Ulan Bator - Mongolia

Ulan Bator is the capital and largest city of Mongolia. There are direct flights from our country to here, and the shortest and most economical way of transportation is the airline option. The capital of Mongolia, which is located in a deserted geography far from our country, will appear as if it is a cross section from the 1960s. The staff who will greet you at the airport where you will land after an 8-hour flight may not be able to show you the courtesy you expect. They repeat the instructions and requests that they will give mainly in their own language, then in their limited foreign language.

Ulan Bator “Cengiz Kagan-CHINGGIS KHAAN” International Airport has a convenient and not very large terminal built in recent years. After you disembark from the plane, health personnel will greet you and carry out the necessary procedures due to the current COVID pandemic conditions. Then you will go through passport control, which is not too long, and then customs control with your suitcases. Except for other countries, all suitcases and bags are x-rayed at the customs department here. As in some Turkic Republics, you will witness once again that the majority of the passengers will enter the country with many suitcases in the cabin as part of the luggage trade.

If you do not have a transfer agreement for your hotel after exiting the terminal, there is no alternative other than a taxi. The taxi option, which you will see very rarely in the city, will not be very economical for you because it waits for you in the city center for about 2 hours. For this reason, it would be wiser to negotiate with taxi drivers (they do not offer big discounts) by learning the average current taxi prices before arriving. If you insist on the taximeter, you are likely to be harmful, because the traffic in the city center is very bad, as I will explain in a moment. Those who complain about Istanbul traffic, like me, will better evaluate how worse things will leave traces on us every day when they see this place.

Speaking of traffic, I would like to mention a really serious traffic jam. Following the exit from the terminal, vehicles pass through a small settlement before the city center (approximately 40 minutes) with the highway, which is the only option. This is the area called the new Ulan Bator, and the construction of high and large buildings continues. While continuing without encountering the traffic phenomenon so far, you will soon encounter that indescribable congestion while going downhill for the city center. Cars are trying to make their way through the chaos with intense horn sounds as they join the road you are on from both the right and left of the road. Although there are lights, the traffic flow is tried to be improved by the police at most points, but it is not successful. Especially buses and electric trams compress the lanes, making the flow even more difficult. Know that you will cover a distance of 5 km in approximately 1.5 hours or more and adjust yourself accordingly. Since you will experience the same process while going to the Airport on your return, planning your flight accordingly will prevent possible flight hijackings. Because there are no flights to our country every day, you may need to stay for an additional 2-3 days.

When you arrive at your hotel after a grueling journey, if we include the flight and leaving your home, you will want to rest for a minimum of 12-13 hours of fatigue, but the time difference will prevent you. For this place, which is 5 hours ahead of Turkey, when you arrive at your hotel around 10:00 in the morning, if you are in winter conditions, my advice to you is to rest as little as possible and start your tour in the city center as soon as possible. Because another feature of this place is the cold weather, which can reach -35 degrees in winter.

Even those who are used to cold weather like me can get cold here. The temperature, which was the lowest -35 degrees in the period I came in December, will make you feel close with the highest -20 degrees during the day. You must enter the indoor area after walking for 10 minutes in a combination of underwear, corduroy trousers, fleece, coat, beret and gloves that you will wear. If you feel as if you are being bitten on your calves, it will be in your favor to enter a closed place immediately. Since the places you will see in the city center are generally within walking distance and the taxi is useless due to the heavy traffic, it will be a bit of a necessity to walk. Already during my stay, I saw a taxi in the city center once or twice.

The National Museum is one of the places to visit in the city center. In this museum, which is open until 18:00 in the evening, many works that will attract our attention are exhibited. I am sure that you will enjoy the museum, which beautifully exhibits the evolutions of this geography, which is close to us because of the name Cengiz Kagan. The Great Genghis Khan statue and its territory are outside the city. you need to plan a separate day and vehicle here. Buses and electric trams are used as public transportation, but minibus-style facilities are not available. The car rental option can be a bit of a hassle because besides the very bad traffic, most cars have the steering wheel on the right, but the traffic is on the right. It is not considered a good option due to additional difficulties in use and traffic. By the way, let me point out that the cold is so much that it will be seen in the photos I took in the images. There are special protective covers for cars. In addition, another remarkable point is that 90% of the cars you see in the traffic belong to the Toyota brand.

Gandantegchinlen Monastery and Sukhbataar Square (Genghis Khan Square) in the city center are extremely impressive. The statues of Genghis Khan and Hulagu Khan in Sukhbataar Square are particularly striking. This square, where the government and official buildings are located, is right in the city center and is at the intersection of all roads. If you go to this area around 10:00-11:00 in the morning, you can watch the ceremonies and ceremonies of the soldiers in uniform with the daily band. Many large and small monasteries and museums in the city will attract your attention.

If you want to explore the city on foot, as I did, the most important thing that will draw your attention is the small buffet style shopping points per step. 3-4 square meters of water, soft drinks, etc. Many emergency items are sold. In places where you will not have the opportunity to communicate in English, a calculator is used to show prices, and you cannot use a card like Istanbulkart, both on buses and in such places if needed. This card can be used wherever you see the emblem. You can consider it as an option for situations where you do not want to keep money on you for security purposes.

Another feature is that the entertainment centers called "kareoke" are very busy. You can come across more of this type of entertainment every step of the way in this city than in Hongkok and Korea. You will notice that when you come in general, daily life is heavily influenced by Korea, China and Japan. In addition to the Cyrillic alphabet, advertisements and advertisements written in the alphabets of these countries are used extensively.

In the city of Ulan Bator, there are many restaurants where you can find mainly Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Mongolian cuisines, as well as other world cuisine options. Due to its somewhat cold climate, Mongolian restaurants mainly feature local dishes made of potatoes. Products made with meat are definitely included in the dough. In restaurants for Korean and Japanese cuisine, chicken varieties attract attention, and they are served fried with tomato paste and sweetened sauce. Maybe because of the fact that it is not on the seashore, I did not encounter an option for aquatic products. Let me state so that there is an opportunity for comparison for all countries; hamburger menu is 4 US dollars, Tepenyaki chicken side dish is 5 US dollars, Vegetable and noddle soup is 3 US dollars. To give an example in terms of accommodation, the cost of staying in a luxury 5-star hotel is 100 US dollars, including breakfast, and the prices decrease in direct proportion to the decrease in the number of stars. In 2-star hotel and hostel type options, the nightly fee is around 15-20 US dollars. In general, textile products do not have attractive prices from outside. Due to the fact that cashmere is the homeland, there are many options and prices are affordable. I wish you a pleasant trip.