What can I do in Ulaanbaatar?

Now I know that it's question that doesn't come up often (heck, I never thought I would ever be exploring it...at least not in the near future). But if you are asking the question here are some pointers.

The view of Zaisan Hill from my balcony in Bayongol Hotel

I stayed at the Bayongol Hotel. Reviews on tripadvisor will tell you it's a terrible hotel. It's not. Yes, it's old and there's nothing fancy about it, but it's clean, has a decent internet connection and is walking distance from Peace avenue where a lot of restos and shops are located. If you are the type who needs a 4-star at the minimum - you can drop the whole of Mongolia off your list (until 2013 when the Shangri-La is set to open in UB).

Since I was there on work my activities were limited to places near the hotel. This wasn't the worst deal coz UB isn't a big city and everything was walkable distance from the hotel. Here's a list of some of the places that were worth my time.



Mongols in their local attire on Zaisan hill


Zaisan hill gives you a nice panoramic view of the city and is only a 10 min drive from Bayangol hotel. The hill has a war memorial built at the top, which shows some of the communist history in paintings. You can also literally witness the growth of the city as it encroaches (yes, encroach is the word I want to use although it might be legal) the surrounding hills. While getting down we ran into a wedding party, which was most exciting coz they were all dressed in the traditional Mongolian attire (which means only one thing: photo-opps galore :D)

 

On the way to Zaisan hill you can stop by at the Bogd Khan palace. Unfortunately we only got here at 4:30pm to learn that the palace is closed at 4pm. So make sure to check timings. 

A corner of the Bogd Khan palace

 

Inside the Choijin Lama Monastery

The Choijin Lama Monastery is a 5 minute walk from Bayongal. It won't take more than 30 mins to see the temple. It was strange because I thought it was a Tibetan temple but it had a lot of Shamanistic touches to it - so it will give you a feel of the Shamanistic practices in Mongolia. The ceiling had cut-outs that showed people being tortured, possessed and other horrible things. Once you're done with the temple, there is a nice Italian resto near-by called Veranda (where you can eat in the balcony over-looking the temple roofs) -and if you've been eating Mongolian food for a even a day or two you will definitely be looking for something less adventurous.    

Choijin Lama at 7am



Sukhbaatar Square

Nothing much to see at Sukhbaatar Square but it's a nice stately-looking square and looks better at night. It's located on Peace avenue and is a 5-min walk from Bayongal. (Yes, everything is only 5 or at most 10 mins away :))



Buildings to the left of the Sukhbaatar Square

If you're looking to try some local Mongolian food you can try Nomads - serves horse steak, goat's head, aarts (sour fermented milk) and a lot of other local "delights" :D. Note that there are many branches, one of which serves American food, so make sure you find the one provided in the link I've provided. There are lots of other food options around Peace Avenue - Uzbek, Russian, Indian ect etc.

Souvenir shopping is never big on my list, but UB really had a lot of fun things to buy. Cashmere, local vodka, the cutest baby booties, boots of all kinds, local khoomi music cds (i.e., throat signing), antiques...and the one thing that I'm always looking for when I travel - local art. Don't miss the State Department Store on Peace Avenue for this - it's priced a little higher than the other stores around but I felt like the quality was better and I didn't have the time to search for anything else. 

The locals took us up this alley which led to a resto

And some interesting sights to see in the local streets - so let your feet take you where it wants. I did hear of some people's experiences with pick-pocketing (and you will read a lot of warnings about this) but from what I gather it's only happened late at night on lonely streets or in very crowded areas - so like any big city make sure you follow some basic precautions to stay safe. I didn't have any trouble while I was there.


A local park