Mongolia | A trip to the Terelj National Park

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase with one of these links, I recieve a small commission at no additional cost to you. Read the full Affiliate Policy.

The Terelj National Park in Mongolia is perfect for getting away from the busy city.

When we arrived in Ulaanbaatar, the first thing that really impacted me was the pollution. Because the city is built in a valley, surrounded by mountains, the pollution can get really bad. Even though we arrived in springtime (the worst time is winter) there was still quite a bit of pollution, and my lungs were not loving that (hello, asthma). But the second day we were there we actually headed out to Terelj National Park in the countryside and I could breathe again.

Located to the southeast of the city, Terelj is a beautiful series of valleys and mountains, of towering rock faces, and wide open grasslands. Spring in Mongolia is still a little bleak. Winter was harsh this year, so the greenery was taking it’s sweet time to come through. While said grass was just starting to peek its way back through the ground as we were leaving Mongolia, you could really imagine what it might look like with green pastures and leafy trees.

We stayed at a hotel at the end of the road (literally at the end of the road. If people want to go further than the main Terelj settlement, they had cross a river in their cars, which can’t always be done), which overlooked the river, a valley of not-yet-green trees, and the starting point for horse treks into the hills.

As a kid we spent many a weekend in these parts, getting out of the bustling city, so it was really cool to back and reminisce a little (though I only remember fragments). While I spent a good deal of our time in Terelj in the hotel room, reading books and catching up on Netflix, I did wander out to the river a few times, and into the township to the shops.

It was to and from these trips to Terelj National Park that the camel and vulture incidents occurred. Head back to that post to see what I’m talking about!