Blogs from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Asia - page 5

Geo: 47.9159, 106.918Ulan Batar, or perhaps Ulaanbaatar, depending on which atlas you read, is the capital of Mongolia. The country has a population of 3 million of which one million live in the capital most of whom are currently stuck in a traffic jam. There seems to have been a sudden increase in disposable income and insufficient road capacity to cater for all the cars. They don't have a metro system so chaos reigns. Mongolians nominally drive on the right but half of the cars are imported second hand Japanese cars which are left hand drive. By far the most popular model is the Toyota Prius, the only explanation our guide gave was because petrol "is so expensive in Mongolia", it's about 75p a litre so there must be some other tax break either here or ... read more

We are heading south...to Beijing...and enjoying our last few hours in Ulan Baator. Back to the city...the people at Tuul River Lodge booked us in a guest house bang in the middle of the city. For info, it is called Zaya's, and I could only recommend those guys. Only proper western style hotels here are the Kempinski and the ramada...and they are not the best! Guesthouse...looking like a youth hostel...but we had a full flat for ourselves just one floor below...and for 50usd, that's a true bargain! We went to explore the city before it was getting dark. We had crossed it by car....new buildings everywhere mixing with Soviet style and soviet style housing...nothing really exciting. As the guest house is right in the middle of the city, it's easy to visit the main square, as ... read more

Ulan Bator - nichts fuer schwache Gemueter. 5 Minuten auf der Strasse unterwegs und es wurde schon mein Allerwertester von einem Passanten begrapscht und aggressiv gebettelt (umgeben von Kleinkindern, die zuerst nett nach "money" fragen und dann den Tonfall schnell aendern.). Im Reisefuehrer auch eindruecklich ein Foto, das einen kleinen Jungen zeigt, der in einem Kanalisationsschacht geschlafen hatte (da viel waermer als die bis zu -30 Grad oberhalb, hier in der kaeltesten Hauptstadt der Welt). Ulan Bator scheint mir trotz alledem (Durchschnittsverdienst 250 Dollar pro Monat) sehr stylish - jede/r ist perfekt angezogen. Und auch wenn wenige Englisch sprechen, haben wir (travel buddy Rafael und ich) mehrmals gehoert, wie unabhaengig und stark die Mongolinnen sind. Allein im Restaurant essen zum Beispiel? Ganz normal. Auch beim Bier zeigt das Land eigenen Willen: drei der vier Biere, d ... read more

Hustai National Park is about 100km outside Mongolia's capital Ulan Baatar. There are, of course, tours that go out there but I like to do things by myself because it's more fun and cheaper. I had started by emailing the Hustai National Park Trust to see if I could book a ger (a Mongolian tent, called a yurt by Russians). I also knew they had a staff mini-van that went to the park and back every Sunday and Friday, in which tourists could ride. The van costs US$30 return which is not cheap, especially considering the van is going there anyway, but still cheaper than a tour. A ger cost US$69 per day including three meals. I was going to take my own food so the price of the ger was instead US$31 per day. Oddly ... read more

From my five days here the one word that dominates my description of Ulaanbaatar is Random. That word doesn’t even really mean anything but seriously in Mongolia it seems people just do whatever want. My first impression when I get off the train is influenced by the ‘car park’ which our bus was parked in. Now when I say car park what I really mean is just a bunch of cars in no particular order just strewn about this area next to the station. Unsurprisingly it was rather difficult for the driver to manoeuvre out of and although everyone was constantly leaning on their horns no one seems phased in the slightest by the chaos. The same goes for when you’re on the road, you give way to who you want, you slip in and expect ... read more