China, Sichuan, Theme Park Review

Theme Park Review: Happy Valley Chengdu, China

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During the May vacation in 2013, my ex-girlfriend and I decided to get out of Nanjing and see what Sichuan province had to offer. While the main reasons for our trip were to visit Jiuzhaigou National Park and play with some pandas, I was also just a tad excited about the opportunity to check out a Chinese theme park.

The Happy Valley chain of theme parks has parks in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen – so I had high hopes that the Chengdu edition would be a fun day out for us.

I was, sadly, rather mistaken.

About Happy Valley

Starting with Shenzhen Happy Valley in 2002, the Happy Valley franchise of theme parks now boasts parks in Shanghai, Chengdu, Beijing, Wuhan, and Tianjin. The Chengdu edition that I visited was the third of these parks and, as it was built in only 2009, is quite new and modern in many regards.

Nomadic American posing at the beginning of our visit.
Nomadic American posing at the beginning of our visit.

China’s theme park obsession reflects its obsession with many aspects of western culture and, as such, Happy Valley comes across as a rather shallow imitation of the American theme parks it aspires to be. It’s all bright colours and loud music without any of the attention to detail or invention that makes US theme parks such a joy to attend.

In many respects, Happy Valley reminded me of Korea’s Everland, but where that park has had time to grow and become something a tad memorable, Happy Valley felt like a paint-by-numbers theme park.

Like the American theme parks it aspires to, Happy Valley has themed areas such as Dream of Mediterranean, Magic Castle, Happy Light Year, Sunny Harbour, Flying Island, and Great Szechwan. Of particular note is this last one, that does have a distinctly ancient Chinese feel that sets it apart from the gardens and bright colours of the rest of the park. Happy Light Year has a carnival atmosphere that is quite endearing as well.

Tickets are a very competitive 130RMB (a shade over $20 US). The park is not difficult to get to via cab, but parking is a nightmare to obtain, so don’t be surprised if your taxi drops you off at the end of the block and expects you to walk.

Getting a taxi home is a complete bitch. We had an hour wait before one would stop for us and we were able to get into it before a Chinese family shoved us aside.

Thrill Factor

Happy Valley Chengdu boasts just four roller coasters, and I was able to ride three of them. The fourth appeared to be closed while I was at the park.

Dragon in Clouds was the least exciting of the park's thrill rides.
Dragon in Clouds was the least exciting of the park’s thrill rides.

Weirdly, the park’s two best thrill rides (Dragon in Clouds and Fly Over Mediterranean) are literally right next to one another. Conveniently, this is right by the entrance, although lines were crazy long. It was amusing to watch the Chinese patrons periodically doing stretches in the queues, urged on by pre-recorded audio!

These roller coasters are:

  • Dragon in Clouds: A fairly unremarkable but enjoyable steel rollercoaster.
  • Dragon in Snowfield: A very cool looking, Sichuan themed mine train rollercoaster. Closed on the day of my visit.
  • Fly Over Mediterranean: The best roller coaster in the park – an Intamin Mega-Lite. Fast, plenty of sharp turns, and just all around fun.
  • Mad Rats: A wild mouse style coaster for kids.
The Dragon in Clouds soars overhead as basketball players do tricks.
The Dragon in Clouds soars overhead as basketball players do tricks.

In addition to these rather slim pickings, there are also traditional thrill rides such as a giant drop style ride and a gyro swing on a raised platform that gives a surprisingly terrifying view of the park. In truth, this last ride was my favourite in the park.

Thrill Factor: 5.5/10

Family Factor

Happy Valley markets itself as a family park, and it’s in this area that it manages to do a more than passable job. There are countless rides and attractions targeted at those with less of an appetite for thrills at the park. As their website is in Chinese, I can’t track down a list of names, so I’ll just highlight a few that stood out.

  • Standard carnival rides such as ferris wheels, tilt-a-whirls etc.
  • A rapids ride with obligatory wetness.
  • Big splash flume log ride. Guests can pay extra to shoot riders with water cannons!
  • A bizarre indoor shooting ride (North Pole Adventure) in which you fight Santa Claus.
  • An obvious Kung Fu Panda knock-off 4D ride.
  • A pair of haunted house style rides.
  • The centre island, Flying Island, has an only mildly depressing zoo from an animal mistreatment perspective. It also boasts a rotating tower ride that provides great views of the park.
happy valley chengdu flying island
The Flying Island on its (not quite) island.

