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| On the train - approach to Ulaanbaatar |
After the intimidating but extremely thorough train border-crossing from Russia to Mongolia, I was feeling dishevelled and slightly overwhelmed – when a heavily set Russian official barks something at you in Russian whilst brandishing your passport, it leaves a somewhat uneasy feeling.
However, clearly satisfied, we were all cleared throughout the several hour-long border control process (a man in the carriage next to us was not quite so lucky). The barren and bleak Siberian landscape had given way to rolling sandy hills and blue skies. Emaciated but numerous cows began to crop up in the distance, and small, densely-populated nomadic villages scattered the landscape. The sky was a brilliant blue, and I fell quickly for Mongolia.
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| Sukhbaatar Square - statue of Genghis Khan |
Arriving in Ulaanbaatar was like walking into a dark room; I had absolutely no preconceived ideas, no clue what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised by the modernity of the city. It’s sleepy – lots of American-style blocks, but often void of people. Cafes are dotted around, and the central Sukhbaatar Square is complete with a large and impressive statue of Genghis Khan, looming over the wide open space flanked by government buildings. In this square, you start to remember that Mongolia is sandwiched between Russia and China. Wedged between two historical and modern superpowers, Mongolia – a country with an 80% nomadic population – is so much smaller in scale, it seems quite the surprising legacy that it ever posed a threat to its adversaries hidden behind the Great Wall of China. The city’s most impressive skyline feature is the sail-shaped Blue Sky Hotel; a startlingly modern and flashy architectural addition to an otherwise low-rise, closely contained city. Although I didn't visit the hotel to get the view, I found a pretty nice view from the top floor of the worth-a-visit State Department Store. As literal as it sounds, this has an extremely eclectic mix of all things Mongolian and offers a nice insight into the daily life of the city dwellers. The top floor has a large Mongolian-ware department with a lot of Mongolian nomad art and souvenirs.
The national museum proudly – and really very impressively – explains the nation’s history and development interactively and highly visually. A complimentary precursor to visiting the largest statute of Genghis Khan in the world (is that a shocking title? Or an oft’ rivalled one? who knows) which sits outside the city, at 40m, atop a horse and made entirely out of steel. A pretty good photo opportunity.
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| View of the city from the State Department Store top floor |
Our first evening in the city fell on the national ‘Alcohol-Free Day’; the first day of every month is entirely dry. Not a terrible tragedy after 2 weeks of sitting on a train with a large portion of the Russian military conscription list, only able to translate and utilise the word ‘Vodka’. Nonetheless, it gave the city an eerily quiet vibe, with all the shops shutting early and only offering empty shelves where, presumably, crates of beer once sat. Instead, we went to a Mongolian cultural show – the Tumen Ekh Ensemble - which featured contortionists, dancers and Mongolian throat-singers. The performance was in a small room, with the audience all sat in rows on the floor – probably about 30 viewers in total – and was surreal to say the least. But, ultimately, very enjoyable and exciting to see a far more concise and defined culture than I had been expecting. The outfits were exciting and beautiful, and mini-plotlines enjoyable and all lasted precisely an hour.
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| On the way out from the city towards our Ger Camp |
We continued our Mongolia experience by walking to BD’s Mongolian Grill – DELICIOUS. A buffet-style room full of raw vegetables and meat and rice, noodles, salad, beans and pulses which you then take to the cooks which are situated around a large, flat metal griddle which, along with your sauces and spices, flash-fry your food (an extremely impressive show in itself – they very much show-off for their surrounding hungry spectators). The food was truly delicious, I cannot recommend enough. Authentic and tasty, it was a great hit with everyone – particularly due to the ‘all you can eat’ promise. Whilst most of us caved around our 3rd or 4th helping, the Mongolians had the right idea by going back for small, intensely flavoured courses. The restaurant itself is great fun, and the waiter’s shirts – which you can buy for your very own – are emblazoned with mottos like ‘Kiss Me I’m Mongolian’.
After being fed, watered and thoroughly Mongolia-ed for the evening, we returned to our comfortable hotel and prepared to move on to the Ger camp for a few nights in a luxury Yurt...
