Three Camel Lodge

Three Camel Lodge is a luxury camp in the heart of Mongolia's Gobi Desert. Jalsa Urubshurow, the Mongolian-American founder of the travel company Nomadic Expeditions, built Three Camel Lodge in 2002 at the base of a hill in Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, and it became the first ger camp in the country to sign a formal agreement with the national park and local government to protect the surrounding land. The 40 gers are handmade by local artisans from felt, canvas and latticed wood, heated by a wood stove and fitted with a stone slate private bathroom.

By day, head out on camel treks and horseback rides across the desert, hike out to dinosaur fossil sites and ancient petroglyphs, or meet local nomadic families on their own land. At night, gather at Dino House, built in the style of a Buddhist temple, where staff musicians play the horse-head fiddle before dinner in the Bulagtai restaurant, built from an oversized ger in the style once used by Mongolian rulers.