Day 1|Arrive in Ulaanbaatar — Welcome
Airport transfer, 1 hr
Airport pickup, hotel, and an evening briefing over dinner — tomorrow the expedition flies west.
Hotel in Ulaanbaatar
Dinner
Pallas’s Cat Odyssey: Margaz Mountains
Price
From US$3,220
per person
Duration
7 days
Season
Year-round
Single supplement
US$420
Overview
The most time-efficient way to meet a wild Pallas's cat. Fly west, settle into camp below the Margaz Mountains, and spend three full days with the rangers among the outcrops and marmot towns the cats call home. Compact enough to bolt onto any Mongolian journey — unforgettable enough to headline one.
- Three focused field days in prime Pallas's cat habitat
- Ranger knowledge of current dens and hunting grounds
- Runs year-round — every season has its character
- Watch hunting, sunning and den life at respectful distance
- Snow leopard, ibex and argali possible on the crags above
- Ideal add-on to a longer Mongolian itinerary
Day by day
Itinerary
A short, sharp encounter with the manul: seven days, three full field days, one extraordinary little cat.
Ulaanbaatar
Margaz Mountains
Day 2|Margaz Mountains via Uliastai — Into Manul Country
Fly 1 hr, then drive 4–5 hrs
Fly to Uliastai and drive into the rocky steppe below the Margaz massif. By late afternoon you are glassing your first outcrops; with luck, a flat grey shape on a boulder is already glaring back.
Ger camp
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3|Margaz Mountains — The First Full Day
Dawn among the outcrops, when cats sun on east-facing rocks. The rangers know the active sites; your day moves between them — watching hunts among the marmot burrows, learning the cat's oddly boneless way of vanishing into stone.
Ger camp
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4|Margaz Mountains — Den and Territory
A day built around the best current site, often a den watch from respectful distance. The supporting cast is generous: upland buzzards, demoiselle cranes in season, and the crags of the massif above, where snow leopards leave their tracks.
Ger camp
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5|Margaz Mountains — Last Field Day
One more dawn with the cats, then time to visit the ranger station and the herding family who share this steppe — the people whose tolerance makes the manul's stronghold possible. Farewell feast in camp.
Ger camp
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Ulaanbaatar
Day 6|Ulaanbaatar via Ulaangom — Return East
Drive 3–4 hrs, then fly 2 hrs
Drive to Ulaangom and fly back to the capital for a farewell dinner.
Hotel in Ulaanbaatar
Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 7|Fly Home — Departure
Airport transfer, 1 hr
Breakfast and airport transfer — seven days, one legend of the steppe.
Breakfast
From the field
Gallery
Your visit supports
Margaz Mountains — Margaz Conservation Center
A mountain-to-water transition zone where snow leopards and Pallas's cats share the same slopes — the corridor's scientific heart.
Herder partnerships monitor wildlife movements between seasonal pastures; guest stays fund predator-proof corrals that protect livestock and cats alike.
Make this journey yours
Every Soaring expedition is private and tailored — dates, pace and comfort shaped around you.
We confirm availability within one business day — secure online payment coming soon.
