Ulaanbaatar
From World travel guide
Ulaan Baatar is just east of the center of Mongolia, and is its capital city.
Contents |
Understand
Get in
By plane
All international flights to Mongolia - available from Germany, China and Russia - go to Ulaan Baatar.
By train
Direct (but long) journeys are possible from Moscow in one direction and Beijing/Shanghai in the other. Trains also go to the Chinese border town of Erlian and Jineen 3-4 times a week.
By car
Don't try it.
By bus
If you are already in the country, you should be able to find a bus going to UB, depending on how far away you are and how thinly populated the area is.
By boat
Challenging, as Mongolia is landlocked.
Get Around
Taxis are cheap, buses are cheaper. A taxi should cost 250 to 300 tugrik per kilometer, and most buses are 100 tugrik per journey, regardless of length. The notable exceptions are the buses run by the Mongolia-Japan Cooperation group, which are 200 tugrik. Walking is, of course, cheapest of all, and the city is small enough to allow this on a regular basis.
See
- Gandan Khiid (the main monastery), services at about 10am.
- Chojin Monastery. See what the Red Hat sect of Buddhism believes Hell to be like.
- Natural History museum, but not if you have an aversion to stuffed animals.
- Sukhbaatar Square - hard to miss, it's the big open space in the center with an equestrian statue of the 1921 hero Sukbaatar in the middle.
- Bogd Kahn Museum.
Most sites have a separate camera/video camera fee in addition to the entry fee.
Do
- Walk to Zaizan Memorial.
Learn
There are some Mongolian language schools if you are either a masochist, an experienced linguist or planning to stay for a long time.
Work
Only as a volunteer or for an NGO.
Buy
Mongolia has a veritable Horde of souvenirs aim directly at tourists and sold with western tourist prices. Traditional clothes, boots and hats, cashmere, jewellery, leather wall hangings, miniature gers, bow and arrow sets, paintings, the list goes on and on. Peave Avenue and near the Circus are the main shopping areas. The State Department Store's 5th floor is entirely devoted to souvenirs but its prices are higher than some of the smaller stores.
Eat
Budget
Mid-range
- Dave's.
- Sacher's.
Splurge
Drink
- Dave's.
Sleep
Budget
- Serge's: Dorm beds ($4/night) and rooms available. Will always try and find a bed even during the busy Nadaam season. Also has a travel agency.
Mid-range
Splurge
Contact
Internet cafes are liberally scattered around the city, with rates generally 400 - 800 tugrik per hour. The postal service is not recommended, but the central post office (next to Sukhbaatar Sq at the south-west corner) also sells a wide variety of reasonably priced postcards (it doesn't matter if they take two months to arrive), some very large and decorative collections of stamps - not for use - and a few nice calendars. Also here is an international call center. To call home cheaply, buy a card such as BodiCom and persuade a Mongolian to try their phone at home - it won't cost them anything. For BodiCom, you will need the * and # keys, so make sure they work. To call Britain this way costs about $3 per hour.
Stay safe
Usual precautions for a city. UB doesn't have a particular problem with crime, but pickpocketing is common: be alert. Avoid the ger districts after dark - they aren't lit and are frequented by drunks and stray dogs. On the streets generally, look where you are going. The ice is lethal from about October to March, crossing the road is a matter of playing chicken with the cars and manholes are often left open. Most 'pavements' are not in fact paved - if they were once, they are probably reverting to their original state - so can be very muddy during a thaw or after rain.
Cope
Get out
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