Ulaanbaatar Travel Guide
From Wikitravel
Ulaan Baatar (Улаанбаатар), also Ulan Bator, is just east of the center of Mongolia, and is its capital city.
Contents |
Understand
That Ulaanbaatar has a really big mysterious history. It is now going over the industrialism era that many great cities have long gone over. The city was forbidden to beatify itself when it was under the Chinese control. The truth is that Mongolia was and still is made out of nomadic and barbarian(meaning not very westernized) people. Mainly, local residents love and worship their capital city because they have the love and the understanding that the city doesn't have to have beatiful scenes to be complimented by everyone. It is in their hearts that they know their city's history, cultures, and the many struggles it has gone through. Yes, the city does not have too many great place to go to. Yes, they don't have the great "Golden Bridge", "The Great Wall,thugh you must understand that we do have a part in its history. You see, the wall wouldn't be built, if the we weren't there," and yes, the city is unorganized or filthy. We are like the 18th century London. People who really look at the city's history and hospitable people will love the city. You will tend to understand more and more of the city like I did. The people might have been meaner or really just looking out for them. It is amazing what poverty and lack of help from the gov't can do to people's feelings. Let me asure you that if you love a nature which has been untouched, you will love the Asia's White Angel(really rewarded many times on their nature), Mongolia
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.
Trains from Beijing, China to Ulaan Baatar run once a week (on Tuesdays) and can only be purchased from the International Hotel in Beijing (a ten minute walk north from the main Beijing rail station) as of May 2006. The train is about a 30 hour ride and the hard sleepers are not as scary as they sound! Blankets, sheets, and pillows are provided in all classes. Hot water is provided, so pack lots of teas, noodles, and snacks. Make sure to pack a dust mask as sandstorms in the Gobi desert makes everything filthy and difficult to breathe.
By car
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.
- Eventhough you are in the country, you will have trouble finding a bus stop. The bus doesn't stop nowhere. It usually stops on a populated area. It usually is a commercial provate buses or mail buses.
- The bus most likely always doens't show on time or on the right day. The bus likely goes to the city once a week from the point you are in.
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.
- The Zaisan Tolgoi(Head), which is right on top of a hill on the other side of the city.It represents the Russian and Mongolian heroes,who fought together during WWI and WWII. Also, the 1989 friendly space orbit together.
- The newly built Buddhist statue near the zaisan tolgoi is also a great place to visit.
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
- At the best hotel in town, Ulaanbaatar Hotel.Fees range from $10-$20 a night.
- Chinngis Khan Hotel is also a very luxurious hotel to stay at. $10-$20.
- Bayangol Hotel is also very poular among the citizens with its famous Bayangol Restaurant. The food is quite expensive among the residents, but it is nothing among the foreigners.
- Nowadays, there are a lot of small-owned hotels on the streets. It is REALLY hard to get a room among the the big hotels, and even the small ones, during the Naadam.(July12.-July20?. The residents usually take a week off work, during the biggest celebrated holiday in Mongolia.
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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