Thu 13th - arrived mid afternoon in Ulan Bator. The train journey in was not that spectucular. The Gobi desert is flat as a pancake. The sunrise was pretty amazing and it was good to see some Gurs on the way in. Knew it was Ulan Bator as on the way in you could see the layer of smog.
The hostel (UB Guest House) picked us up from the station along with two other travellers (Gin and Ernie from Malaysia). The guest house was old and not that fancy but was clean, quiet and safe. Troy realised he had lost his phone, left on the train. In his usual indecisive self he didn't really know what to do or was proactive in actually doing anything. Eventually went down to the train station and asked about it. The lady was very helpful but in the end told us his phone wasn't on the train. Had a great pizza for tea and found some great local chocolate. Albina bars are fantastic!!!
Fri 14th - breakfast was bread and some local kind of buns in the hostel. We then walked down to a buddhist monastry with the Malays we met on yesterday. The Monsastry was pretty and it was good to see locals in traditional clothing walking around. We bought some paintings. Then walked back to the centre and visited the British shop where finally we could buy some cuppa soups for the train journey! We also found a Coffee Bean and Tea leaf and sat in and had a drink and surfed the net. We then talked to the train museum and the National Square. Hands were freezing. It was so cold so tomorrow wearing thick gloves for the first time. Dinner went to a Mongolian fast food chain.
Sat 15th - hired a car and driver for $90 to visit the Gengkis Khaan statue and visit the Tereli National Park. The Gengkis Khaan statue was pretty impressive, had a museum and could go right to the top. There were not many people there. Outside there was a guy with eagles and vultures so we both had our photos taken with one on our arm. It was quite heavy. Tereli National Park was scenic. We stopped by a turtle rock formation and walked around. There was snow on the ground in the shade. We were back in Ulan Bator by mid afternoon and had pasta for dinner in the State Department store. Pollution index reached 999!!!
Sun 16th - got up around 7.30am and went for a 5km run. The temperature on my phone was minu 21 degrees. It was very cold. One pair of tights was not enough, my thighs were so cold. Could only really manage 5km, the air felt quite dirty. After a shower and breakfast we went to a coffee shop (Cafe Bene) at the State Department store and got a drink. After this we decided to walk up to a hill on the outskirts of UB. We didn't realise but there was a statue and memorial here. There were excellent views of the city but it showed all the smog. We walked back and went to the UB department store which was not that impressive. We also walked to the National Museum but it was closed (and closed Monday) so we missed out. We went to the State Department store and had pasta again (so cheap 6500 each) and then bought a doll souvenir from the store.
Mon 17th - Had a Skype call with Red Cross in Melbourne then we checked out. We were lucky however to be able to stay in the room until we needed to leave as our train wasn't until 8.30pm. We went for a short walk but the air was really dirty, could clearly see the pollution. We got a coffee in the same Cafe Bene as yesterday then lunch was pasta again. We bought a fridge magnet then came back to the room to shower and wait for our taxi to take us to the train station at 4pm. The taxi was simply a guy who was flagged down in the street. All kind of random but we got to the station for a reasonable fare. In the station we waited for about 5 hours for the train. There were loads of kids who were very curious and we tried talking to them using the translate app on my phone. One kid and his sister played cards with us. At about 8pm we boarded the train and unfortunately we were sharing with two others. A rather grumpy looking Russian lady and young Korean girl. There was no space at all for our bags so I slept with my suitcase at the bottom of my bed. Troy slept on the top bunk. The train was very slow and spent half the night stopping.
Likes about Ulan Bator
- it was easy to get around and I liked that is wasn't so commercial.
- people were generally friendlier and more helpful
- food was cheap and lot of selection. Very cheap pasta at the State department store
- Wifi everywhere
- Albino chocolate bar
Not so like about Ulan Bator
- pollution was horrible. Really sad.
- crossing the road. Cars just run you over
- no parks to visit, it was a bit drab
