Mongolia
We made it to the capital of Mongolia called Ulaanbaatar, which is located in northeast, central Mongolia. It is surrounded by pine covered mountains. It is the largest city in the country. While we were entering the city I noticed on the outskirts of town there were clusters of the felt tents and little wooden cottages, some with fences around them. There were also children practicing with their horses for an up-coming festival which would take place in the next few days. It is the most anticipated festival of the year. It is called the Naadaam Festival.
Outskirts of Town
When we arrived at the train station there were many people waiting. I did not notice any platform or building at the station. It seemed to be the edge of town. Porters helped get our luggage off the train where we met our guide, Baskar. He was in his early twenties and was an English teacher in a local college. He led us to a van that was waiting not far away. For the last hour or so dark clouds began to gather and there was thunder rumbling in the distance along with flashes of lightning. Right when we were on our way to the van the rain started coming in a sprinkle but soon turned into a downpour. We scurried as quickly as we could into the van. After we were in the driver tried to get out of the parking lot and get away from the conjestion of cars but suddenly we were in gridlock. All cars came to a sudden stop. Every vehicle was blocking every other vehicle as everyone tried to go in opposite directions all at once. Finally a policeman arrived and straightened this mess out and we were able to leave. I came to this conclusion on this first impression that the people in Ulaanbaatar are wild drivers.
UB Hotel
We arrived at the Hotel Ulaanbaatar, a Soviet style luxury hotel and got a room on the second floor. The inside was massive. The hallways upstairs were dark and long. The ceilings were high. We just had time to put our bags in the room when it was announced that it was lunch time, so we immediately went down to the dinning hall on the first floor and sat down at a long table. We were the only ones there. The first course was a salad of shredded mutton and lettuce. The next course was fish soup. It was made up of; cut up fish with the skin on, carrots, turnups, onions, potatos, chicken stock and pickles. Then the main course came. It was penne noodles with chopped hot dogs with red sauce.
Traffic in Ulaanbaatar
We made it to the capital of Mongolia called Ulaanbaatar, which is located in northeast, central Mongolia. It is surrounded by pine covered mountains. It is the largest city in the country. While we were entering the city I noticed on the outskirts of town there were clusters of the felt tents and little wooden cottages, some with fences around them. There were also children practicing with their horses for an up-coming festival which would take place in the next few days. It is the most anticipated festival of the year. It is called the Naadaam Festival.
Outskirts of Town
When we arrived at the train station there were many people waiting. I did not notice any platform or building at the station. It seemed to be the edge of town. Porters helped get our luggage off the train where we met our guide, Baskar. He was in his early twenties and was an English teacher in a local college. He led us to a van that was waiting not far away. For the last hour or so dark clouds began to gather and there was thunder rumbling in the distance along with flashes of lightning. Right when we were on our way to the van the rain started coming in a sprinkle but soon turned into a downpour. We scurried as quickly as we could into the van. After we were in the driver tried to get out of the parking lot and get away from the conjestion of cars but suddenly we were in gridlock. All cars came to a sudden stop. Every vehicle was blocking every other vehicle as everyone tried to go in opposite directions all at once. Finally a policeman arrived and straightened this mess out and we were able to leave. I came to this conclusion on this first impression that the people in Ulaanbaatar are wild drivers.
UB Hotel
We arrived at the Hotel Ulaanbaatar, a Soviet style luxury hotel and got a room on the second floor. The inside was massive. The hallways upstairs were dark and long. The ceilings were high. We just had time to put our bags in the room when it was announced that it was lunch time, so we immediately went down to the dinning hall on the first floor and sat down at a long table. We were the only ones there. The first course was a salad of shredded mutton and lettuce. The next course was fish soup. It was made up of; cut up fish with the skin on, carrots, turnups, onions, potatos, chicken stock and pickles. Then the main course came. It was penne noodles with chopped hot dogs with red sauce.
Traffic in Ulaanbaatar
posted by THE REAL MIKE BAILEY at 12:10 AM
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