There are also plenty of sideshow alley style games to play and other such nonsense. There’s also an attached water park (Caribbean Bay) that was closed when I visited, but looks to be modestly sized.

While wandering the park, we also spotted what amounted to a stunt basketball and skate show. It was a pleasant reprieve from walking around, and the crowd interaction element was fun as well.

Basketball stunts, boi!
Basketball stunts, boi!

Family Factor: 6.5/10

Kid Factor

I’m finding this one harder and harder to rate as a solo traveler. I’m not a kid, nor do I travel with kids, so I rarely pay much attention to the kids’ sections of these parks.

Magic Castle is Happy Valley’s answer to a kids section, and from glancing at their website it looks to have the required over-abundance of colour, knock-off cartoon characters, and tame rides to keep kids occupied.

Kid Factor: 6/10

Atmosphere

Asian theme parks tend to lack the soul that I’ve found in parks in the United States and Australia. This might be due to the lack of a real theme park culture in the country, or it might have a lot to do with the fact many of the parks are quite new and therefore haven’t had time to develop a real feel of their own.

A rather odd set of drunk statues.
A rather odd set of drunk statues.

Despite having themed zones, only the Great Sichuan area made any real effort to stand out from the rest of the park with its pagodas, walls etc. There’s an over-arcing aviation theme near the park’s roller coasters, and Flying Island does have a rather nice garden area.

The Dragon in Snow roller coaster and Great Sezchwan decoration.
The Dragon in Snow roller coaster and Great Sezchwan decoration.

The atmosphere is hindered somewhat by sharing a park with the Chinese. While Sichuan residents tend to be less bored with tourists as locals in Beijing or Shanghai (and hence shoving is replaced with requests for photos), there’s still a general lack of familiarity with things like queuing protocol or general manners when it comes to getting around people.

All told, it’s a very clean and well laid out park, but it doesn’t feel particularly remarkable.

Atmosphere Rating: 5.5/10

Food

My visit to Happy Valley Chengdu was the first time I ever left a theme park starving. The selection of food at the park, with the exception of the ever-present McDonalds, was pretty grim. Lots of the restaurants purporting to sell Chinese foods were either closed or, more frustratingly, would basically tell you their entire menus were off limits save for one or two items.

Eating the only pleasant thing we could find: a snow cone.
Eating the only pleasant thing we could find: a snow cone.

We did find some passably good (although very spicy) street food and snow cones to tide us over, but were basically in a terrible mood from about lunch time until we left the park in search of something that wouldn’t make us shit firewater.

Food Rating: 4/10

Best Ride

The Flying Over Mediterranean coaster wins this by a country mile, with none of the park’s other rides really coming close. It’s far from the best roller coaster I’ve ever been on, and isn’t even the best I’ve ridden in China, but it was a blast.

Special mention also to the park’s Gyro Swing. By putting it on a raised platform, you get a stellar view of the park and the longer than usual ride time somewhat made up for the near two hour queue.

Overall

In something of a first for my theme park reviews, I’d actually go so far as to say that Happy Valley Chengdu is not worth the visit. Between the ever present crowds, the abysmal selection of food, the relatively low number of big ticket rides, and the fact it just felt like a pale imitation of a theme park – it was just an overall unpleasant experience.

I’m a guy who can enjoy most anything, but I left the park in a worse mood than I arrived at it.

Terrifying clown
Terrifying clown

If you’ve got a day to kill in Chengdu and have already done the obligatory stuff like seeing the pandas and visiting the reclining Buddha, it might be worth a day trip.

Recommended Reads
Dignity is something I take very seriously, obviously.

Recommend Reads: July Edition

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With three weeks remaining in my time as an ESL teacher here in Nanjing, there’s more than a little navel gazing and daydreaming going on between classes. While I could be out soaking up what little time remains here in China, I’m instead content to piss time away on video games, re-reading Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, watching new TV shows (I just finished Homeland and have started Ray Donovan), and sleeping as much as possible.

