Care to hike Mongolia? Google Maps does it for you

Mongolia seems to be a country largely forgotten by the outside world. Aside from Genghis Khan it appears few people know much about the Asian nation. That's a shame because it has a beautiful countryside with deserts, rivers and mountains.

Now Google wants to take you on a rather long journey through the country -- 5,000 km to be exact. All the way across Mongolia, including those beautiful Steppes.

"Last fall we strapped a Street View camera onto a four-wheel drive pickup truck to begin capturing 360-imagery from rugged Mongolian roads. Since then we’ve also gone off-road to capture images of the country’s most beautiful places with Ariuntuul, our Mongolian Trekker operator, who carried the 18-kg Street View Trekker into the wild expanses of Mongolia’s diverse countryside", says Google's Cynthia Wei.

There's real beauty here. Frozen lakes, the Salenga River and Gobi Desert. Sounds fascinating? It is, as there is much more to the country than one might expect.

Google points out that "adventurers will spend weeks exploring the hidden treasures of Mongolia". You can see it all now and without that pricey airfare. Head over to Google Maps and begin your trek.