After 30 hours on the Trans-Mongolian Railway we
arrived in a bitterly cold Ulaanbataar (Улаанбаатар
in Mongolian cyrilic and to the left, as it would be
written in the traditional Mongol bichig)
The first thing we did upon arriving in UB was have
a much needed feed! Note the similarity between this
photo and one of the photos of Sarah in Istanbul
(August 2006 blog entry).
Adding to her collection of paper roses.
Samuel thought lunch was a great idea after 30 hours
of crackers and cheese.
The restuarant overlooked this old temple in the heart
of UB.
Central UB from the window of our rented apartment.
More UB from above.
Downtown UB. Busy, busy.
The State Great Hural (the Mongolian Parliament) on
Sükhbaatar Square.
The Mongolian flag flying high above the State
Great Hural.
The State Great Hural is guarded by an enormous
Genghis Khan ("Chinggis Khan" in Mongolian) which is
flanked by statues of his generals and descendants.
The big Ching presiding over the State Great Hural.
It's all about Chinggis in UB - Chinggis beer, Chinggis
vodka and he's even on the Tögrög (the national currency).
One of Chinggis' generals looking out over Sükhbaatar
Square.
Chinngis and his mates didn't deter other tourists
on Sükhbaatar Square from accosting Samuel.
Despite this little local fella's best efforts, Samuel
had already had enough of being friendly.
Entering UB by road.
Traffic control Mongolian style.
Wall art in UB depicting the Mongolian Empire.
More wall art, cleverly combining the
Mongolian warrior and goat.
a
Sarah at her desk in
the Arts Council of
Mongolia.
Suburban UB, known as the "ger district". As Mongolians
have become increasingly urbanised, many people have
settled on the outskirts of the city by setting up gers
and building more permanent homes. The city seems to
have sprawled with very little investment in additional
infrastructure.