I’m also setting myself a pair of Aussie on the Road related travels:

  • Blog every two days for the next 30 days.
  • Read at least five blog posts a day.

In an effort to kill two birds with one stone, I’ve done some reading and thought I’d share my favourite posts with you!

Recommended Reads: July

For your reading pleasure, here are ten of the best for the month of July! Links are in the titles.

#10 – The Most Beautiful Landscapes From Around the World – Just Chuckin’ It

Maryland lad, Ryan has assembled some travel inspiration to get you through the working week in the form of some gorgeous shots from his recent round the world jaunting. With shots from Haiti to Thailand and New Zealand to Italy, there’s something in this pretty little post for everybody.

He also asks the question: Where is your favourite landscape?

My favourite landscape in China: Jiuzhaigou.
My favourite landscape in China: Jiuzhaigou.

That’s a tough one for me. Jiuzhaigou in China, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the pine forests and lakes of Northern Idaho, and stormy skies over Australia’s red centre are all contenders in my book.

#9 – My Big Australian Bucket List – A Dangerous Business

Amanda had my attention when she mentioned her bucket list. If there’s one thing I’ve become obsessed with since starting this whole travel blogging lark, it’s been checking items off a bucket list that seems to grow faster than I can check items off it. With my return to Australia imminent, I found this list particularly interesting as I contemplated which Aussie bucket list items I could check off.

I’m pleased to say I’ve checked off a few of Amanda’s Aussie items, but there are a few here for me to consider. It also got me thinking that maybe my own bucket list needs a few more Aussie items.

What would you want to do in Australia?

=#8 – 5 Time Management Tips to Improve Your Life Today – OneStep4Ward

This one’s not so much about travel as it is about self improvement, and that’s a topic very close to my heart. I’ve shared my own stories about dealing with depression before, and one of the key symptoms/causes (it’s a confusing bastard, is the ol’ black dog) is that I find that I procrastinate because I’m depressed, and get more depressed because I’ve not been productive enough.

Johnny Ward is one of the most well traveled and active guys in the blogging community, so when he talks time management, I’m all ears.

I won’t spoil the list for you by discussing it further here, but suffice to say there are some words of wisdom in here I’ll be abiding by both in the next few weeks (where my time is very limited) and when I get back to Australia (where I’ll have an over-abundance of time).

=#8 – 9 Step Plan for Getting Shit Done – yTravel

I’m cheating a bit here by including a second post at #8, but the themes were so similar and both posts were so good that I couldn’t just leave one out!

Much like Johnny, Craig & Kaz of yTravel blog are my travel blogging heroes of mine. These two Aussies manage to juggle constant travel, raising a young family, and being hugely successful bloggers with such ease that it makes me feel bad every time I put off updating the site for another day.

With typical laid back Aussie charm, Caz sums it all up in this post that should inspire even the most die hard procrastinator to get some shit done, as she so eloquently puts it.

#7 – A Prohibition Bar Crawl Through NYC – Nomadic Matt

The prolific Nomadic Matt hardly needs the link love from my end, but I found this pub crawl post to be one that caught my attention immediately. Like Matt, I’ve got a bit of a fascination with the 1920s and texts such as HBO’s Boardwalk Empire or Australia’s Underbelly: Razor. There’s something glamorous about the suit and hat wearing gangsters, the shady speakeasies, and the entire era for me.

Matt is perhaps best known for blogging about budget travel, but this post is definitely not for those looking to stick to a tight budget. Still, when I’m next in New York City, I’d love to suit up and swing by a few (or all) of the venues he’s listed. It sounds like a helluva night out.

On an entirely less classy pub crawl in Sydney in 2010.
On an entirely less classy pub crawl in Sydney in 2010.

#6 – 20 Things I Love About Chiang Mai – D Travels Round

While I’m sad to say our paths didn’t cross while I was in Chiang Mai last year, I’m a big fan of Diana’s site and her tireless work with the elephants she loves so dearly. Couple that with my love of the city she chooses to call home, and I couldn’t resist reading through her list and nodding my head in agreement.

