Despite private taxis costing a pretty penny, I couldn't in good conscience spend three days in Ulaanbaatar without seeing what lied outside the city.
The Genghis Khan Monument/museum is an attempt to get more tourists to the country. Though the statue is large in size, the museum itself has little of note.
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entrance to Genghis Khan exhibit |
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HUGE statue of Genghis Khan- the building is large, the
statue larger |
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entrance to The Genghis Khan Museum |
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old Mongolian sword in the Ghengis Khan museum |
Head out from the monument area and you'll find, pretty much nothing. Grass and dust, with a mountainous background, and grazing herds of sheep, goat, and cattle.
The national park has nothing remarkable, and aside of paying a $3 toll to enter, there is no marker or boundary.
The highlight and original selling point for me going was to witness the amazing tortoise rock formation, which you'll see below in the photos. Beyond here, you plunge into the vast nothingness which comprises almost all of Mongolia.
Due to the difficulty of travel outside the capital, I had little desire to head into the outback to meet the nomadic people of Mongolia, especially after asking myself how different it would be than the days I spent with
Bedouins in Syria and tribes in Laos and Vietnam amongst other adventures.
Fortunately my plane left the next day.
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you'll see a lot of this- livestock grazing in the dusty fields with meager vegetation |
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Mongolians selling nuts along the side of the road-
hard way to make a living in a country where no one has any money |
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horses in the national park- note off-road vehicle.
Roads get dicey quickly out here |
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more sellers of nuts along the road-
be thankful you were born in your country! |
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a lot of rocky terrain around here |
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better grazing lands for these cattle- Mongolians eat a lot of meat |
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Tortoise rock formation- the highlight (and I mean highlight) of the area |
You "rock", number one!
ReplyDeletehahaha! Thanks Pablito Sorry I didn't get to see you when I was in the Bay Area. Hope all is well!
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