Visit to Mongol Uls!

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Goodday all,

I just made a video a few days ago about my first two years abroad:

From Tokyo I flew with MIAT, Mongolian Airlines, to Ulaanbaatar.
Originally I thought about going to Mongolia in April but decided to go in May because of the climate. It gets very cold in Mongolia and Ulaanbaatar is the coldest capital in the world. With an area of more than 1.5 million square km, Mongolia is the 19th largest country in the world but has just over 3 million inhabitants. It's sparsely populated and almost the half of the total population lives in the capital. The Mongolian Empire started to grow rapidly after it was founded by Chinggis (Genghis) Khan and possessed more than half of present Asia at the end of the 13th century.

Due to its size, small population and limited infrastructure, it isn't easy to travel independently through the country and I was forced to join a tour if I wanted to see some parts outside Ulaanbaatar. I was just short on time to join a tour to the Gobi Desert too. I had to choose and decided to skip Gobi because I've seen many deserts before. I didn't find Mongolia expensive but the fact that you probably have to join tours, could make it an expensive visit.
I didn't know what exactly to expect of Mongolia because I didn't do too much research before I went. The capital turned about to be more modern and organized than I thought. I was surprised to notice that many people I encountered, especially in the capital, spoke good English. In Japan that was not the case. Either way, I was very curious about Mongolia because it's a country you hardly ever hear about in the news (which is probably a good thing!). Basketball is big in Mongolia, the number one sport, and I often saw people playing. Someone told me that some Mongolian teams acquire American players to come and play during the season, mostly black Americans. Therefore in Mongolia I didn't get the attention like I got in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan because people are kind of used to see black people. I saw only three or four during my stay. In Mongolia people speak Mongolian and I managed to memorize a couple of basic words and sentences like hello, how are you, good afternoon, thank you etc. and people loved it when I mentioned them.



I landed in Ulaanbaatar in the evening and arranged to be picked-up by a driver from the hostel. Once I arrived at the hostel I immediately inquired about upcoming tours and paid to join one. There was one departing three days later which was perfect! The first two days I decided to explore a bit of Ulaanbaatar. I immediately noticed that there was a lot of construction going on in the city, mostly high-rise. Mongolia is experiencing an economic boom at the moment, primarily due to mining. Ulaanbaatar is quite big and there is one main street, Peace Avenue, which crosses through the city from east to west. I walked along the Peace Avenue towards the beautiful Gandantegchinlen Monastery complex, which houses a tall statue of the god "Migjid Janraisig" (Avalokitesvara) in its main hall. It's said to be the tallest indoor statue in the world! Everywhere around the complex and inside the main hall you'll find the prayer wheels. People walk past them while spinning them all and they believe that it brings good things for them.
The main square in Ulaanbaatar is Sukhbaatar Square (or Chinggis Square), a big square where official celebrations and ceremonies are held. The Government Palace with its big, fat statue of Chinggis Khan, is also located here. The palace houses various government offices, including the president's. You're allowed to go inside but pictures are not allowed. The entrance is free and you're allowed just in one small section where there is a little museum.
The other day, they were commemorating 70 years since the end of the Second World War on Sukhbaatar Square. The square was crowded and there was a stage where people were performing and speaking. Military personnel gave a dance-show which was cool. Nearby I visited the National Museum of Mongolia, a must to have a good and detailed insight into Mongolia's rich history and culture. It was truly fascinating and interesting to visit and I'd recommend everyone who makes it to Ulaanbaatar one day. I walked to the Choijin Lama Temple for a visit. While the entrance fee was low, the fee they charge for you to take pictures was absurd so I decided not to go inside.



