Located a short drive away from Terelj National Park, is the huge 131-foot stainless steel Genghis Khan Horse Statue. Unfortunately, there aren’t any buses that run directly from the national park to the site of the Equestrian Statue. So, we only had one option: the good old, sticking the thumb out routine, as we weren’t willing to splash out on a tour! This was our first time hitchhiking and it was surprisingly painless and very easy. In this post, we will tell you exactly how to hitchhike to the famous Mongolia Genghis Khan Statue.
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Hitchhiking a ride from Terelj National Park to the Genghis Khan Statue
From our camp in Terelj National Park, we walked to the main road, which took about 30 minutes along the uneven, dusty pathway. Armed with the maps.me app, we knew the direction we needed to head in.
Important note: Make sure you have the name of the statue written in Mongolian, or at least have a picture of it on your phone, so drivers know where you are going. The road from the national park to the statue is a V shape. You need to head in the direction of Ulaanbaatar, and then double back on the parallel road when you reach the petrol station.
This was our first time hitchhiking, anywhere in the world! After exchanging a few giggles between us, 15 minutes passed, and we successfully got our first hitch! Our first ride was with a young Mongolian family that was heading into Ulaanbaatar. Upon reaching the petrol station on the left, after about 30 minutes of driving, we kindly thanked our driver and his family, before hopping out to get onto the next road.
The road to Mongolia’s huge horse statue
This is the last leg of the journey to the statue. We waited for all but a few minutes before we were picked up by a young Mongolian lad that blasted cool Mongolian tunes along the way. As we got closer we could see the huge Genghis Khan Statue towering over in the distance. Even from a distance, it was impressive, and we couldn’t wait to get up close! When we arrived, we jumped out of the car and crossed over the road.
We were pretty hungry by this point, so instead of going straight to the Genghis Khan Statue, we went to the one restaurant by the side of the road. Not breaking the tradition that we had done throughout the whole of our 3-week Mongolia trip, we ordered the usual potato, rice and carrots. After filling our bellies, we were ready to see the statue!
Genghis Khan Statue complex entrance cost
To enter the grounds of the Genghis Khan Statue is completely FREE. As you walk along the pathway you will see mini-statues that represent the Mongolian army on horseback. There are also a few shops to buy souvenirs. On the right-hand side, there are a few horses. Here you can try your hand at archery, whilst sitting on a horse. We paid about 10,000 Tugrik ($4) to shoot 6 arrows whilst on the horse. For budget backpackers this may seem like a waste of cash, but what a cool thing to do in Mongolia, right?
Inside the Mongolia Genghis Khan Statue
The giant statue of Genghis Khan is impressive, and you can even go inside the horse and climb the steps before coming out to a panoramic view of the surrounding fields and nature. However, to go inside there is an entrance fee of 6,000 Tugrik ($2.50). After paying the entrance fee, you can walk around the mini-museum and see the giant boot, before climbing the stairs to the view.
Heading back to Terelj National Park from the Genghis Khan Statue
After spending around 2 hours admiring the Genghis Khan Statue, browsing the shops, and shooting some arrows, we were ready to head back to camp. Of course, as we hitchhiked to the statue, we needed to hitchhike back. It was just as easy to hitchhike back as it was there. For the first leg, we were picked up by 2 Mongolian workmen who didn’t speak a word of English. They moved their wooden planks out of the way for us to get in the back, next to (what we think) were a couple of wolf skins. After a few attempts at a conversation, we made it back to the petrol station.
For the second leg of the journey, we were picked up by a Mongolian Grandma and Grandad. They chatted with us all the way back about their family and life in Mongolia. They were even kind enough to go out of their way and take us all the way to our camp. After we arrived, we quickly took a photo and waved goodbye. All in all, our first-time hitchhiking was a success, and we will definitely do it again.
Essential resources for travelling in Mongolia
Travel Insurance – No matter where you’re travelling to, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re covered for any accidents or losses. We spent days and weeks searching for insurance, but most insurers would not allow us to take out a policy as we were already abroad. Our personal choice is Safteywing. You can opt for automatic monthly payments, just like a subscription. More importantly, it is available in 180 countries and can be purchased whilst already travelling. There is no cap on the duration of travel.
