November 2008
Not my first trip to Mongolia. I went earlier this year as well, so this entry is sort of a combination of both trips. Admittedly both trips have been for work, so I don’t have a great deal to say about the tourism side of things.
A few things. Getting a visa? Try to get one before you leave, but I was able to get one on arrival both times which cost US$53 each that need to be paid in exact cash in US dollars. You’ll need a letter of invitation (from the company you’re visiting, the conference you’re attending, or the tour company you’re travelling with), a spare passport photo (and your passport of course) and the visa fee. You fill in the application form on arrival. It’s quick and easy, but check that your country has this option available before you leave!
Getting Mongolian Togrogs? You can’t buy them outside of Mongolia unless you can find a private citizen who has some leftover to give/sell them to you. You can get local currency out of ATM’s in Mongolia or there are a few foreign exchange places around (though don’t buy off the street, get them from a bank). A few places also have prices in US dollars, not many though and certainly this is not accepted outside of the capital.
Don’t drink the tap water. Only drink bottled water. The first time I went to Mongolia, I got to the hotel at 1am after a very long day of travel and went to brush my teeth. I was so tired that I totally forgot about the water problems and used tap water to rinse my toothbrush and rinse my mouth after. I was sick for about 3 days after that. So buy bottled water to brush your teeth as well!
The pollution is nasty. When I was there earlier in the year, I didn’t notice it so much. But when I was there in early November, it was claustrophobic. I actually got quite ill at one point this last trip. Constant headaches, nausea etc. It’s because it’s winter, temperatures drop easily to -20C overnight. So everyone has fires going. And the city is run by coal powered power stations which are only about 10-15km from the CBD, you can see the stacks gushing out smoke from your hotel room. And it’s dirty coal. So the combination of the smoke from the fires and the smog from the power stations and the physical landscape of the city (which traps it all) just makes the pollution problem exponentially worse. If you have asthma or other respiratory problems, be seriously prepared for this.
The hotel? Both times I stayed at the Bayangol Hotel in Ulaanbaatar (to be referred to as UB from now on). The hotel is simple, but clean and from my understanding, the best in UB. It’s where basically all the business people stay when they’re in town. It’s central to pretty much everything and is reasonably cheap (~US$100/night). The options for hotels in UB are pretty limited, but this tends to be the pick of the bunch (they’re building a new one at the moment, going to be a ShangriLa, so that may change). It’s got internet access in the rooms, US$6 for 24 hours access, but it’s really slow if there’s lots of people using it when there’s a conference or something on. But you can just turn on your wireless and find an unsecured signal pretty easily to tap into. Breakfast at the hotel is included and is actually really good. There’s a chef who will cook your eggs for you however you want, just go and ask him!
There’s only a couple of downsides to the hotel I guess. Firstly, smoking. Like in China, everyone in Mongolia seems to smoke. And they’ll light up anywhere. My room reeked of cigarette smoke, so it appears they don’t have separate smoking and non-smoking rooms. Even having a shower, the shower curtain reeked of it as well. Takes a bit of getting used to. Secondly, the heating. I know it’s cold outside at night, but the hotel room doesn’t need to be that warm. I think the heating was set to about 28C. It was really uncomfortable to sleep in that level of heat. And you can’t turn it down, it’s all centrally controlled. I had to kick the blankets and sheets off the bed and leave the balcony door ajar so I could sleep.
Would I recommend this hotel? Absolutely. It’s simple, but there’s hot water, the plumbing works, the heating works (which is a lifeline when it’s -20C outside at night, it’s just set a bit high), the beds are comfortable, the staff are great and there’s an ATM in the lobby (which are sometimes hard to come by in UB and since you can’t get Mongolian currency from anywhere other than Mongolia, it’s useful).
What else? Eating out? I’ve eaten at a few places. For lunch I tended to go to Millies. It’s a little American style cafe near UB Store. Totally an American style menu with BLT’s and grilled chicken sandwiches and stuff, but I like it. For dinner, there’s the Irish pub and the German brauhaus! I can’t remember everywhere I went to eat dinner, but everywhere had decent food and it’s all reasonably cheap. You can generally get a good sized steak and vegetables type meal for under US$10.
Touristy things? The state department store is the main place to go for souveneirs. The top floor is dedicated to souveneirs. There’s paintings, stuffed toys, felt bags, wooden carvings, fridge magnets etc. All the usual touristy stuff. They also sell antiques up there which are awesome to look at, and not obscenely expensive, but were still out of my price range at the time.
The cashmere factories are a little out of the centre of town, but not too far away. You can buy awesome quality local cashmere and camel wool products there for about 1/2 to 1/3 of the price you’d pay in Australia. Gobi and Goyu are probably the best ones I saw.
Entertainment wise, there’s a big circus tent type thing about 5-10 minutes walk from the Bayangol Hotel where they have this national Mongolian song and dance spectacular. It’s good fun and the costumes are amazing. The music is different, but still interesting to listen to. Definitely worth a look!
The country is amazing, but be prepared for a major culture shock. For example, I’d always written off stories of people living down in the steam tunnels under a city as an urban myth. It’s not. I saw it with my own eyes. Manhole covers are missing all over the city and you see homeless people climbing in and out occasionally. But that’s another thing, beware of missing manhole covers! You really don’t want to fall down one of those. So yeah, watch where you’re walking. Also, UB is very much a city of extremes. You’ll see some homeless guy with his hands burned off from living in the steam tunnels (because they are actually active) on the street begging for money. And then you’ll see some woman walking down the street dressed head to toe in the latest season Prada. There doesn’t seem to be much in-between, you’re either rich or you’re poor. At least that was what I saw. Maybe it’s different if you get out of the CBD more.
Will I go back? I think so, if only for work, but preferably not in mid-winter. I wouldn’t mind doing the trans-Siberian rail journey at some point so I can see more of the country, but not for a while.
