The taiga, a pine-scented quilt of coniferous forest that blankets the boggy ground from northern Mongolia to the edge of the Arctic circle. But it's not only forest here. Indeed, much of the land is wild, rugged steppe country, or a transition zone, where fuzzy grasslands are riven by clumps of dark birch and larch. In other places, rocky mountain spines spread their snowy fingers into natural barriers, boundaries and basins, cupping ice-cold freshwater lakes that are as fiercely blue as the wide open Mongolian sky. The most famous body of water here is Lake Khövsgöl, the 'Mother Sea' of the nation, but beauty abounds across the region, especially in the Shangri-La-like isolation of the Darkhad Valley.

Tsagaan nuur Taiga (from UB 540km)

​There are two main areas where the Tsaatan community lives and herds reindeer, called the East Taiga and West Taiga respectively. Tsagaan Nuur village is conveniently located between these two areas, central to the entire Tsaatan community. Please note that the taiga areas are highly distinct ecological zones as compared to the steppe ecosystems found throughout Mongolia. When traveling from Tsagaan Nuur village to the Tsaatan’s herding camps you will pass from a steppe (grassland) ecosystem, into a taiga (boreal forest) ecosystem, delineated by a marked change in vegetation and topography.

Khuvsgul Lake (from UB 771km)

Khuvsgul lake is known as Asian Switzerland and the Asian blue pearl. It is 1645 m above sea level, 136 km long and 262 m deep. It is the second-most voluminous freshwater lake in Asia, and holds almost 70% of Mongolia's fresh water and 0.4% of all the fresh water in the world. The lake formed about 7 million years ago, it is connected under the Baikal Lake.

Amarbayasgalant Monastery (from UB 350km)

This monastery was built in memory of Bogd Zanabazar‘s skills, wisdom, intellect, accomplishment, talent, artistic skill and a wisdom, by the order Manchu Emperor Enkh-Amgalan khaan in 1725. Bogd Zanabazar was a great leader. Amarbayasgalant translates to “ peaceful happiness”. When looking for a site to build the temple, the exploratory group met a boy and a girl named Amar and Bayasgalant, respectively. These children were playing in a steppe, due to their nature it was decided that a future monastery at that site would be built and named after those children.