A 5:00 am wake-up call enabled me to be in the lobby
in time for the 5:30 departure for the airport. Kai was there and the bus took
him and the four of us going to Mongolia to the airport. As usual he was extremely helpful to me with
luggage and getting me to the right gate.
We boarded the plane on time, but apparently owing to bad weather we sat
on the tarmac for about two hours before taking off. I was a bit concerned that the flight might
be cancelled, but we took off and landed in in Ulaanbaatar about two hours
late.
There are about 3 million people living in Mongolia,
half live in Ulaanbaatar. There are the
usual range of jobs there, but mining is important. They mine coal and use it to generate
electricity. They also mine gold and
copper, as well as other minerals.
Our new guide/tour director was waiting for us when we
arrived. Her name is Altai like the
mountain. Her English is quite
good. Her attitude is “let’s go”, which
I think is great. Our first stop was at the Hunnu shopping mall where they have
a museum of dinosaurs found in Mongolia.
A dinosaur museum in a shopping mall stuck me as unusual, but it
works.
Dinasaur museum at Hannu Shopping Mall
Dinosaur museum at Hannu Shopping Mall
Shopping mall
Dinosaur museum at Hannu Shopping Mall
Dinasaur museum at Hannu Shopping Mall
Dinasaur museum at Hannu Shopping Mall
Our next stop was lunch in a local restaurant. The
first dish was chicken with pickles and I was surprised at how much I liked
it. A pumpkin soup followed and then a
steak. Everything was good, but it was
just too much.
After lunch we headed to the National History Museum,
which covers the history of Mongolia from prehistoric times to the
present. I thought that the exhibits
were very well done. They had a little
gift shop, but I didn’t pick up anything (unusual for me). It had been threatning to rain, but we walked
over to the Sukhbaatar Square. The
National Assembly is at one end and there are statues of Genghis Khan as well
as two warriors. In the center of the
square was a statue of a general (I forgot his name) who led the Mongolians in
battle against the Russians, Chinese and Manchurians. I noticed toy cars for children and children
playing with them. There were also some
older boys on bicycles.
The Mongolian Folklore Performance was our evening
entertainment. It was well done. After the performance we headed to a
restaurant for dinner. The food was good
and there was too much. We finally
headed to the Ramada where we were staying.
It was eminently satisfactory, but it was not up to the standard of the
hotels we stayed at in China. A Shangra
La is being built in Ulaanbaatar; consequently future excursions may stay
there. I worked on updating my pictures
before I just collapsed.
Theatre where we saw show
Theatre
Behind the restaurant
Dinner restaurant
Dinner restaurant name - Silk Road
Dinner restaurant name - Silk Road
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