About Mongolia Relay

Why Mongolia Relay exists

Mongolia is one of the most rewarding countries in the world to travel — and one of the hardest to plan from abroad. Supply is fragmented: independent drivers, guides and operators of very different quality. Prices vary widely and are hard to compare. Distances are enormous and online itineraries often ignore them. Travelers struggle to answer basic questions: Do I need a guide? Can I self-drive? Is this quote fair? Gobi or Khövsgöl? Whom can I trust?

We started Mongolia Relay to reduce that friction: by organising what's knowable into clear, sourced answers, and by being a careful, accountable link between travelers and local people.

What we do

• Publish independent information on destinations, costs, drivers, routes and decisions — free to use whether or not you ever contact us.
• Help you design a realistic trip around your dates, pace and priorities.
• Introduce local people — drivers, driver-guides, guides and operators — who suit your trip.
• Coordinate between you and them, and stay your point of contact.

What we don't do

• We don't operate trips ourselves. Local Mongolian guides, drivers and operators run them, and your quote names who.
• We don't run a booking engine, sell packaged inventory or use fake urgency.
• We don't publish reviews we haven't received or claim verification we haven't done.
• We don't push tours on people who don't need them.

Who runs it

Mongolia Relay is run by its founder, based in the Netherlands. The founder's role is the human one: talking with travelers, understanding what they want, researching and speaking with local suppliers, designing itineraries and staying in touch before and during trips.

We want to be straightforward about the stage we're at. Mongolia Relay is a young business. Our published guides are based on structured research of official sources, local operators' published information, reputable travel references and traveler communities — and each page lists its sources. As we work with local people and spend time on the ground, we'll add first-hand knowledge and say clearly where it comes from.

How we research

For facts that matter — prices, entry rules, festival dates, distances — we use official sources first, then local operators' own published information, then reputable references, and treat community posts as secondary evidence. Pages show when they were last updated, and time-sensitive pages show when prices or rules were last checked. If something is uncertain, we say so.

Our principles

• Trust over hype. If the honest answer is "you don't need us", we'll say it.
• Specific over generic. Real driving times, real trade-offs.
• Real people over invented inventory. We describe the trips local people can actually run.
• Transparency on price. Sourced reference prices, itemised quotes, no hidden extras.

Contact

Email hello@mongoliarelay.com or use the trip request form. See also how it works and how we verify local people.