Deep In Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, The Last Great Lodge For Explorers Awaits

Driving to the Three Camel Lodge, there’s no paved highway, no mobile knowledge, and nobody else in sight. Whereas these are issues most different folks would take as a nasty signal, that is what I like.

I used to be first drawn to the Three Camel Lodge years in the past when it got here throughout my radar as the lodge to expertise in Mongolia, the nation I’ve referred to as dwelling for the final a number of years now.

The extra I requested round, the extra the legend of the lodge outgrew the variety of mates I knew who really stayed there. Tales of the lodge attracting Nationwide Geographic-level explorers and housing expedition groups setting off into the Gobi Desert in quest of grand archeological finds, my curiosity had been piqued to the purpose of no return. It was determined. I needed to expertise this final nice lodge for explorers within the Gobi for myself.

Three Camel Lodge is Mongolian owned and a part of the Nomadic Expeditions household, a luxurious tour operator that gives high-end cultural expeditions all through Mongolia, India, Tibet, and Bhutan. As the one lodge within the tour operator’s portfolio, it’s the embodiment of what they stand for – the eye to element and appreciation for cultural heritage doesn’t miss a beat.

This yr marked the lodge’s 20^th anniversary, and because the Gobi Desert’s first and solely luxurious eco-lodge, lastly pulling as much as the lodge’s reception ger was a second of each aid and pleasure.

The lodge has 35 visitor gers, or yurts as they’re extra generally recognized in the remainder of the world, a restaurant, and bar.

Bulagtai Restaurant, an enormous eating ger the place friends take all their meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included within the keep), makes use of solely vegatables and fruits both grown on the lodge’s property or sourced from the native soum (city). The Thirsty Camel bar, housed in a Mongolian-style temple constructed from wooden from the Siberian taiga and a part of a sustainable reforestation program, has among the best picks of whiskey on this facet of Asia. Pappy Van Winkle, anybody?

The personal gers all have adjoining bogs with rainfall showers, wooden range heaters, king and double beds, and no web entry – leaving you to benefit from the views of the steppe with out the distraction of your cellphone.

There’s a spa on-site, in addition to Cannondale mountain bikes at friends disposal. Horse driving and different actions are additionally included within the Three Camel Lodge expertise.

Tucked beside a rock outcrop bearing historic petroglyphs, and with nothing however the steppe and the lingering Mongol Altai Mountain Vary within the distance, the lodge embodies every thing a curious soul might ask for. From sustainability practices to hiring native, every thing from the ethos to the dinosaur-fossils and decade’s value of Nationwide Geographic editions casually strewn in regards to the bar are the issues that make you neglect there’s no wi-fi or mobile knowledge out right here. One more reason sufficient to hunt this refuge out. Legends or not.

As my time on the lodge wound down, and the dread of testing settled in, I appreciated the hassle it took to succeed in the lodge greater than ever. Being so off the overwhelmed path it takes time, power, and a little bit of willpower to get right here. This isn’t a journey for everybody, and that draws the kind of traveler that you just’d wish to share a whiskey with and change journey tales. And as of late, that’s a uncommon and virtually unique factor.