Chiang Mai (which I’ve somehow yet to write about here) is one of my favourite cities in the world, and one I’d sorely love to call home someday. Take a look at her list and tell me you’re not tempted yourself!

#5 – 24 Hours in Portland in Photos – Seattle’s Travels

From a city I’d love to call home someday to a city that feels like home every time I visit; Seattle pays tribute to the Pacific Northwest’s other awesome city with this photolicious post from her day in Portland.

Beer, Voodoo Donuts, and iconic Portland sights are all featured with Seattle’s usual flair for photographic brilliance. This post made me homesick for a city I’ve yet to actually call home!

#4 – Who Are You Writing For? – The Gonzo Traveler

Perhaps better known for being one of the travel blogging world’s more flamboyant and proudly odd denizens, Will writes this wonderfully profound and engaging piece about who it is we – as travel bloggers- are writing for. What is it that drives us to share our lives and experiences on the internet?

This one is probably of more interests to travel bloggers and writers than it is to those contemplating round the world travel, but I believe you can apply a lot of the reasoning from this post to anything you’re passionate about in your life. Go read and tell me what you think.

This picture has nothing to do with the post.
This picture has nothing to do with the post.

#3 – Should You Get Offbeat In Your Travels? – One Weird Globe

I first came across Chris as a blogger back when he was one of the most well known travel bloggers in Korea courtesy of Chris in South Korea. His site was a fantastic resource for expats living and teaching in South Korea, and his new site about world travel is no different.

Like Chris (it must be the name), I’m a sucker for getting off the beaten path and avoiding the crowded tourist traps, so this post highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of being a bit adventurous really spoke to me.

#2 – The Unbearable Sadness of Traveling – Raising Miro on the Road of Life

Short, sweet, and beautifully poetic in its description – Lainie sums up what she calls the unbearable sadness of traveling wonderfully in this post.

There’s not a one of us who hasn’t experienced what is described in this post at some point in our travels, and I like to think I wouldn’t be living life right if I didn’t experience it again in the future.

#1 – Stop Allowing People’s Negative Behavior in Your Life – Reclaiming Your Future

If you haven’t discovered Toni of Reclaiming My Future’s amazing and inspiring new blog about self improvement and being a happier person, consider this your wake up call. Toni is sharing some truly wonderful stories and tips for greater happiness on her new site, and this is one of my favourite posts.

Many of us doubtlessly have negative people in our lives who try to force us to fit into their negative view of the world and of themselves, and I know what a drag it can be to have somebody question your lifestyle because they’re too afraid to live it themselves.

Toni’s post focuses more on day to day negativity than my own specific gripe, but her post has inspired me to address the causes for negativity in my own life.

This #1 spot is more about sharing her entire blog than any one post though, so take the time to browse and get inspired!

Your Say

What have been your favourite posts in the last few weeks? I’d love for you to share a few of the best so I can read them and hopefully share them with others too!

Budget Travel

Cutting the Luggage Fee Budget

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If you’re a perpetual expat like myself who finds themselves jetting off to a foreign country for a year or more at a time, you’ll understand the stress of trying to condense your life into 20kgs. Do you really need that third pair of shoes? Should you take your big winter coat or a pair of hoodies? Can you live without your boxed set of Doctor Who?

Every time I get to the airport, I have this niggling fear in the back of my mind that I’ll be over my luggage limit and I’ll have to either pay a fee or throw away things that I agonized over including in the first place.

With my upcoming return to Australia, I went so far as to pay an extra $75 for an additional 20kg on my flight with AirAsia. I dread to think what I’d have been charged with an airline that doesn’t purport to be a budget carrier.

Having now done this ‘move around the world’ thing a few times and taken a bunch more trips in between, I thought I’d share some of the wisdom I’ve learned so that you don’t have to have that niggling fear the next time you travel.

Cutting The Luggage Fee Budget

You’ve planned your vacation budget carefully, from choosing whether you can afford nice restaurants or will have to subsist on street food to juggling the number of nights you can spend in hostels while still leaving just a little extra for a luxurious ‘treat yourself’ night in a hotel room, but one particular charge can destroy all your budget limits: the luggage fees.

As global travel becomes more and more attainable for the average Joe, airlines have found that charging for checked bags is a handy way to improve their bottom line, especially with fuel costs soaring.

