Mongol Metropolis

We have made it, as we are constantly reminded, to the land of Gengis (or Chingis, if you're a local) Kahn and his Mongol hordes, against whom the Great Wall of China was built.
We piled off the train at  6.30 this morning, bid our travelling companions well, found the man waving a sign with my name on (just my first name though) and made it to the guest house. After a brief sit down and work on some plans we headed out to see the sights of Ulaanbataar - both of them.  I joke, whilst we were both unsure at first, UB (as it close friends get to call it) seems to be a good, and growing city.

The parliament building (complete with large statue of the great Kahn himself) is impressive and the square in front of it is also lovely, but surprisingly empty (this could be due to the Dinosaur attempting to rampage through it though). The Mongolian History Museum too is perhaps the best we've seen so far on this trip, especially in the sub £1 price bracket and as expected offered extensive (and fascinating detail on you-know-who [hint: not Voldemort]). 

Following these up with an all you can eat Mongolian 'Barbecue' was definitely a winner in our books.  We made sure we got our veg supplies for the week (just for you Mum) and I even forwent the Austrian Pils for a Chingis beer.  

We topped the day off with what turned out to be a real treat: a last minute decision to try and get tickets for a traditional Mongolian culture show led to an hour of incredible music (especially with just two strings), throat singing (it really is as bizarre as it sounds, though impressive), dances in traditional (and sometimes frightening) traditional costumes and of course, a contortionist. A sixty minute summary of the Mongol culture, yes designed for tourists but if we avoided everything designed for tourists we'd probably still be at home.

A quick drop into the state department store taught us the cost of importing all your goods, and more importantly that if chocolate is the equivalent of 10p per 100g bar, it probably isn't quite Cadbury's. It also introduced us to our final Chingis of the day, this time adorning a vodka bottle (£5 a bottle if you're interested). 

Tomorrow we begin to discover the other side of Mongolia, outside of the city and we can't wait.  See you in a week!

Giant Chingis Khan outside the National Parliament Building 

The centrepiece of Sukbataar Square