Valley of the Ancestors, Khangai Mountains

Mountain Pilgrimage
Western Mongolia | Khangai Mountains
Dates: 7-18 Aug 2026 | By application only

Photo credit: Josh Exell

The mountain is more than land — it is ancestor, guardian, and spirit.

In Mongolian and Central Asian nomadic cultures, mountains are revered as sacred beings — alive, powerful, and deeply intertwined with spiritual and ancestral life. Pilgrimages to mountains are acts of reverence, rooted in animist, shamanic, and Buddhist traditions. Many nomadic cultures journey to sacred mountains to listen, to offer, and to remember who they are.

A sacred geometry of land, memory, and meaning — we will journey to Mandal Mountain and the Valley of the Ancestors.

For generations, Mongolia’s nomadic peoples have made pilgrimages to sacred mountains — places where earth meets sky, and offerings are made to ancestral spirits at stone cairns called ovoo. We follow in their footsteps, walking the line between reverence and remembering.

For many Mongolians, certain mountains are sacred. It’s name, the location and access is either forbidden or not widely shared except for the few who have been granted access.

This transformative and once in a lifetime immersive learning retreat is exclusively guided by our founder, Nancy Johnston. Our access is by invitation. Our relationship with indigenous families and in-depth, first-hand knowledge of this stunning landscape means we uniquely offer authentic journeys unlike any other experience.

Guided by the ever-watching mountains, you will be invited to experience the rhythms of nomadic life. Through connection, shared meals and embodied creativity, each day becomes a thread in a collaborative weaving of belonging.

This is more than a journey.

For creative souls, global citizens, modern nomads, storytellers, and seekers called to listen, to witness, and respond. This pilgrimage and residency is a living ritual, held in deep relationship with land, people, and tradition.

Come to listen.

Come to remember.

Come to create in the sacred Khangai Mountains.

The journey is delivered in association with House of Tengri

Identity is not fixed, but a constellation.

Valley of the Ancestors, Watercolour. © Christine Chang Hanway

Created as part of the Tengri × Source Mountain Artist in Residence program