Three Camel Lodge: Mongolia’s First Luxury Eco-Lodge, Built by Hand at the Foot of the Bulagtai

“My story begins far from the Gobi Desert, in New Jersey, where I was born into the first Kalmyk Mongolian community in the United States,” Jalsa says. “My parents survived extraordinary hardships during World War II before immigrating to America, and their resilience shaped my outlook on life from an early age.”

Jalsa built his career in construction. The other thing he carried with him, all those years, were the stories his family told about Mongolia, the land of his ancestors. When the country opened to the world after its peaceful democratic revolution in 1990, he saw an opening.

“I saw an opportunity to reconnect with that heritage and to share Mongolia with travelers in a meaningful way,” he says. “That vision led me to found Nomadic Expeditions in 1992, pioneering luxury adventure travel to Mongolia at a time when few had considered visiting.”

Three Camel Lodge grew out of that journey. It opened ten years after Nomadic Expeditions, in 2002, as the first luxury eco-lodge in Mongolia.

“I wanted to create a place in the Gobi Desert that honors Mongolia’s nomadic traditions while offering travelers comfort and thoughtful hospitality,” Jalsa says. “More than a hotel, the vision was to create a gateway, an experience that connects people to the vast beauty of the Gobi and to the culture and communities that call it home.”

The architectural decisions came early, and they were not abstract. Jalsa wanted the lodge to look as if it could only have been built where it stands.

“Inspired by traditional ger camps and Buddhist architectural principles, we designed the lodge to feel authentic to the landscape and culture,” he says. “Each ger is handcrafted by local artisans, and the main lodge was built using traditional techniques.”

The main building draws on the soum style of rural Mongolian Buddhist temples. Roof tiles were hand-molded. Stone was quarried locally. The gers themselves were built using construction methods that have been passed down through generations of Mongolian families. The staff, by design, is entirely Mongolian.

“My background in construction and my Mongolian heritage came together in a single project,” Jalsa says. “The convergence of those two things is, in many ways, what Three Camel Lodge is.”

There are forty gers at Three Camel Lodge, including two family gers with interconnecting bedrooms. Each one is built on a latticed wood frame and covered in layers of felt and canvas, in the same tradition Mongolian nomads have used for centuries.

Inside, every ger has a wood stove for heating, hand-painted king or double beds, custom Mongolian furnishings, and a private bathroom with a shower. Each ger faces south, in keeping with Mongolian tradition. The central oculus, used historically as a sundial, doubles as a stargazing window directly above the bed.

There are no telephones in the gers, and no internet anywhere on the property. The omission is intentional. The desert outside the door is the program.

The pace of a stay is set by the desert. Days unfold across camel treks on Bactrian camels through the Moltsog and Khongor sand dunes, fossil expeditions to the Flaming Cliffs where the first dinosaur eggs were discovered in 1923, and guided hikes through the ice-filled canyons of Yol Valley National Park.

“There are many extraordinary sites near the lodge,” Jalsa says. “The Flaming Cliffs, where the first dinosaur eggs were discovered, remain one of the world’s most significant paleontological sites. The Moltsog and Khongor sand dunes offer memorable camel treks and sweeping desert views.”

He pauses on the most personal of the recommendations.

“Perhaps most meaningful are visits with local nomadic families,” he says, “where guests can share tea, stories, and a glimpse into a way of life that has endured for centuries.”

Bulagtai Restaurant, set within an oversized ger inside Dino Hall, serves Mongolian classics such as buuz dumplings and tsuivan noodles alongside Western dishes built around vegetables grown at the nearby Bulgan organic farms. Evenings end at the Thirsty Camel Bar or in the Spa Ger, where a local bariach delivers a traditional Mongolian massage. The night sky, undimmed by any light pollution for hundreds of miles, is the quiet headline of every stay.

Three Camel Lodge has a structural commitment to sustainability. It is also one of the things Jalsa speaks about most directly.

“From the beginning, sustainability has been a responsibility that informs every decision we make,” he says. “In a place as fragile and extraordinary as the Gobi Desert, every decision carries weight.”

The lodge has eliminated single-use plastics, runs a landfill-free waste management system, and was designed to blend into the surrounding landscape rather than to assert itself against it. Equally important is the lodge’s relationship with the nomadic herders whose grazing routes pass nearby.

“The lodge maintains an open-door policy for traveling herders who may need water or shelter,” Jalsa says, “reflecting longstanding traditions of Mongolian hospitality.”

Through Nomadic Expeditions, Jalsa has also supported a number of cultural preservation initiatives. The most visible is the Golden Eagle Festival, which he co-founded in western Mongolia in 1999 to sustain the centuries-old practice of Kazakh eagle hunting while supporting local communities.

“Our belief has always been that tourism should benefit the land and the people who live there,” he says.

Ask Jalsa what he hopes a guest carries home, and the answer is not about the lodge at all. It is about the place.

“The Gobi Desert has a way of changing people,” he says. “Its vastness and silence invite reflection, and many guests leave with a renewed appreciation for nature and for cultures that live in harmony with the land.”

Almost a quarter century in, the lodge has become a quiet anchor in the southern Gobi. It supports local communities, employs Mongolians, and demonstrates a particular thesis about travel that Jalsa has held since the beginning.

“Three Camel Lodge represents the convergence of my heritage, my career in construction, and my commitment to sharing Mongolia with the world,” he says. “It is a place that supports local communities, celebrates Mongolian culture, and demonstrates that tourism can serve as a force for preservation.”

He returns one last time to the experience of guests on the ground.

“Seeing travelers experience the Gobi and connect with its people remains deeply meaningful,” Jalsa says. “When travel is thoughtfully designed and responsibly carried out, it can build understanding between cultures and foster a deeper respect for place.”