I wasn’t exactly impressed that I had to pay for any checked baggage on my 16 hour flight with AirAsia, and I’m sure no one else is excited about these fees either, but there are ways around them to make your traveling less expensive.

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Bag Flexibility

Those stylish, rectangular bags look attractive as you roll them through the airport, but they aren’t very versatile when it comes to fitting under your seat or in the overhead compartment. Save your travel budget by using a collapsible bag. It can be packed down in a compartment instead of being instantly checked as extra luggage. Look for bags that are canvas with handles and possible wheels. If there is just a small part of the overhead compartment open for one more bag, you want your squishy bag to conform to the space.

Consider maximising the size of your carry on to the limit so that you’re minimizing the amount you need to cram into your checked luggage. Taking a small roller bag rather than a tiny backpack lets you shift some of your checked luggage into your carry on, and still gives you access to your iPad, books etc.

Only The Essentials

Ideally, you only need your clothes and shoes to be packed on any short trip. Save on luggage fees by only carrying the essentials. Do you need all of those toiletries? Or can you make do with those in the hotel?Is it perhaps easier (and cheaper) to pick up a couple of extra t-shirts when you touch down like I did when I traveled to New Zealand?

When you’re traveling for an extensive period of time and planning to settle down in another country, consider which things you’ll be able to buy easily while abroad. Electronics and electrical appliances are cheap throughout Asia, so you don’t necessarily need to pack your electric razor or your hair dryer. Clothes are cheap as chips if you’re not particularly large (like myself, sadly), and all of my girl friends here say that shoe shopping is infinitely more fun and more affordable than at home.

With a light load, you’re almost guaranteed that your items will be carry-on rather than checked luggage. The bag must be small enough to fit under your seat with ample leg room or in the overhead compartment. With a small bag, you can fit it in almost any tight space to save your travel budget.

Weigh Them

That niggling fear I mentioned? It would have been a non-issue if I’d taken the time to weigh my bag before I left the house.

You may be a packing genius, but airlines also take the bag’s weight into consideration too, not just the dimensions. Check with your particular airline to understand their weight limits. Your bag may fit in an overhead compartment, but you’ll be charged an overweight fee that can be excessively high. Planes use more fuel when they are heavily loaded, forcing them to charge you for the extra weight. Consider the items you’re taking and weigh the bag before you arrive at the airport. You want to be completely prepared to avoid any extra charges.

There are countless companies offering special bag weights for you to use, but the much simpler (and cheaper) solution is to weigh yourself and then weigh yourself with your bag. Deduct your weight from the total, and you’ve got your bag’s weight – more or less.

Layer It On

It’s almost always cold on airplanes. The temperature at 30,000 feet is extremely cold so the plane can only be heated to a certain degree to keep everyone comfortable. To reduce your luggage size and possible fees, wear some of your clothes in layers. Although this strategy may sound comedic, you can lighten your load considerably with two or three clothing layers. Wear a thin shirt under a button shirt with a light sweater on top, for instance. No one will realize that you are lightening your luggage load. You simply look warm for the flight.

This is particularly handy if you know you’re arriving in a place that is colder than the one you’re leaving. Heck, nothing’s stopping you from peeling off that extra thick winter coat as soon as you’re on the plane and either tucking it under your seat or using it as a pillow.

Credit Card Perks

One of the simplest ways to save on luggage fees is using your airline credit card. The Delta SkyMiles credit card, for example appears to be one of the best in this regard when compared with other credit cards on the comparison tool offered by MileCards.com because the first checked bags are free for up to 8 people when you use this card.

Moreover, each time you fly, you can take a free bag as long as it’s not over the size or weight limits. Not all airline cards have this perk, so it’s important to read the fine print. There may be many bonus point opportunities, but no checked bags. If you travel a lot, those free bags add up to cheap traveling.

Spread Out

Another way to travel cheaply is spreading a group’s bags around in a big group. For example, an airline credit card-holder has up to two free checked bags for each flight. In a group of four, all passengers can have carry-on bags while combining everyone’s extra items into two checked bags.

By sharing the luggage items between four people into two bags, they conserve space on the plane and save money at the same time. This budget strategy works well for families or even business travelers. Planning ahead is key, however.

