MONGOLIA'S ANCIENT IMPERIAL HEARTLAND
Genghis Khan built an empire from this valley, and Erdene Zuu still stands where his son raised Mongolia's first Buddhist monastery among the ruins of Karakorum.
Around 320 kilometres west of Ulaanbaatar, the Orkhon Valley carries more history per kilometre than almost anywhere else in the country. UNESCO listed the valley as a World Heritage Site for a nomadic pastoral tradition stretching back more than two thousand years, and the evidence is still visible on the ground: stone stelae raised by the 8th-century Göktürk ruler Bilge Khan, and the sprawling ruins of Karakorum, capital of the Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan and later his son Ögedei.
Erdene Zuu Monastery, built from the stones of Karakorum's old palaces, was Mongolia's first Buddhist monastery and remains one of its most important, despite being partly destroyed under Soviet rule in the late 1930s. Higher up the valley, the Tuvkhun Hermitage sits at 2,600 metres, a demanding but rewarding climb for anyone interested in Mongolia's monastic history. For a change of pace, the Ulaan Tsutgalan waterfall drops twenty metres into a volcanic gorge - a striking spot to break up a day of temples and ruins with the sound of running water instead.
Away from the historic sites, the valley itself is classic Mongolian countryside: rolling grassland, grazing horses, and nomadic families whose way of life has changed little since the traditions UNESCO recognised. It pairs easily with the Gobi Desert to the south, swapping ancient capitals for singing sand dunes and dinosaur cliffs, or with Terelj National Park on the way back to Ulaanbaatar, for a last taste of granite peaks and pine forest before flying home. Most Mongolia holidays that include the Orkhon Valley build it in as the cultural counterweight to a wilder itinerary elsewhere in the country.
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