I departed early morning towards the west with a driver and three other travellers for a 4-day tour to the Mongolian countryside. The first day we drove a lot but made several short stops along the way. The landscape is stunning with mountains with snow on top, lakes, green grass, gers (yurts) and cattle. You won't see trees! There is a vast emptiness and once a while you'll pass a tiny settlement along the road where they have small wooden buildings consisting of restaurants, cafe's and houses. There are several ovoos along the way, which are sacred cairns made of piles of stones and wood. Late afternoon we arrived at our accommodation near Karakorum, the ancient capital of the Mongol Empire. Here we stayed in a ger run by a local family. We went for a walk all the way to the town of Kharkhorin. It has about 10 000 people and there isn't anything special there, but it was nice to go for a walk and the weather was good. There was still quite a lot of snow lying around and it got very cold at night! For dinner we had a delicious soup that the family prepared for us. The next morning we visited Erdene Zuu Monastery. Surrounded by a wall with more than 100 stupas, the complex was built at the end of the 16th century and consisted of several temples but many were destroyed by communists last century. Some were saved from destruction and can be visited today and there is also a tiny museum there. It is still officially used as an active Buddhist monastery. I found the complex beautiful and colourful with a lot of detail, especially inside the temples. Photos were prohibited inside.

Then we drove towards our next accommodation located in the middle of nowhere, literally! On our way we saw many vultures flying around and they were huge! Our accommodation consisted of two gers and a small ranch where they keep cattle. Just about 200m further there were two other gers and that's it. There was nothing else in that area. Going to the toilet? There was plenty of place for that and I just dug a hole in the ground to do my thing! I did enjoy the quietness of the place and I just went for a short walk, sat down with my music and a book. No wifi, no phone coverage etc. and I didn't miss it at all! Later we had an opportunity to ride camels. I also tried some "Airag" which is fermented horse milk and it was absolutely disgusting! Just like many other Mongolians, the owners of the ger where we stayed are also nomads who live temporarily at a certain spot.

The next day we drove back towards Ulaanbaatar where we quickly stopped to have grab lunch. Here I tried the traditional Mongolian Khuushuur, which is like dumpling filled with meat. It was delicious but I found it a bit oily. We continued to visit the huge statue of Chinggis Khan, located in an area called Erdene. The 40m high statue is built out of stainless steel and it's possible to go inside the statue. You take an elevator first, then stairs and you'll get out on the neck and the head of the horse. It's quite an impressive statue which was built in 2008. When leaving the statue I got a chance to pose with a huge vulture and it was an awesome experience having that heavy bird on my arm! We went further to the beautiful Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, where we spent the night. On our way towards the accommodation we made a few stops with nice views over the landscape. Later on we did some horseback riding through the area which was great. The weather deteriorated suddenly with gusty winds, luckily we were just back in our ger. The next morning we hiked towards a little monastery from where we enjoyed other beautiful views of the national park. Then we had lunch and drove back to the capital.



Back in Ulaanbaatar I had a good rest, had a good shower and didn't do anything for the rest of that day. I still had one more day to go and decided to see a little bit more of the capital. I decided to walk towards the south of Sukhbaatar Square. I went to the Bogd Khan Palace where i did not enter because they charged a ridiculous price to enter with your camera. I decided to continue walking, crossed the bridge over the Tuul River and climbed the steps up to the Zaisan Memorial, located on top of a hill. It's dedicated to fallen Soviet soldiers during the Second World War and consists of a big statue and a wall in circular form with paintings displaying the friendship between Mongolia and former USSR. From there you get an ample view over Ulaanbaatar and realized how spread out it really is. A lot of people, especially teenagers, hang around the area. In the evening I decided to go out and went to a place with Latin music. There was quite a lot of people, mostly locals, and I must say that they impressed me with their moves when dancing. It was so cool to see people dancing Latin music all the way in Mongolia, and dancing well! I went with a girl from the hostel and I had a good night there dancing and interacting with several locals and some foreigners.

That was all from Mongolia. It was a short stay but well worth it. A truly interesting country, recommended for the adventurers.
From Mongolia I flew to Amsterdam, transferring in Moscow. More in my next entry!

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Comments

[Ake Och Emma]

I'm envious
OK, you made me envious again. I did make a very short visit to Ulaanbataar a long time a go but I barely had time to see anything. Also the visit was partly spoilt because I first lost my camera, and spent half a day trying to get it back, and later had some stomach problems and had to spend one day in a hotel room. One day I will go there again and then I will make sure to go see a lot more. Lovely picture by the way /Ake

[Elton]

Thank you very much! I hope you'll make it back in the future for longer...such an interesting country!! :)