Visa – Before you travel to any country, make sure to check if you need a visa. iVisa is a fantastic website that is super easy and quick to use. Just type in where you are from. and where you are going. to check if you need a visa. If you do, you can quickly make an application online.
Accommodation – Booking.com is our go-to when looking to pre-book accommodation online. Booking.com tend to almost always have the best rates and a FREE cancellation policy for most properties.
Tours & Activities – If you want to book tours and activities online, make sure to check out Get Your Guide. Get Your Guide takes the stress out of booking activities abroad. You will also find a range of benefits, such as skip-the-line passes, lunch included in your tours, and so much more.
Travel tips ebook -Before you head off on your adventure, make sure to download our free ebook. It has a whopping 109 budget travel tips to help you make your hard-earned cash go further. Click here to download your FREE ebook.
We hope this post will help you reach the huge Mongolia Genghis Khan Statue. Similar to Big Almaty Lake in Kazakhstan, we know the Genghis Khan Statue isn’t the easiest attraction to reach due to the lack of public transport, but the journey itself is part of the experience. Besides, the sheer size of the Genghis Khan Statue will blow you away and is totally worth the effort of visiting.
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Great place to visit! I´ve never been in Mongolia, but i want to. Great landscapes and culture 🙂
If you love a variety of landscapes and immersing your self in culture, Mongolia is certainly a country you should visit soon 🙂
It was nice reading about the places. Lovely pictures too.
Thanks for your comment, glad you enjoyed the read 🙂
I’m not sure if I would attempt hitchhiking as a solo female traveller, but it seems you guys had a great experience out there. Mongolia just seems more and more fascinating with every post I get to read.
Now that’s a bloody statue! Looks amazing guys. Maybe you should have taken horses though instead of hitchhiking? Just a thought 😉
Thank you for your comment 🙂 That is certainly a great thought and totally fitting for a trip to Mongolia. However, we had just come off a 2 week tour and already did horse riding…. Let’s just say… it didn’t go so well.
I’ve never hitchhiked before, but I am open to the idea of it. I just feel like as a woman, you have to be extra careful! And I can’t believe there are no buses towards a tourist attraction like that one!
To be honest, there aren’t many tourists in Mongolia anyway, let alone ones that go places without a tour group. I totally understand your concerns of hitchhiking as a lone female, I’m lucky to have Jake with me for extra safety. You could always try it. My suggestion would be to try to get a ride with families.
Interesting concept, I never ever thought about hitchhiking anywhere, much less a foreign country but it sounds like a safe and relatively reliable way to move around in Mongolia. I’ll definitely give it more thought as a creative alternative to car rentals and taxis 🙂 Glad you guys made it to the statue and clearly had an amazing experience!
To be honest, we had no other choice in Mongolia but it was super easy. We also hitchhiked through Japan too (more post to come on that). You should certainly give it a try, it saves a ton on transport. But even better, you get to connect and chat with local people.
Nice.. Don’t know about others but I will definitely try shooting arrows sitting on a horse!
Pretty cool thing to do Mongolia right! You should definitely give it a shot.
Another very informative post. History of Ghengis Khan is particularly known and today this place.
Shooting areas perched on a horse seems fun! Wow, I didn’t think it was possible to hitchhike in Mongolia!
It was pretty fun. No better place to do it than Mongolia. It was actually super easy to hitchhike too!
I’ve never hitchhiked because I usually travel solo, but it is really a good way to meet locals isn’t it 🙂
For sure, we have learned so much about the people and culture through hitchhiking.
Looks so exciting. After seeing Marco Polo series, I am hoping I get to explore these places.
I haven’t seen the series but I have heard a few people be inspired to visit through them. Hope you get to go soon.
What a great post. We’ve never been to Mongolia, but should plan to visit on our next trip to Asia. Thanks for sharing.
I hope you get to visit soon so you can see its beauty for yourself 🙂