EAGLE HUNTERS AND HIGH PEAKS
Home to Kazakh eagle hunters and Mongolia's highest peaks, the Altai Mountains pair centuries-old tradition with some of the country's most dramatic, least-visited landscapes.
In Mongolia's far west, the Altai Mountains rise to almost 4,000 metres, culminating in Mount Khuiten in the Tavan Bogd massif, the country's highest peak and a serious draw for trekkers and mountaineers. The province of Bayan-Ölgii, at the range's foot, is home to Mongolia's Kazakh minority, and it's here that the centuries-old tradition of eagle hunting survives largely intact. Burkitshi, as the hunters are known, train golden eagles from just a few months old, with many Kazakh children receiving their own bird by the age of twelve or thirteen; a hunter and eagle typically work together for around ten years before the bird is released back into the wild.
The tradition dates back to at least the 12th century and was documented by Marco Polo in the 13th, and it's celebrated every October at the Golden Eagle Festival in Ölgii, where around 100 hunters gather at 1,710 metres for competitions that mix genuine skill with spectacle. Outside festival season, it's still possible to spend a day riding out with a Kazakh family and their eagle across the open steppe, a quieter and more personal version of the same tradition.
The Altai's isolation is part of the draw. This is one of the least-visited corners of Mongolia, reached by internal flight rather than road. It combines naturally with Lake Khövsgöl for travellers who want two very different wilderness regions on one trip, both areas rewarding the extra distance with landscapes and cultures found nowhere else in the country. Closer to home, Ulaanbaatar is the usual gateway in and out, and a comfortable place to break up the journey either side.
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Sophie
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