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Favorite thing: You can sort it out when you're there. They usually need only 2 days to organise everything. It's best though to have a clear idea of your itinerary in advance.

We booked with Tserentours, they charged lumpsum fee of $130 per day for 2 persons in a jeep with guide/driver all in (based on camping & excl. special requests).
Then you can go wherever you like (as long reasonable road conditions and not more then ca. 300km per day), but they need to have it decided in advance.

Bargaining is not so common, but at least try to negotiate more inclusions, such as cost for a day horse-/cameltrek, canoeing, bathhouse use and such things.
If you want to sleep one night in a hotel/guesthouse as a nice treat halfway the trip or so, try to include that in the lump sum price as well.
Also make sure you include special food wishes in the contract.
F.e. food was included but our guide rarely wanted to buy meat - likely to save on the budget. So if you want to eat decent meat every day make sure that's agreed!

You can also just rent car/driver excl. petrol; you then need to shop/cook for yourself and the driver. driver normally speaks no English. should cost lumpsum around $55,-- a day in UB, a bit cheaper in the provincial towns (like Tsetserleg).

Favorite thing: We used their services just a month ago (Blue Lake trek) with overall positive opinion.

a few comments for consideration:

* Ger-to-Ger says 85% of the price goes to the families where you stay with and that guide you. That's good to know, also to avoid abuse of Mongolian hospitality. F.e. most regualar agencies employ a local guide for the whole trip (usually student in early 20's)that are supplied with a lumpsum to feed the (tourist-)guests. Then along the way they regularly visit familis in remote ger's that usually generously present food and tea as a custom, although they have very little. Unfortunately we have seen & heard about guides /operator who accept these invitations but do nothing for these families in return while saving a on their own budget. We found this very shamefull practise and with Ger-to-Ger at least you ensured - as they say - that the money goes to those who deserve it.

* Great also is very close living together with the families. Although other agencies that go with guides from UB also may claim something similar, I doubt (from own experience)that they arrange such a close encounter with different families & their lifestyles for extended periods.

* Disadvantage is that you're just dropped at a family and from then on no one speaks English or German so we could not communicate a single word apart from dictionary and a few greetings.

* be aware, the trek did not always work out the way the fancy brochure/website advertised it. f.e.:
- Itinerary map showed a nice trekking circuit but in reality there was 2+ days of back tracking - that was a disappointment.
- Activities with families as per program didn't always happen.
- Also the distances per day as printed were not always followed by the local guides, so some days were too easy, on others we were totally destroyed.

As for the back office, good & friendly organisation. But they charge a compulsary $25 p.p. for an introduction in local customs & itinerary, this is a bit of a waste while the office girls obviously didn't know much of the reality (we were misinformed on our detailed questions regarding the trekking aspects), and the necessary info on customs came directly from a booklet that you got anyways - and also can be read during a 10 hour bus journey to the region where the trek starts.

But overall, it was a great & more genuine local experience than the jeep tour with guide/driver that we did afterwards with another agency.

if you need to know more pls let me know!!

have fun.

Favorite thing: You are able to get visa issued at Mongolian border when you arrive Ulanbator.
I am 100% sure, i have helped few travellers before and one of them was Canadian.
You need invitation letter from your host in Mongolia sent to the Airport customs before your arrival and, you should hold the copy in your hand.
The letter should have clear information about your host's contact details etc.
Good luck!

Favorite thing: Not many historical figures are bigger than their country but Genghis Khan (1162-1227) was certainly one of them. In the west he's always been perceived as a great statesman and warrior of the Mongol empire who knew of no limits or boundaries. He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia and he pursued an aggressive foreign policy by starting the Mongol invasions of East and Central Asia. During his life, the Mongol Empire eventually occupied most of Asia and his descendants went on to stretch the Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia by conquering all of modern-day China, Korea, Caucasus, Central Asian countries and substantial portions of modern Russia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. It's no wonder, then, that he is revered among Mongolians. For example, it is not uncommon for Mongolians to refer to Mongolia as "Genghis Khan's Mongolia," to themselves as "Genghis Khan's children," and to Genghis Khan as the "father of the Mongols" especially among the younger generation. His name and likeness are endorsed on products such as beer, vodka and biscuits; streets, buildings such as hotels and even the airport, and other places. His face can be found on everyday commodities, from liquors to the largest denominations of banknote. Put simply, he's the biggest name in Mongolia and his image is widely used for the tourist industry and on souvenirs. You simply won't be able to avoid him!

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Favorite thing: When you leave UB and the towns, the tarmaced roads will simply end in the middle of nowhere. This particular road, on the way to Ogii Lake was actually being worked on with several trucks delivering roads and such like for the road surface. It's good to see that roads in Mongolia are being built but it'll take them a long time to complete the whole country.

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Favorite thing: Ever watched the film "Back to the Future" and the scene where the Doc returns from the future and visits Marty and Jennifer? Marty says to him "You don't have enough road to get up to 88mph". Doc replies, "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads". Well, it's kind of like that in Mongolia, minus doing 88mph and the time travelling, that is! When you leave UB and the towns, the tarmaced roads will simply end in the middle of nowhere. You'll just end up on dirt tracks that will roll over the steppe landscape like a highway in their own right as there'll sometimes be more than one carved out of the dirt.

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Favorite thing: Umnogobi province is home to part of the Gobi desert and, of course, you'll see plenty of these guys walking around along the dirt tracks. These are Bactrian camels that normally have a fury neck during the winder but this is sheered for wool during the summer. Mongolian's capture wild camels and it takes a year for them to be obedient but well worth the time as a camel can transport up to 160kg in weight, 100 miles a day without food or water.

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Favorite thing: Horses are everywhere in Mongolian but most of them belong to people and are not wild. The wild one's are caught and tamed but it takes a very skilled horseman to do this. It's no wonder that Mongolian's are said to be the best horseman in the world. Whenever we encountered them, on our tour, we would stop the car in order to take pictures of them as they are so beautiful.