Kharkhorin Travel Guide

Kharkhorin is an ancient-capital ruins and town on the Orkhon Valley steppe in central Mongolia, the site of the capital of the 13th-century trans-Eurasian Mongol Empire (under Ögedei Khan). The old imperial capital has vanished, but this land bearing Mongolia's most brilliant historical memory, together with the Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape, is a World Heritage site—profound and expansive, with the steppe most beautiful in summer, Jun-Sep. As the empire's heart, it once gathered envoys and merchants from across the world; after the capital moved and through warfare it declined, leaving only ruins and stone carvings and turtles to tell of the past. Standing beside the old capital, Erdene Zuu Monastery is one of Mongolia's oldest and most important Tibetan Buddhist monasteries (built in the 16th century from old-city materials); its most striking feature is the majestic square wall of 108 white stupas around it (please visit with respect and modest dress). The Orkhon Valley is a lush, fertile nomadic core area. About 6 hours from Ulaanbaatar.