Be One hobbyist 
Why do many choose to visit Mongolia?
I had my reasons like belows.
- ride camels and horses
- stay in a traditional dwelling called a “ger”
- see the beautiful night sky
- experience the great outdoors
Even if I try to find a tour that meets the above requirements, I can’t find it. Alternatively, only the Gobi Tour, which takes several days, came out.
What I learned after visiting the site is that “Semi-Gobi” may be a tour that meets these requirements. The Gobi area mentioned above basically refers to the “Gobi Desert”, a place that takes more than 11 hours by car from the capital Ulaanbaatar.
So, what does “Semi” in the tour name refer to? And how should I organize a tour?
In this article, I will write about this point based on my actual experience.
The following content describes the locations in detail, so if you refer to it, you may be able to get an overall picture of the tour.
Please check this in consideration of the enjoyment of the tour.
About Semi-Gobi
First of all, Semi-Gobi is not a place name. Semi is a prefix that literally means “half” or “partial.” From this, it comes to mean a smaller, more accessible area that has both desert and grassland characteristics.
The fact that it doesn’t come up when you search for “Semi-Gobi” on Google Maps is proof that it’s not a place name. Try searching for “mini-Gobi” instead. This is the stage of the so-called “Semi-Gobi”.
*The exact name of the place seems to be “Elsen Tasarkhai”
For reference, I had the impression that it was too small to be called a Semi.
Tips for Organizing a Tour
Tours related to Semi-Gobi often refer to those that include the following terms.
・Semi-Gobi
・Nomadic
・Camel or horse riding experience
・Gel stay
・HomeStay
At Semi-Gobi, you can ride camels or horses owned by Nomadic people, and stay in their ger as a HomeStay.
Many travelers participate in Semi-Gobi tours because they can experience various things relatively close to the capital Ulaanbaatar without having to go to Gobi, which is too far away.
However, there are problems with the high price and the difficulty of organizing tours from Japan.
Basically, it seems like we will be organizing a tour locally. However, there are some tips that I will introduce to you.
What determines the price of a tour
I felt that the tour was basically determined by the following factors.
1. Places to go
2. Number of days
3. Number of people
4. Driver’s language skills and whether or not he/she will also serve as a guide [Important]
5. Bases near your destination [Important]
How to lower tour prices
We will consider ways to lower tour prices from the five perspectives above.
Places to go
As I mentioned earlier, Gobi is quite far away. It takes about half a day by car or about an hour by plane.
When deciding where to go, consider factors such as the grandeur of nature and the simplicity of a ger, and the further away from the big city you are, the more likely you are to achieve these things, even if it is near Ulaanbaatar. Paradoxically, ger near the city can be said to be aimed at tourists.
Based on these considerations, you can decide whether you want to experience the grandeur of the Gobi Desert, go to World Heritage Sites in the west, or just want something casual.
Number of days
The shorter the total itinerary, the cheaper the tour fee will be. However, please note that Mongolia has a large land area, so the shorter the days, the more time will be spent on travel.
Semi-Gobi tour may be safe for 3 days and 2 nights. Even so, we had to travel for 6 hours on the first day and 8 hours on the last day. If you want to extend your trip to other cities, you may want to consider extending your trip by extending the number of days and going further west.
Number of people
The larger the number of people, the lower the number. Therefore, one of the reasons why many travelers organize tours locally is to participate in a tour with the people they are friends with from the time they stayed there. Tours organized at guesthouses are cheaper than what I saw online.
The Semi-Gobi tour I organized was originally priced at 120 USD/day (I think it’s cheaper than the price posted online at this point), but since there were 3 people participating, the price went down to 75 USD/day. ．． This means that the final price has dropped from 360 USD to 225 USD.
Driver’s language skills and whether or not he/she will also serve as a guide
This is one of the important points.
One of the measures taken by tour providers to reduce tour prices is to hire local elderly people as drivers. What this means is that you will be limited by the driver not being able to speak English (which is often the case).
Even though the Semi-Gobi tour is close, it takes more than 6 hours one way from Ulaanbaatar. During the journey, you will be traveling together, so if this person does not speak English, you will not be able to extract information, and above all, you will not be able to have a conversation.
In my experience, it’s best not to be stingy here. If you can choose someone who can speak even a little English, you should choose someone even if the price is a little higher. Even if the person is not familiar with the area, it will be fun if you can have a conversation with them.
Prices should increase in the following order: This is for your reference.
English non-speaker (often over 60 years old) <English speaker (you cannot choose how much you can speak) <English speaker and guide
Bases near your destination
This is one of the more important points.
Which ger to stay in, which direction to head from Ulaanbaatar, and which city to visit? These will determine your direction and destination. Depending on the direction, you should be able to decide which city will be your base.
On the other hand, once you know and decide on the city where you will be based, you may decide to go there individually.
Semi-Gobi is based in the city of Karakoram, which was the capital of the Mongol Empire. Therefore, many Semi-Gobi tours involve Karakoram. This is because there are many gels in this area, and it is a tourist destination such as a museum.
For example, there may be no need to take a taxi to the base if there are trains or long-distance buses that go to the base, or if you can’t get a driver with an English speaker.
Finally
We took a closer look at the Semi-Gobi tours that are often seen locally and their contents.
In the end, the final level of satisfaction depends more on who you travel with than the content of the tour. I think. If you have made friends with people at your accommodation, traveling with them should be fun.
