Experience the best of Olgiy

Ölgii is the capital of Bayan-Ölgii, the westernmost province of Mongolia, where the steppe meets the Altai Mountains near the borders with China and Russia. Most of the people here are Kazakhs, who speak Kazakh and follow Islam, and the town has a mosque, a market and a museum of the region's history. It is a town of low buildings and wide streets under big skies.

Kazakh eagle hunters, who train golden eagles to hunt foxes from horseback, live in the province, and an eagle festival in early October draws horsemen to compete. Far to the west, Altai Tavan Bogd National Park holds the highest peaks in Mongolia and the Potanin glacier, and rock carvings in the Altai are a World Heritage site. Lakes such as Khoton and Khurgan lie in the mountains.

Kazakh cooking is built on boiled meat, noodles and fried bread called baursak, with kumis, fermented mare's milk, and felted rugs with bold patterns hang in homes. Winters are among the coldest in Mongolia, summers are short and bright, and the months from August to October suit trips to the lakes and eagle country.