Come to think of it, I can’t recall a single trip I took with my ex-girlfriend that didn’t involve my checked luggage basically being 65% my stuff and 35% overflow from hers. Hmm…

Ship Them

One option I’ve availed myself of multiple times when moving abroad (or returning home) has been shipping the things I wouldn’t need immediately. I’ll be shipping three good-sized boxes home in the next week, knowing that I’ll be paying roughly $120 to get around 35kg of things back to Australia.

With dozens of freight companies in the world, shipping is an inexpensive way to get your items to their destination without high charges. Compare shipment costs with luggage fees. Depending on the size and weight, the shipment could be substantially cheaper. By shipping your items, you save money on your vacation and budget yourself wisely. Select a shipper that uses a tracking system to keep tabs of your items. You simply pick them up at the shipment office or hotel when you arrive at the destination.

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In Closing

Traveling is expensive enough without worrying about wasting your hard earned spending money on excess baggage fees and other airline related nonsense. By using a few of the above tips, you’re going to be able to have a little extra spending cash for fresh fruit smoothies in Thailand, guided tours in China, or an overpriced beer in the United Kingdom.

Your Say

Do you have any tips to help minimize baggage costs when you travel? I’d love to hear them!

Mongolia

4 Mongolian Travel Experiences You Don’t Want to Miss

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Mongolia is epic.

In size, in landscape, in open space.

With so much emptiness, how do you find amazing Mongolian Experiences?

Independent travel is tough. Not only that, but it’s less rewarding than in other Asian countries. The limited public transport system only connects the major centres, none of which are good reasons to visit Mongolia.

So, most travellers opt to jump in a Russian van on an organised tour. Some tours are fixed, some are flexible. If independent travel is your thing, the flexible options are going to be better.

We gathered a group of 7 people together, planned an itinerary, hired a driver, stocked up with our own food and camped for free most nights. This got our final price down to about $38 per person per day, including all expenses, transport, camping gear, attractions and entertainment/alcohol.

Some of the things we did were amazing, some were average.

The 4 experiences below were the cream of the crop and worth adding when you plan your trip.

  Naadam

Visit the secret Naadam festivals tourists don’t know about

When you first research visiting Mongolia, you’ll almost certainly hear about the Naadaam festival. Not so secret, you’d think.

But there is more to it than most of the tour agencies and guide books let on.

Naadam normally happens in Ulaanbaatar, the capital, in mid July. By the time we arrived in late July, even our tour agent thought that it was too late for us to experience this traditional sporting festival. We insisted she check with the central tourist authority. We were not too late.

The main event in Ulaanbaatar brings together all of Mongolia’s best athletes to compete in wrestling, archery and horse racing. In a stadium atmosphere, at a premium price, tourists can enjoy the event at a distance.

But, heading to the rural Naadams is a whole different experience.

Small stadiums, free entry and a mostly local crowd enjoy all of the traditional events, close up. You can often get so close to the competition that you can smell the wrestlers sweating.

You can read a more in depth account of the local Naadam festival in Tsetserleg, 460KM west of Ulaanbaatar.

How to have this experience.

Rural Naadams happen from late June until early August – though most major events occur in July.

The main events will be registered with the Mongolian Tourist Authority from May onwards every year. It is best to contact them directly, or get your tour organiser to do so, as they may not speak English.

For accommodation, unlike in Ulaanbaatar, it is easy to camp, for free, a few KMs from the rural festival sites. It is best to find a quiet spot, rather than camping in the organised fields, as Mongolians tend to get very drunk at festivals and can sometimes cause problems.

  Gobi Sand Dunes Mongolia

Climb a Sand Dune

One of the most fascinating things about visiting Mongolia is the ever changing landscape. From snowy mountains to epic grasslands to rolling hills and deep cut gorges, it’s visually stunning. The view from the top of a dune is a highlight.

A large part of Mongolia is covered by the Gobi Desert. The Gobi is the largest desert in Asia, but only 5% is Sand dunes.

But, this isn’t going to be a problem.

