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Ulaanbaatar Travel Blogs

Background: The Mongols gained fame in the 13th century when under Chinggis KHAN they conquered a huge Eurasian empire. After his death the empire was divided into several powerful Mongol states, but these broke apart in the 14th century. The Mongols eventually retired to their original steppe homelands and later came under Chinese rule. Mongolia won its independence in 1921 with Soviet backing. A Communist regime was installed in 1924. During the early 1990s, the ex-Communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) gradually yielded its monopoly on power to the Democratic Union Coalition (DUC), which defeated the MPRP in a national election in 1996. Since then, parliamentary elections returned the MPRP overwhelmingly to power in 2000 and produced a coalition government in 2004.

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By Kati ja Sami
November 26th 2009

Ulaan Baatar 24-26.11.09 Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar

Suche Baatar square

Juna saapui aamulla kuuden aikaan Ulaanbaatariin. Oli vielä pimeää ja mieltä kutkutti. Himmeä taksi kyyditsi meidät hotellille, läpi karun ja kylmän keskustan. Ennakkoluulot ja aamutuntien näkymät Ulaanbaatarista kuitenkin romuttuivat heti auringon noustua. Keskustassa moderneja rakennuksia, ihmiset trendikkäästi pukeutuneita ja kadut pullollaan katumaastureita. Tosin muutaman korttelin kävelymatkan päässä ei enää niin hohdokasta. Ulaanbaatar siis sekoitus uutta ja vanhaa, kivaa ja kurjaa. Auringon valo toi esiin myös äärimmäisen ikävän ja huonon puolen. Valtava saastepilvi imaisi sisäänsä [View Full Entry]

By Tara Munch
November 7th 2009

The People That You Meet Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar

I wonder about the people that I meet or walk by or attempt to talk to in the course of a day. The edges of their lives just barely touching mine. People that I remember and think about but don t really know. The woman who checks me out at the grocery store, the man I pass on the street walking home, or the man I see living in the steam pipes across the street. Who are they? What is their story? Even when we talk I don ' t always know and the connection doesn't always last. For example, my [View Full Entry]

By Sorry but we are not at home
October 19th 2009

Mongolia Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar

Yummie

Mongolia - Ger to Ger trip Hi Friends, already in Beijing, but now we have time to give you some more details on Mongolia. We spent there 1 week which was way too short... but as there are trains only 3 times a week from UB to Beijing, and we have an appointment in Beijing on 23 Oct, we had to leave. We spent the one week in the Mongolian countryside in an organised tour where more or less the two of us were the group :o) We left UB by bus to somewhere in the West where a nice [View Full Entry]

By rachelisawesome
September 23rd 2009

Mongolia: Breaking it down Khan style Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar

Trans-Mongolian!

Our trip to Ulaan-Baatar from Beijing was long to say the least. 30 hours of countless card games, reading, scattegories, root shoot or marry’s and endless staring out the window at the unchangeable Gobi desert scenery all while under the influence of one of the many bottles of alcohol we smuggled onto the train. I loved Ulaan-Baatar instantly, despite being told by countless travellers and even Lonely Planet that it is one of the dirtiest, unsafe and grottiest places on earth. Sure it is all those things but I loved it nevertheless and thought it was fabulous! I think especially coming [View Full Entry]

By Tara Munch
September 18th 2009

Fighting the Good Fight for a Hot Shower Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar

Cows on the road

I am in a new apartment this year. This is cause for celebration. Actually I moved at the end of last school year. It is much nicer than my old apartment and close enough to the school that I can walk which is great because that means that I don’t have to deal with Mongolian traffic five days a week. It takes about ten minutes to walk school even though it looks as if they are right next to each other. I will probably be sad about this in the winter when it is nasty cold but I keep telling myself [View Full Entry]

By shaun dellavedova
September 11th 2009

Traffic jams, eating horse and dinosaurs in Ulaanbaatar Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar

Train to Mongolia

My introduction to Mongolia involved a broken leg. Not my leg, or anyone on the tour's leg, but the leg of an Australian lady who was taking the Trans Siberian railway, with the same tour company, but in the other direction. She had been putting the sheets on her bed on the top bunk just after leaving Ulaanbataar (that will be the only time I type the full name, forever henceforth to be known as UB), when she fell and broke two bones in her right leg. This lady looked to be about 60 and somewhat overweight, so why she was [View Full Entry]

By NomadAdrift
September 4th 2009

Mongolia Part II - Hospital Room #303 Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar

Room # 303

I once heard someone say, "There are no strangers, only friends we have yet to meet." (Hey Chris) Nowhere has that been made more true than here in Mongolia. Let's see... up until this point, I've backpacked through Europe, sailed across the South Pacific, volunteered on varied farms in Oceania, taught English and trekked to EBC in Nepal, experienced Thailand's wet and wild new year... what special experience would Mongolia have install for me... hmmmm... It's got to be something different. Oh! I know... how about a hernia repair. Surgery in a foreign land was the last thing on my list [View Full Entry]

By Gord
August 26th 2009

Yurts, Yak & Yours truly Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar

Temple

Arriving into Mongolia's capital on a chill-some morning, we were met at the train by a hostel rep offering us space in 'UB guesthouse'. Seeming like a good deal we accepted and jumped into a taxi. You can tell at once that Ulaan Baator is much more geared up for travellers. Most travellers use Ulaan Baator as a base to undertake tours of other places in Mongolia, such as the Gobi or Terelj national park. There're some worthwhile sights within the city itself, and during this first day we visited a few of them. Around midday we walked to the main [View Full Entry]

By Karen away
August 16th 2009

Volunteering Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar

At the Ger village

Well i've been working at the Ger village now for the last 2wks, i'll miss this place when i leave. The organization i'm working for is the Christina Noble childrens foundation (www.cncf.org) they do a lot of great things as well as the Ger village. They also work at the childrens prison teaching them skills for when they're released and have a big sponsership project with about 6000 kids on it. My days at the Ger village are spent playing with the kids, but i've also been helping them with some english! They love singing and the 2 english songs they [View Full Entry]

By Sam Broad
August 6th 2009

Ulaanbaatar and a week with a local family Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar

A view from the train journey from Irkutsk to Ulaanbaatar

You may be thinking I've been kind of quiet lately. Well there's a pretty good reason for that : I've been out of town... And by out of town I mean "Outer Mongolia" ! After arriving in Ulaanbaatar (UB for those in the know) and spending a couple of days with Sabina my CS host seeing the sights (there are only a few, and even then, I'm counting the Beatles tribute monument as one) the Mongolian fun really begun. Sabina was kind enough to introduce me to some friends of hers (and for this I am truly grateful) who live about [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar