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Nomadic Expeditions

Frequently Asked Questions

Nomadic Expeditions was established 28 years ago by Jalsa Urubshurow as a Tour Operator specializing in adventure and luxury tours to Mongolia. Since our founding, the company has grown to expand its operations to include luxury and adventure tours to India, Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal, Siberia and China.

We are active members in prominent trade groups, including the US Tour Operators Association (USTOA), Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) and we are also a Virtuoso Preferred Supplier.  Over the years we have been the ground handler for tours offered by National Geographic Expeditions, Harvard Zoological Society, Stanford University Alum Travel, AMNH, Alf museum to name a few of our clients .

We offer a range of tours, treks and safaris, from cultural explorations to wilderness mountain trekking.

One of our team of Expeditions Specialist in our New Jersey office will be your primary contact person pre and post trip.  Our Expeditions and Operations staff have extensive knowledge of our tours and happy to discuss the finer details with you and help you prepare for your adventure.  We encourage you to call our office and have all your questions answered.

Our treks are typically multi-day hiking trips across wilderness mountain settings where we camp in a different location each night or stay in a local mountain lodge. The treks are supported by pack animals that carry all the necessary equipment (your personal gear, group tents, kitchen gear, fuel for cooking, rations etc.) required for us to set up comfortable overnight camps with a high level of creature comforts.

On our treks, you will only be required to carry a small day pack with some essentials that you will need during the course of the day’s hike, like water bottle, your camera, a jacket if inclement weather is expected. Physical demands of a trek vary based on the region, duration and the trek route.  Our Everest base camp trek is classified as Strenuous, whereas our Ladakh Trek is moderate.  Each trek itinerary will clearly define the rigors that the trek demands.

On a touring trip you typically travel between destinations by overland journeys using vehicles, trains or by flights. Daily walking is required on all tours in order to visit sites that may include local villages, museums, temples and monasteries. Physically speaking, tours are non-demanding.

The views are majestic, the food is sumptuous and the weather has held— sounds like the makings of a great trip. As any seasoned traveler will tell you, views, food, weather, are all important factors, but it is the Tour Leader and Guide that makes or break the trip. In destinations such as Mongolia, Tibet, India or Bhutan the role of the Tour Leader is particularly crucial. The presence of an experienced Tour Leader, with sound knowledge of the local system, the language and the people, serves to surmount any unpredictable situation – thus making the journey smooth and trouble-free.

We have developed a team of well-educated, knowledgeable and sensitive individuals, who, as leaders, have traveled extensively all over Asia (and the world, for that matter). As well as English, our leaders often speak at least two Asian languages with a fluency that leaves little to be desired. Over the years they have led cultural tours, trekking trips, wildlife safaris, desert camel and jeep safaris. Nomadic Expeditions runs an annual guide training program in Ulaanbaatar that is attended by our guides.You can read more about our trip leaders here.(please link to the guides page).

Our group trips range for 4 – 14 travelers and custom trips can be arranged for a single traveler or more.

The accommodation that we use range from alpine tents to luxury Palace rooms with private pools to exclusive lodges in remote locations like the Three Camel Lodge.  We choose accommodations based on their location, ambiance, facilities, environmental sensitivity, and above all a high standard of safety, hygiene and service.  More often than not they are best available in each location.

We do not use hostels or low-budget hotels.

For our Mongolia operations, we are a vertically integrated company with offices in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and in New Jersey, USA. We have our own fleet of Land Cruisers, Buses, and support vehicles, as well as a full range of equipment from “walk-in” to extreme condition tents. We are the pioneers in creating remote luxury field “Ger camps” with ensuite toilet setups and strive to provide the absolute best services to our luxury travelers. 

In other countries we work in close partnership with a local ground operator. Our staff regularly visit all or of region and personally choose hotels, transportation, local guides that keep in line with our high standard of operations.

We are not an airline ticketing agency and so cannot book/issue your international air.  However we work with ticketing agency and are happy to oversee your flight booking.

To ensure smooth operations, our local office and partners book and issue all domestic air tickets.  This ensures that your domestic flights match the ground operations that we have in place for your tour.

We provide all supporting documentation required to obtain visas. As passports have to be put in the mail to various consulates, we recommend that you mail them directly to the consulate.  In the case of Bhutan, a country which does not have consulates in all countries, we obtain the Visa through our local partners in Bhutan. For more on Visa requirements please click here.

Yes, we do.

Our Expeditions Specialist will be happy to discuss options with you from just an early arrival airport transfer to multi-day excursion that you may want to include in your travel.

No.  We do not automatically include trip cancellation insurance.  We do recommend that all travelers carry travel insurance that includes medical expense and evacuation insurance.  More information can be found here – Travel Insurance.

If you have any questions at all we encourage you to call and speak with one of our knowledgeable Expeditions Specialist. We also have detailed day-to-day itineraries that you can download from our website.

If you are ready to book your trip click here to see details on Four easy options to book your desired tour.

Yes, we do. 

When traveling with Nomadic Expeditions, you can be assured that your unforgettable vacation is contributing directly to our efforts to building a more sustainable future for Mongolia and its communities. You can read more about all the projects that we have done in the past and are currently involved in on our website

We are here to help.

If you have booked a private trip with us, we are here to help you modify your itinerary to suit your interests and needs.  Please keep in mind that if you change your travel dates and your new dates happen to fall over a holiday or high season, the Land Cost of your trip may increase.  (It’s also possible that the price could be reduced if you switch your dates from the high season to low season.)