Reliable Gobi tour operators and direct flight from UB to Silk Road

A retired couple wants to experience Gobi desert. We have limited time, 3 – 5 days, and thinking about flying into Gobi with a tour operator. After Gobi, we plan to go to Silk Road. Our questions are:
1. Any recommendation for a reliable tour operator in UB for Gobi?
2. We found gobitours.com. Any experience with this company? Any comments?
3. Is there any direct flight from UB to Silk Road region, say Kashigar, Urmqi, Xining, Lanzohu or Xian ?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You can fly to the Gobi desert for 5 days of tour.
There is not any direct flights to those destinations you are going.

1. Gobitours.com has been repeatedly recommended by several people of this website but understand that it is the same people who repost over and over. Most travelers on this site put together a trip in a 4x4 with guide and driver and 4-5 people to share the costs rather than take a formal tour. A highly recommended guide is Gans or Khongor Guest House. I think the email for gans is kbgans@yahoo.com

2. There are only a handful of international carriers that travel to UB airport and none from anywhere in Xinjiang. Carriers to UB include:
   Aeroflot
   Air China
   Korean Air
   MIAT (the Mongolian International airline)

Flights from China are almost always through Beijing. If you have to choose between MIAT and Air China there are multiple reports of MIAT being the better option as Air China seems to have more cancellations and delays.

Ruth

Hi,
I've just returned from a 4/5 day trip to the Gobi with Ger to Ger which I can highly recommend. Also went on a trip with Khongor (not to Gobi) and also enjoyed their trip. The best thing is to read what's on offer to see what appeals to you the most. You get to stay with families on the Ger to Ger trips but will have to camp on most of their trips.
Good luck, hope you enjoy it.

As stated above I would look at www.gobitours.com. They have an excellent reputation.

Thank you all for your help. We got another (crazy) idea.

Upon reading Lonelyplanet, i got impression that one can fly (by MIAT or EZ Nis) into DALANZADGAD from Ulaan Baartaar by oneself, and then hire jeep and guide there and tour around that area. Is it really feasible? How hard is it? We have none of camping gears, sleeping bags etc. If anybody done this, please help us.

It might be easier to join another group in UB, but we do not know where we can find the other parties. Is there any particular place we should look into in UB?

i'd recommend golden gobi tours if you're looking at the budget end. they have excellent guides and drivers (i took 2 tours). guides spoke fantastic english and were so lovely. we went to yol valley & flaming cliffs. mainly they do nomad family stays and only the occasional tourist camp which means you won't get to shower very much if at all...

OP - you might be able to fly to Dalanzadgad but unless you arranged to meet a guide prior to arrival the likelihood of locating someone knowledgeable who speaks English and has the necessary equipment when you get there is slim according to other reports on this forum.

Finding other travelers is actually relatively easy. First start at your guesthouse, contact other guesthouses, ask the guide you have hired, check community boards at popular expat restaurants, etc. Most travelers don't report problems finding fellow travelers with whom to share the costs assuming that they are traveling during the peak tourist season or flexible in the amount of time that they have to organize things.

Ruth

whatever you do dont go with Idres Guesthouse... they cheated us bad with money, stole our things from the jeep, stole gas at nights, and left us in a random city even though we paid for more days to drive us to Khovsgol lake (after Gobi) ... very scummy!!