Thirsty Horse Mongolia LLC
Last update: 2nd January 2026
21st March: Spring Equinox Opening Ceremony at THM (also on-line)
Motorcycling in Mongolia begins on 1st April: Open Day at THM (on-line)
One to three day treks in Tov Aimag available between scheduled treks at short notice from 1st April to 30th September.
21st June: Mid Summer Celebration
Early season seven day trek using our light dualsport bikes.
Mid-season 12 day trek also using our light duasl sport bikes.
Our own Jesse (James) Thomas and William (The Kid) Knight, invite you for a full 10 day week of fun and adventure, coordinated with the Nadaam Festival. ADV bikes.
India-mongolia Friendship week, but all are welcome.
Yes, the Red Devil is alive and well, living with us, and heading for redemption. This is a very special trip. Deep desert zen.
21st September: Red Devil Closure and Equinox Party, back in Nisekh
Zuunmod and Mansushir Monastery. Cross country to Tonukuk Stel, Chingis Khan Statue Complex, Terelj N.P. Ger camp in Gachurt and over night stay for a feast with musical entertainment. Exploring the forests with a picnic lunch. Take the Tool River Road to Altabulag Els for camp, practice, exploring and batrbeque meal. Camping the night. Ghengis Khan Statrue Complex, Terelj N.P. Gachurt forest exploration and picnic lunch. Return to U.B.Leave the bikes and late evening return to UB by car.
Tool Gol River Road, Altabuleg Els, Kharkhoran, Batkhaan Mountain Reserve, Khustsain N.P. Finish in Nisekh with evening meal ad traditional music concert.
South Route Trek: Altanbulag Els, Bagaa Gazarin Chuluu, Mandalgobi, Ikh Gazarrin Chuluu, Ancient fort. Tonyukuk Stel, Ghengis Khan Statue Complex, Terelj N.P. Gachurt ger camp for an evening meal and traditional music concert. Gachurt forest exploration and picnic lunch. Return to U.B.
Hosted and led by Jesse and William, this is a full 10 day week of motorcycling adventure. The itinerary includes, exploration, wild camping, barbeques, riding instruction and practice sessions, and musical entertainment. The route takes us out to Kharkhoran, down to Mandalgobi with it's rock formations and ancient fortress, back up to the Terelj N. P., and finishes with a party in our ger camp at Gachurt.
A very international week. All welcome.
The Izh Planetta, a 350cc Russian motorcycle, appeared in "The Long Way Round" documetary by featureing Ewan McGregor and Charlie Bowman, but then everyboy knows that. Now it is looking for a way back into the story that it is part of - the journey to be reunited with it's old mates, Ewan, Charlie, and Claudio, in Sheperd's Bush, London, UK. The journey to get there, given the current state of the world, is starting to resemble Frdo's joirney with the ring. But we will begin, and this is the first part. - i.e. a visit to the U.K. But first we need to get across Mongolia and we have chosen a very interersting and challenging route: from UB, south to the Gobi, turn right and follow the Gobi-Altai rtange, then then vear north-west and follow the Altai Mountains all the way to Freindship Peak - the Mongolian, Russian, Kazak, Chinese bortder point.
This year we are using CF Moto 450 MTs and pairing them with Royal Enfield Mark II HimalayansThe staple of our fleet is the Voge 300 Rally - an excellent bike of road. A bit high in the saddle, but we provide lowerng - no problem.
The staple of our fleet is the Voge 300 Rally. A great off road performer and an excellent compromise in power and weight. It's a tall bike but we will be offerring them both standard and with reduced seat height.
We are proudly building a classic fleet. Currently we have 3 Honda 650cc Dominators, actually the biggest capacity bikes that we are running, and a pair of Royal Enfield Mark I (410cc) Himalayans.
We are very pleased to offer the CF Lite 230 and the Loncin 200 as lighter and lower dual sports that are both great to ride and freindly to those under 6 feet tall. We hope that they will prove to be good ladies bikes too.
A big part of our approach is to provide trining in various off road conditions, some more difficult than others. Now if you are learning to ride on sand, for exasmple, you are going to fall off a lot; which means that you will be picking up your bike a lot. So for everyone, including the heavyweights, we bring along 3 Loncin 200s specifically set up for training in difficult conditions. And once you have learned to ride well and improved your confidence, you can then have a lot more fun on the bigger bikes.
THM was founded in 2008 by Anthony and Urtaa promarily as an adventure tourism company but also promoting Mnogolian cultural activoties, such as concerts, art exhibitions, and notably the Mongolian rock band "Bulsara." It first offered motorcycling trekking with Chinese made 250cc dual sports, now all retired. Then rebuilt a fleet of Ural and Dneiper sidecar outfits with the help of British friends and enthousasts Dave Ramsden, Paul Codling and Elaine Page. Local members were Jambaa Enkhbat (Enkh), happilt still with us, Jambaa Altwanstsetseg, also happily still with us, Amraa, those dynamism and hard work helped us build the company, but now sadly departed, and our musical leading light Zorig, who also remains with us.
There is a special love of Uaz jeeps, which are used as support vehicles and a dedicated self-drive jeep trekking activity is planned for 2027 (with luck and if we can afford enough jeeps). Activities were interrupted by the Covid period but now we are back. Jesse Thomas and William Knight helped with the initial set up, back in 2009, re-united with the company in Mongolia in 2025, and are now set to lead a dedicated trek session annually, starting in 2026.
The name comes from the book "The Thirsty Horse of Mongolia", written by Anthony Sansom. The book featured an introduction by Damdingin Deberel, MP for Hovd Aimag, was illustrated by six Mongolian professional artists and and national schools competition, and won the Writer's Notes 1st Prize for junior adult fiction published in the USA in 2008.
A life time adventurer, author, videographer and musician.
A Mongolian national steeped in the culture and history of her country. Urtaa researches and prepares our historical and cultural events and directs the Mongolian side of the company.
Mongolian trekking is all about distance and remoteness, control of pace, margins of safety, and how to survive when it all goes wrong and you find yourself alone. All of our trekking actvities include an element of training for confidence and improvement. We will support you fully, but we also want to set you free.
We are a family. We are not just selling motorbike rides, we are promoting an approach to life: Travel adventure for discovery, experience and fun, physical and mental challenges leading to strength, confidence and self reliance; and we are making friends with like minded people. If that is you, then we want you to join our family.
Everyone who undertakes an activity with us gets a THM log book, which is for life. Come back anytime and do some more trekking with us, and the more experience you have, the more we will trust you and support you.
Internationally: Partly to promote the company, partly just for fun, and definitely so that we can meet with you: we organise some modest promotional events in other countries, usually out of season. We love everyone, but we have special historical ties with India, Korea, France, Greece, Hong Kong, the UK, Canada, the USA, Australia, and of course our neighbours Russia and China.
Thirsty Horse Mongolia LLC, ATb 2 - 5, Khan Uul 10, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. Tel: +976-85601-2806
