Tsaatan reindeer herding holiday, Mongolia

Planet

CARBON REDUCTION
This trip has no domestic flights. We travel overland from Ulaanbaatar to Khovsgol and back. The only flight is an optional return from Mörön, offered only to travellers who ask for it.
The last part of the journey into the taiga is on horseback, with packhorses carrying the bags. No vehicle goes up to the reindeer herders' camp.
We stay three nights at the same camp in the taiga instead of moving every day, and the days there are spent on foot or on horseback.
We buy food and supplies locally in Mörön whenever possible, and ask travellers to bring a refillable bottle instead of buying bottled water.
We are a young company and do not yet formally measure the emissions of our trips. As we grow, we intend to measure and reduce them.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE
The animal comes before the photograph. We never bait, feed, call or follow wild animals. Moose, bears, wolves and other wildlife are watched from a distance with binoculars, and we tell travellers clearly before booking that sightings are rare.
The reindeer belong to the families, and the families decide how visitors may approach, touch or ride them.
We follow the rules of the Ulaan Taiga Strictly Protected Area and keep to existing trails.
We carry out all our rubbish from the taiga and keep soap and waste out of the rivers.
We keep the group small so that our presence in the taiga and at the lake stays light.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY
The reindeer herding families are paid directly for hosting travellers, for their horses and for guiding. Local horsemen and their packhorses take the group into the mountains and back.
Near Ulaan-Uul, we stay with a local herding family, who host the group on the way in and on the way out.
We stay in local hotels in Mörön and in locally run ger camps at Amarbayasgalant and on the eastern shore of Lake Khovsgol, a part of the lake that receives far fewer visitors than the area around Khatgal.
We buy food, fuel and supplies locally wherever possible, so that tourism spending reaches the communities of Khovsgol rather than staying in the capital.

EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY AND DIVERSITY
Artus Expeditions is based in Ulaanbaatar. Our guides, drivers and cooks are Mongolian, and whenever possible we work with people who live in or near the regions we visit.
The days in the reindeer herders' camp have no fixed programme on purpose. The families' work comes first: travellers are guests who help, watch and ask questions, not an audience for a show. We ask travellers to always ask before taking photos of people.
We keep groups to a maximum of six travellers, so that the families who host us are never overwhelmed.
This trip involves long drives, several hours on horseback over wet and uneven ground, and five nights without running water. Travellers with limited mobility or other needs are welcome to contact us before booking. We will tell them honestly whether the trip suits them and what we can adapt.