they wanted to practice their English. They were just precious, and it was really touching. Culturally, this trip was rich and that made it all worthwhile.
WomanTours: Wow, that is amazing. What was the rest of the wedding like?
Natalie: The wedding is in four parts. It is interesting to me that the bride and groom were in Western wear. She had on a white dress, he had on a suit. The older people there wore traditional dress and hats. They throw candy, not rice, at everyone. And they invite the entire valley. There were probably 300 people.
First, you go into the bride’s ger and have tea and snacks with family. People filter in and then out, then another group goes in. Then the bride and groom are in the center of a big field and people sit around in a circle for gift giving. As each gift is presented, the bride and groom thank them and then special guests come up and dance with the gift givers. WomanTours gave the couple money and we had to go up and we danced! Dinner and mare’s milk was shared with everyone in the circle. Then there is a wrestling match in the middle of the big circle. At the end is a horse race. Everyone hops in their vehicles and heads out to where our camp was and wait for the horse race. The people racing the horses are kids.
Diana: The wedding was culturally enlightening. You meet the family and have tea. Then the MC goes on and on during the gift-giving. Then there’s the wrestling in these crazy outfits and wonderful boots. Then a horse race. We hopped in our vehicles to get to the finish line. There were five heats, one for 2-year-olds, one for 3-year olds, etc. The kids, ages 6-13, are riding bareback. What fun. Because you are in a high altitude location, there are not a lot of trees, you are surrounded by mountains and glaciers and all of a sudden you have three guys riding over the hill. You could practically hear the soundtrack to a spaghetti Western. Then you see 20 more vehicles coming behind them, it was like a Mad Max movie! The whole day was so unusual and different.
Advice for anyone who wants to pedal through Mongolia
WomanTours: What advice would you give someone who is considering this tour?
Natalie: I would tell people to train every day and ride a fat tire bike before they go, as it’s much different than a road bike. I say go if you are really into understanding other cultures, and you like adventure, and you like the outdoors. You have to be tough to do this trip, and our group was a tough group. They did not complain and they were all very enthusiastic about all the things we did. The trip was absolutely amazing.
Diana: Be prepared for wet feet. It doesn’t matter if your shoes are waterproof, the water (in the streams) will spill over. I wore (waterproof) tennis shoes and Gore-Tex socks. Luckily, they dried out overnight. Be sure your footwear has protected toes. There is a lot of broken glass. Oh, and just have a good time!
Learn more about our Mongolian bike tour
