Adventures in Asia: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

This morning we flew from Beijing . . .

. . . to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia over the Gobi Desert.

It was a very clear, lovely day, especially by Mongolian standards, with a high in the upper 20s in Ulaanbaatar (UB).  We were excited to be able to see the city and surrounding countryside as we came in to land.

Once through the airport, we were picked up by Idre Tours & Guesthouse, which was where we were staying, as well as the tour company through which we had booked a three day tour of the Mongolian countryside.

After checking in at the guesthouse, where we were the only guests, we called a "Help Taxi."  There are actually few official taxis in Ulaanbaatar, and Help Taxi is a company that caters to foreigners while charging marginally more than regular taxis.  Their drivers speak English, they use a meter, and their rates are upfront and in my opinion very fair.  For example, if you want them to wait for you, they will for 150 tugriks per minute, or only about 10 cents!

Our taxi drove us first to the Zaisan monument, which is on a high hill south of UB and overlooking the city.  

This monument seems to be dedicated to the Soviets for helping Mongolia free itself from China in the early 20th century, and defend it against Japan during World War 2.  

For about seventy years Mongolia was something of a puppet or satellite state of the Soviet Union, but as best I can tell, they do not seem to resent this in any way, whereas they do seem to resent the Manchurian/Chinese influence in their history.

From the Zaisan Monument we took the cab to the State Department Store.  

There's a square across from the department store, and we visited it first.  There's a monument to the Beatles here.  

The State Department Store dates back to communist times, but today it looks as capitalist as anything else.  Actually it's a really cool place to visit, and we had a lot of fun.  It's seven storeys high, and we toured all the floors, especially the sixth, which is full of an incredible selection of souvenirs, and the seventh, which is a food court.  

We ate dinner up here, with a view of Peace Avenue and the city below us.  

After dinner we walked down Peace Avenue a little ways, visiting a couple other souvenir shops and the post office.  Then we walked back to our hostel, about twenty minutes away.