Ulaanbaatar

Я чувствую себя немного Чингисханом (Im feeling a little bit Genghis Khan)

Temples, Street Markets, Cashmere and Manicures

10/09/2017: Day One

We arrived in Ulaanbaatar at dawn this morning after a long night on the train. The Mongolian train was not as comfortable as the Russian one and quite cold so no one got much sleep. Our new guide met us at the train station and we headed to our “hostel”. We are staying at the Khuvsgul Lake Hostel but to call it a hostel seems vastly unfair to all other hostels. In reality we are staying in a five star hotel that has converted the top couple of floor into a “hostel” by putting bunk beds in the rooms and giving a common living space and kitchen. It is incredible and also extremely comfortable so we had no trouble falling asleep for a couple of hours until it was a more reasonable time to go explore.

Our first stop, once up, was the Sukhbaatar Square, which we could see from our room. We went and had a look at the outside of the State History Museum of Mongolia and the massive Genghis Khan Statue that sits outside. The Square is also near the UN Embassy in Ulaanbaatar and has many statues for world peace, including a bell that has been forged from world currencies.

We then went to the State Department Store. This is the best place to go to exchange your money for Mongolian tögrögs. If you are from somewhere like New Zealand or Australia it is best to take pounds or USD rather than your home currency as they can exchange it more easily. One thing you will learn really quick about Mongolia is how cheap everything is for an outsider. The country is insular, not because of a desire to be cut off from the world, but because the average person only earns $600 a month. This is more than enough to live off of in Mongolia but means that travelling outside of Mongolia is very expensive and quite hard. The State Department store also has everything you can imagine in it, from tourists store to high end goods. We made a beeline for the cashmere floor where we all bought a few items each. Cashmere, as it is made in Mongolia, is so much cheaper than the rest of the world and amazing quality.

After some retail therapy we were off to the Choijin Lama Museum, this is a temple that has been converted into a museum and explains the spiritual history of Mongolia and the rise and fall of the Lamas and the Khans. Well worth a visit. It is also incredible to see an ancient temple right next to a modern glass skyscraper. The architecture of Ulaanbaatar is very eclectic. There are ancient temples, Chinese style building from their time holding Mongolia, Soviet style building from post-World War Two when the Russians freed the Mongolians from Chinese rule, and modern skyscrapers and hotels. After the Museum we grabbed lunch at a local restaurant, where I am realising the cuisine in Mongolia is meat, meat and more meat.

We went to check out the Zaisan Monument, a monument to commemorate the Soviets who freed Mongolia from Chinese control. The Monument is at the top of a hill so has amazing views out across Ulaanbaatar. At the bottom of the monument is the Buddha Garden, which holds a gold plated Buddha.

We finished off our first day in Mongolia with a trip to the night markets and a local bar for cocktails. Tomorrow we head to the Gorkhi Terelj National Park, where we will be staying in a Ger Camp for two nights.

10/09/2017: Day Two

On the way back to the capital from the Tej National Park we went to the massive statue of Genghis Kahn. Standing at 40 metres (131 feet) high; it’s the highest statue representing a man on a horseback in the world. You can climb through the middle of the statue and stand on the horses head to take a selfie with Genghis Kahn. The statue faces directly east so that it faces the rising sun.

After we got back to the city we went to the Gandantegchinlen Monastery. A beautiful monastery, we had learnt our lesson from last time and paid the additional fee to be able to take photos inside.

For the afternoon we had a pretty relaxed time of things. We were quite tired from our time out at the park, so wanted to take it easy for the afternoon. We had lunch at a local Korean restaurant, got our nails painted, did some last minute shopping including buying food for the train, and had coffees.

It is good to note that because there are only a couple of trains leaving Ulaanbaatar a week you need to go to the department store early to exchange your money or else all the other tourists will have gone before you and they will have nothing left to exchange it for.