August 2007 -- Four Years in Mongolia
I flew to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to take up a year's contract at the Hobby School. I ended up staying for four years, until June 2011. Ulaanbaatar (background, below) is a rapidly-growing city, hemmed in by mountains and, to a lesser extent, the river that created the flood-plain on which it sits.
During the winter, Ulaanbaatar is suffocated by smoke. A large disenfranchised segment of society lives in traditional felt dwellings (gers) and burn coal and wood to heat their homes during the winter. The surrounding mountains create a temperature inversion, trapping the air pollution in the valley. Consequently, my favourite wintertime activity was escaping the city for hikes in the nearby mountains, particularly the Bogd Khan Uul to the south.
Mongolia's vast tracts of uninhabited countryside, however, are best enjoyed during the summer. My favourite destinations included the eastern Gobi desert, the forested north of the country, and the garden-y central province of Arkhangai. Closer to Ulaanbaatar are the forests of Khentii, which can be accessed through Terelj park (accessible by twice-daily bus from downtown Ulaanbaatar) and via the Batsumber region, which lies about 200 km north of Ulaanbaatar along the railroad.
While most Mongolians seem intent on shedding their nomadic history, trekking through the country provides plenty of reminders that this is an old land, inhabited for unknown time. Ovoo, rock piles usually found on passes and hilltops, and prayer-flags are ubiquitous.
Advice: Visitors to Mongolia will either arrived via the trans-Siberian railway or by flying in to the Chingis Khan International Airport. Getting from the airport to the city is tricky, as you'll almost certainly end up taking a taxi. Agree to a price in advance -- it should be 10 000 tugrig, but who knows? I love Ulaanbaatar, but it's very much an acquired taste: you'll probably find yourself bored after two or three days. Gandan monastery, the Winter Palace, and the National and Natural History museums are worth visiting. Trips outside of Ulaanbaatar will need to be planned in advance, if you can afford it. The cheap approach is to fight for a seat on one of the buses to provincial towns, but although you'll be getting out of Ulaanbaatar, you'll miss the major attractions, which cannot be visited without (expensive) private transportation.