Just a couple of hundred kilometres west of Ulaanbaatar lie massive sand dunes on the edge of the Gobi. Bordered by mountains and grassland, as you drive west the landscape suddenly changes and you feel like you are in a scene from Lawrence of Arabia.

Mongolia is a movie set waiting to happen. Today the infrastructure isn’t there to support it. So, now is the time to get in and see this unspoiled wilderness before the roads do get built.

How to have this experience.

Ask your tour organiser about visiting the sand dunes in the semi-Gobi, south west of Ulaanbaatar. These are the quickest to get to but there are other, some would say better, options further away too, it all depends where else you are planning to visit.

  Hot Springs Mongolia

Get Steamy at a Natural Hot Spring

There’s nothing like jumping into scalding hot water on a freezing cold night. Or sitting around in a steamy, outdoor bath, drinking beer with new friends.

Driving through empty wilderness, it’s easy to imagine that I’m talking about using a divining rod to find a bubbling spring in a field somewhere. Fortunately the hard work has been taken out of it with surprising efficiency. As you off-road across Mongolia, you may just drop over the next ridge to see a massive spa complex surrounded by Mongolian Gers (tents) – in the middle of nowhere.

From about $7 per person you can get a few hours in a hot spring bath.

And, after camping for many days, with nothing but icy rivers to bathe in, a spa is not just a must try experience, it’s a necessity.

How to have this experience.

There are a surprising amount of hot springs resorts in the non-desert areas of Mongolia. Either ask your tour organiser to include a spa stop in your itinerary, or just ask the driver to take a route that includes a spa.

Most resorts offer decent accommodation options, sometimes as low as $15 per person. If you are on a budget you can normally just set up your tent a short distance from the resort, for free.

 

Stay With a Local Nomad Family

But, a real nomad family.

As tourism in Mongolia increases, more and more local families are using the opportunity to set up “tourist camps”. These normally involve you and other groups of foreigners or Mongolian tourists camping in traditional tents, called “Gers”, often with plush interiors, comfy beds and a price tag to match…

And that’s all very nice.

However, if you have come to Mongolia to experience the real Mongolian lifestyle, a tourist camp is not going to cut it. Nor is a staged family Ger where they host tourists every night, albeit in a more traditional way.

Homestay Nomad Ger Mongolia

The closer you are to Ulaanbaatar, the harder it is to find the real thing. As you travel away, camps appear less often and, eventually, you find real nomad families, off the tourist trail. For $5 – $10 per person per night (maybe 10,000 MNT) you’ll get a pile of thick blankets on the floor, a home cooked meal and a roaring fire. You’ll also be sharing with the family, everyone inside one big tent. The traditional lifestyle.

If you are lucky – some would say, unlucky – you’ll get to sample the famous Mongolian “Five Fingers” dish. Fortunately, this does not involve eating someone’s fingers, but it does involve a table of ravenous people digging into a massive plate of meat, only meat, with their bare hands – their “five fingers”.

You’ll be presented with the boiled, chopped carcass of a whole lamb or goat. When I say whole, I mean whole. Head, organs, everything – vegetarians need not apply. Meat with a side of meat.

Mongolian cuisine is a surprise for most foreigners. Be prepared with our guide to typical Mongolian food which includes an English/Mongolian menu you can use for translations.

How to have this experience.

The best solution is to get on a tour that goes a long way from Ulaanbaatar. If you simply ask to stay with a local family, the driver will just take you to the nearest place he knows, which will invariably be one of the places that always get tourist visitors.

It’s often easier to discuss the home stay options with your tour operator before leaving. They will assume you want a tourist Ger, because most people they deal with do, so you have to explain specifically that you want to stay with a family who does not regularly host tourists.

Alternatively, it’s quite normal for locals to approach camps they don’t know and simply ask if they have space on the floor. Results vary from this method though, not the safest option.

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Which of these experiences would you most like to do? Leave us a comment.

 

Zip-line-tom-profile-thumb Tom Williams is chief editor of the Five Dollar Traveller website & author of Budget Burma: A comprehensive budget travel guide for Myanmar. From riding a crocodile in Thailand to getting drunk and going clubbing with Muslims in Mongolia, Tommo is living the dream… and then writing about it! Follow on Facebook, Pinterest or Google+