Uvurkhangai: Orkhon Valley, Monasteries and Pastureland
Accommodation in Uvurkhangai
Uvurkhangai is shaped by the cultural landscape of the Orkhon Valley. In the province, it extends through the sums of Bat-Ă–lzii, Khujirt and Kharkhorin. The 121,967-hectare landscape includes pastureland on both banks of the Orkhon and numerous archaeological remains dating from the 6th century. Mongolian nomads continue to use the grassland as pasture. For your trip planning, historical traces and the continued use of the same landscape therefore sit side by side: Uvurkhangai can be explored through individual historic sites as well as through the cultural landscape as a whole.
Capitals and Monastery Foundations
Khar Balgas was the capital of the Uyghur Empire in the 8th and 9th centuries. Kharkhorum, which is part of the cultural landscape of the Orkhon Valley, was the capital of Chingis Khan's empire in the 13th and 14th centuries. These sites point to different empires and periods separated by several centuries. You can therefore place these historical reference points in chronological order rather than viewing them as part of the same era.
Erdene Zuu marks a later period: the monastery was founded in 1586 by order of Avtai Sain Khan next to Kharkhorum and is the oldest surviving Mongolian Buddhist monastery. Baruun KhĂĽree, also called Shank Monastery, was founded in 1647 on the southeastern slope of Mount Shank in Kharkhorin Sum. Zanabazar founded Tuvkhun Monastery in 1654. These dates provide a specific timeframe for the monastery sites and distinguish their founding periods.
Cultural Activities and Routes
At the Kharkhorum Museum, the Center for Traditional Mongolian Games offers educational activities for children and young people. At Tuvkhun Monastery, a path cut into the rock, with stone steps, leads up to the monastery. The cultural landscape administration also publishes a cultural tourism route within the World Heritage Site. The museum, monastery path and cultural tourism route each offer a different focus: educational activities, a distinctive feature of the path and exploration of the World Heritage Site.
Sources and Event Dates
Khujirt is known for its hot springs. A provincial figure published in 2015 listed five to six thermal baths or health resorts there as regularly operating; this number may have changed. Check the current operating status of the facilities for your travel dates.
The event calendar also provides a specific, dated reference point: for 2024, Uvurkhangai Province listed the traditional annual Yak Festival as taking place on July 23 in Bat-Ă–lzii Sum. If you are planning a visit around the festival, check the latest announcement. Historical information about capitals and monastery foundations provides fixed points in time; for operating facilities and events, however, check the information for your travel dates. For comparison at the national level, Naadam is celebrated as a national holiday in Mongolia every year from July 11 to 13, with horse racing, wrestling and archery at its center.
Discover more destinations: Kharkhorin, Khujirt, Darkhan-Uul Province, Khuvsgul, Ulaanbaatar, Zavkhan Province, Töv, Ömnögovi.
For the main travel overview: Mongolia.
