Beautiful Mongolia

Everytime I come into a new city, I'm overwhelmed by all the activity that goes on around me. Sometimes a new language, a new way of interacting, a new transport system to get to grips with, maps and diections to comprehend but if the city is beautiful and the people nice it makes the arrival so much easier and nicer. I think I am yet to wait for both. Ulanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia is in a beautiful setting, nestled in a valley, surrounded by beautiful, green rolling hills and mountains, BUT it is one of the ugliest cities I have seen. Russian type asphalt concrete towers loom from every direction, traffic jams with cars going wherever they please (and if you want to cross the road you do it at your own risk), cheap restaurants serving cuisine from the world over, dust and dirt everywhere, drunks wanderng around, wooden houses that are almost falling apart, narrow muddy alleys, cables and wires everywhere...it really is an ugly city.

After spending a day in Ulanbaatar, I couldn't wait to get out. And once out of the city, Mongolia is a truly magnificently beautiful county. In every direction you look there are breathtaking landscapes. Lush valleys, plateaus, mountains is all you see in whichever direction you look. Mongolians dressed in their traditional clothes herding their horses, sheep, cows, yak.. gers dotted in among the landscape, mongolians sitting tall on their horses galloping away into the distance, motorbikes carrying a passenger and an occasional sheep... it's just breathtaking. And the people are so friendly and hospitable. I spent 5 nights in different gers along the way, galloped through the hills, rode a camel into the desert, tasted fermented mare's milk and fresh yogurt made from sheep milk, listened to some traditional mongolian folk music and although I was looking forward to getting back to Ulaanbaatar for a good long shower, when I actually saw the city as we were heading back, I was really sad. The mongolian countyside is so vast, so varied and so beautiful, I could have easily spent a lot, lot longer here. unfortunately though the roads are all grade 3 or 4 and I spent every second that we were on the road bouncing around and every bone in my body being shaken till there is nothing left to shake.

Mongolia is definitely an amazing place, outside the city, it still retains all it's culture and traditional ways and the landscapes are truly breathtaking.