A Trip to Mongolia – Day 4
I checked out of the hotel and the same guide as the day before picked me up for the sightseeing tour to Ulaanbaatar that would be concluded with them bringing me to the airport. My stomach wasn’t in the best condition but it was okay and heading back to civilization also meant that the toilet problem would be eased.
Our first stop in Ulaanbaatar was a hill with a socialist monument on it that overlooks the entire city. I love such overview places and Ulaanbaatar looks quite nice from above.
On the long stairs up to the monument was an elderly guy selling self-made pictures of camels, horses and the plains plus some leather purses. He had a very cute camel portrait and a nice big leather purse too and I bought those off of him for 3000 yen, since I had no Mongolian money and survived entirely by credit card, which of course this guy didn’t take. He was super friendly and nice and so happy that I bought something off of him. What a big difference to the street sales guys I experienced in India who are so persistent and want you to buy their whole produce.
Next we went to a cashmere factory as a “forced” part of the tour, but also there, no obtrusive sales staff who bother you and want you to buy their store. This works much better with me and I bought a cashmere shawl relatively cheap too for cashmere. Next we went down into the city to the parliament square and hall where Ghengis Khaan sits big and impressive.
On led the way to a department store where I got an hour for shopping and you need that hour to get through their one floor full of souvenir stuff. Next up was the most famous temple of Ulaanbaatar, which has an impressive 25 meter Buddha statue in its main building, plus 1008 small Buddha statues around it. There is much Tibetan influence in this form of Buddhism and there were also plenty of prayer wheels around. You are not allowed to take pictures inside the temple.
Then I got a special treat which was not on the regular program. My guide and I had talked about dogs a lot the previous day and he knew I love dogs, so he took me into the suburbs to a dog breeder-seller he knows, who specializes in big dogs.
The trip to the suburbs was quite something. Only the main roads are asphalt, then it’s dirt roads again. My guide said the people buy a patch of land, then put their gers on there because they have not enough money left for also a house. Their gers of course have the same issues as those on the plains, no running water, no drinking water, no toilets. I have no clue how these people manage. They try to find work in Ulaanbaatar and then save money to build a house maybe, one day? Despite the dire situation they are, in contrast to India, at least taking care of their trash.
The dog breeder… Wow. I better not post picture of this, since animal activist might go bananas. The cages looked still relatively clean to me though and I guess there are even worse animal handlers, but that was a bit tough to see.
We went on to a large food market and that was it. Ulaanbaatar has no public transport system except for buses by the way, no trains, or subways. There was a lot of traffic but not as desperately crowded yet as for example 15 years ago in Bangkok before they got a train system, where I remember having spent hours upon hours in traffic jams.
However, in my opinion Ulaanbaatar needs some urgent city planning. There are three million Mongolians and about half of them live now in and around Ulaanbaatar… The town is not made for so many people. Also my guide said that Ulaanbaatar is laid out for 500,000 people but now there are 1.5 million.
My guide asked me if I wanted to go for dinner with live folklore music, but my measure of experiences was about filled, I was not very enthusiastic about the idea to have to smile politely at folklore music I am inclined not to like and to eat food I don’t care for, especially with my still upset stomach. So I asked my guide to bring me to the airport. Having to kill six hours there until the night flight… Well, I spent once 17 hours in Ho Chi Minh city’s airport 
