GRR!

---

Who said traveling is easy?

Passport: check
Money: check
Clothes: check
Supplies: check
Vaccinations: check
Lodging in Mongolia: ??????

Still no idea where I will be living once I get there and I was taken aback when told that apartments are $500!!! That's more than my rent here and I hate to sound so ethnocentric but are you kidding? So that was quite a shock and I'm still debating whether or not I should just camp out at the local hostels. But my volunteer coordinator is insisting that these apartments will be safer and what can I do but believe her? :-)

So other than that things seem to be progressing nicely though my own tumultuous personal life has robbed me of a lot of enthusiasm for my trip right now. I'm hoping I will regain some of that in the coming weeks.

---

Comments

[Rupert]

$5 0 0 ? !
That's crazy. You should investigate their housing market!

[Tulga]

Rent
It IS that expensive in here. Especially for foreigners it will be really expensive. You need to get a local to rent apartment for you. But still that local needs to know the real estate situation very well to find you a good apartment. For example, most apartments will not rent for less than 3 months and will demand the payment upfront. Not sure how long you are staying but keep in mind. Also, besides that rent money, you'll need to pay the bills which are considerable. On the other hand, your coordinator is right about apartments being safe. So, hotels - expensive, hostels - risky,dirty, apartments - lots of trouble but the most balanced choice. If you can find a decent guest house, it can be actually better than most choices for slightly more money.