About Us
Mongolian horse trekking. Adventure travel. Wild Stride. Mongolia. Horse riding.
Our Story
We are Luke and Munkh-Od, two friends, with a lust for life and a mission to show the world just how unique and beautiful Mongolia can be. We met in 2017 during a trip Munkh-Od was leading in Central Mongolia. The two of us got on instantly sharing a playful sense of humour, an affinity for the outdoors and a desire to make adventure a key part of our lives. This is our story, this is how Wild Stride came to be!
When we first met, Munkh-Od had been leading trips for 5 years as a freelance guide. He had a wealth of experience and had contacts all over the country. He enjoyed his work but felt that the tours offered to most travellers only unlocked a fraction of what Mongolia could give. They spent too much time in the car sightseeing and not enough time in the vast spaces and with the Nomadic people to get a real sense of what made Mongolia great. What Munkh-Od was saying rang true for Luke, who was impressed by the scale of the wild places in Mongolia and itched to explore more of them. The culture was also intriguing. A completely different way of living to the most modern states. More in tune with nature, being self-sufficient and concerned with fulfilling needs rather than wants. There was freedom in this way of living and the vast space meant you were able to create your own path, without the imposed barriers or interference common in the rest of the world. It was this gift of freedom we wanted to share with others by getting them out of the cars and into the wild places. To take the time to hike up that mountain, ride accross that grassland valley or sit around the fire with follow travllers and nomadic people, to ask them questions a learn about this great country.
That is why in 2018 Luke came back with friends, family and people from his rural town of Bridport. To experience the kind of trip Munkh-Od and he envisioned. It was a complete success and by the end of the trip, everyone had a real taste of what Mongolia had to offer. From that moment on we have aimed to continue making immersive experiences that highlight the freedoms of the Mongolian way of life. We still run our 2018 Khovsgol tour and have created numerous other adventures at the request of travellers to unlock the kind of experiences they have want to get out of Mongolia. Mongolia is a playground of adventure and we are here to give you access to it. Be free to explore your way.
Mongolia is an extraordinary place and we aim to give you a truly unforgettable experience so book your tour today!
What do we stand for?
Ethical tourism
Climate change and global industrialisation is making life harder for Mongolian herders to survive. Fortunately, ethical tourism is having a positive impact in this area. Providing herders with an additional income stream allows them to be better prepared for the damaging effects a changing climate and provides some security against fluctuating global markets. For this reason, Wild Stride has partnered with local communities in Central and Northern Mongolia to provide authentic and responsible travel. Some of the skills and knowledge the people we work with have been passed down over thousands of generations. By running tours that celebrate their culture we hope to preserve their way of life long into the future. We are fortunate to be supported by such great people and grateful that we have been accepted into their lives with such love.
Enviromentally conscious + carbon balanced
Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints and kill nothing but time. We take all of our rubbish with us, none of the wildlife is harmed and we respect the local people’s way of life. Our tours are designed to help you get in touch with nature, which is why we do our best to run low-impact tourism that supports the local wildlife and people. We stick to wild camping, avoid hotels and resorts, and only work with people who share our ideals. Mongolia is changing but by inviting tourists to experience some of its most beautiful wilderness in this way we hope to preserve as much as we can. We are also aware that climate change as been particularly damaging in Mongolia as the Gobi desert is the fastest growing desert on the planet. By encouraging travel to Mongolia we are encourging flying. To combat this we are engaged in the Mongolia Nomad Project with C-Level that balances the carbon emissions we create through encouraging sustainable grazing, maintaining traditional skills and planting of trees. This kind of support is essential in the fight to reduce climate change and helps to encourage the kind of behaviours that have alowed humans to live in Mongolia for thousands of generations.
Animal and wildlife welfare
Mongolians have a deep love for nature. It is obvious in their art, music and how they identify as a nation. All of the animals we use in our adventures are well-treated. The horses roam free under the supervision of the nomadic herders for most of the year. It is a very natural life for the horses in this land they are perfectly adapted to. Many of the horses end up getting quite fat in the fertile northern regions and the exercise of being ridden can be good for them, keeping them fit and healthy. The reindeer and other herd animals are also well cared for. The Tsaatan like many other traditional herders show immense respect to their reindeer, protecting and nurturing their herds. This level of respect for their herds is universal amongst nomadic herders as their animals are their livelihood. The respect for life and nature also extends to the wild. Local councils work with herders to help manage and protect the local wildlife, by tracking and controlling predator populations while preventing poaching. Everything is used or given back to nature and a balance is struck between people and the wilds. If we felt this was not the case we would change who we partnered with or stop running trips completely.
More on how we balance the Carbon cost of our tours!
Many of our operations in Mongolia are relatively low in their carbon cost, our preferred methods of travel are horseback, cycling and hiking. We eat primarily local produce and have the beautiful landscapes of Mongolia to entertain us. However, in order to get to Mongolia, we do understand that many travelers may have to come from far away, and doing so has a Carbon costs. When we first started Wild Stride this was a concern for us and we looked into ways in which we could cover this cost by reinvesting into the places we loved. That is how we came across the Mongolian Nomad Project. The project aims to capture carbon and return it to the soil as well as supporting sustainable Nomadic ways of life that have preserved the natural landscape for hundreds of generations.
So now every time we run a tour we calculate how much carbon that tour took to run and we reinvest that cost into supporting the local people we work with and preserving the natural environment we inhabit. Win-win!
If you would like to find out more about the project you can visit the website @ http://www.clevel.co.uk/mongolian-nomad-project/
If you would like to know more about us then please get in touch for a chat.