Ulan Bator, Mongolia City Travel Information
Sukhbaatar Square in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
City Description:
Ulan Bator (Ulaanbaatar or "UB") is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. Thanks to its previous communist rulers, no money was spent on beautifying the city, so don't expect Ulan Bator to be "pretty". The rough city is home to a rough, and storied people, but once you get to know the local Mongols, you'll see that they can be somewhat friendly.
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City Highlights:
Watching the local Mongols go about their daily business. One day is all it takes to realize that Mongols are some tough ass people.
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City Lowlights:
Ulan Bator is not safe, so you can't walk around at night (safely) and you also have to worry about people trying to rip the bag right off your back or shoulders.
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Restaurants:
Ulan Bator isn't known for its food, but you can find many Mongolian restaurants offering hardy, yet basic fare. There are also many Korean restaurants as well as some other international cuisine (all at relatively good prices).
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Nightlife:
Due to the problems drinking has caused in Ulan Bator, most of the bars shut down at 12. Many locals drink way too much and get a bit rowdy so make sure to go back to your hotel in a cab or with many friends. A night out is guaranteed to be exciting at the very least.
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Public Transport:
There are taxis are extremely crowded public buses.
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The People:
The locals in Ulan Bator are a tough, rough and tumble bunch. Girls are wearing stylish horse riding boots while the guys all have red faces from the icy chill in the air. If you can befriend a Mongolian, I hear they are great to know, but not many know English and are very approachable, so getting to know the locals is a bit of a challenge unless you speak Mongolian yourself. Of course, they are not all like this, I met some who spoke perfect English (amongst other languages) and were very well spoken and professional, but they were few and far between.
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Sights:
There are a couple monasteries, some nice museums (especially the National History one which has a great display of the storied history of Mongolia) and Sukhbaatar Square, the main square of the city with a huge statue of Genghis Khan as well as other Mongolian heroes.
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My Thoughts on this City:
Ulan Bator is a good jumping off point for tours into the wilderness of Mongolia. I wouldn't spend too much time there because it isn't a very nice city, you can see most of the city's sites in a day, it isn't very safe (especially at night) and there generally isn't a lot you can do there. Of course, if you want to really get to know the local Mongol culture, then UB is a great place to do that considering about 1/3 of the country lives there, but if that isn't you goal, a couple days spent in Ulan Bator is enough.
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