A Day in Ulaanbaatar

Up this morning.  We were anticipating Khosoo to be here at 1:00, so I slept in and just spent the morning sitting around and resting.  My companion went out for a walk.  I anticipated that we'd see everything on our walking tour.  In retrospect, I wish I had gone with her, but I was feeling some twinges in my foot and was trying to prevent a flare while traveling, so an extra couple of pills (as allowed by my neurologist) and a morning of rest was in order.

Khosoo arrived early, so off we went.  Apparently there was a miscommunication.  He thought we were driving and we thought we were walking.  We had to move his car from where it was improperly parked, so we rode with him for about an hour before we found long-term parking by the post office, our first stop and about two blocks from our hotel.  While he was parking. my companion and I got out and headed to the post office.  Surely we could manage that.  We have postcards to mail! So we headed into the first door of the building that said post office. 

It looked pretty empty inside, not at all like a functioning post office, but we followed people who seemed to know where they were going.  We went upstairs and were confronted by a locked door, so what did we do?  We waited until somebody came out and we went in the door while it was opened.  We found ourselves in a room with a pool table and some other things that indicated it was a break room.  Deciding we were probably in an employee area, we tried to get out, but the door was locked that way, too!  We had to wait until somebody came in so we could, again, take advantage of the opened door.  I finally decided to ask somebody.  I typed my question out in the translation app and asked, and she (thankfully) answered in very good English.  She took us back outside and to the big window area with a ramp and door on the right side just to the right of us.  This looked more like it!

She led us over to the number generator, and we got number 26.  They were on number 9!  Thankfully, Khosoo got there about that time.  After just a few minutes, he talked to a lady at one of the windows, and she agreed to stop what she was doing and sell us some stamps.  I still had the postcards from South Korea, where the post office was closed and I couldn't get stamps, so I got four stamps.  They are so unique, I almost got four more just for me to keep!  But, I decided the lady had been so nice, I wouldn't bother her again.

I just put them on my postcards and dropped them in the international mail box.  Pretty ornate, huh?

As we left the post office, Khosoo started to get the car.  Our next stop was Chinggis Square.  He said it was maybe 1/2 km, so we chose to walk.  It was really just a couple of couple of blocks, counting crossing streets.  Google Maps says it was about 400 meters.  There was a market going on and a band playing, so we boogied along and looked at the things for sale.  I got some shots of the government offices, but nothing really spoke to us in the market stalls.

I love how there are modern buildings right beside traditional, older buildings in Ulaanbaatar.

There's a big statue of Chinggis Khan in the center of this Capital building.

We stopped to see the Peace Bell on the way out.  It has a lot of graffiti on it.

Have I indicated to you just how bad traffic is in Ulaanbaatar?  We wanted to go to the State Department Store, where we were told we could find souvenirs and stuff.  Khosoo said it was about a km, which was about right, and we walked.  We passed the post office and stopped in several souvenir shops, but nothing really spoke to us.  Turns out that the State Department Store is just another mall with stores like Michael Kors and lots of cashmere product stores and kitchen wares, and you get the drift.  We finally were able to communicate to somebody what we were actually looking for, and they sent us to the top floor in the very back.  We got that information just before we gave up.

The souvenir part had everything, souvenirs, saddles, T-shirts, even wedding clothes with Kazakh displays.

 

Khosoo said he would get the car, but the theater was only about 1.5 km, so we continued to walk.  He was concerned about my inability to walk (he helped me multiple times in the snow leopard camp), and I explained to him that on flat, even ground, I'm good.  It's my balance that makes me unable to walk on uneven ground without taking extra care, and uphill causes me to lose my breath quickly, so he stopped worrying about me, and we walked.  When he got us settled into seats in the theater for the show, Khosoo went back to get the car.  He took the bus back to the post office parking lot and drove back.  He got back with just a few acts before the end.

The show was amazing.  It was called "The Legend of Nomads" and went through a lot of cultural and historical items through music, interpretive dance, and other things.  I got lots of photos and videos.  If you're ever in Ulaanbaatar, I highly suggest seeing this show.  The narrative between acts was in English, so tourists could understand the significance of everything.

There was regular singing

The horsehead fiddle is the most culturally significant instrument in the country.  There are a few legends about how it came about, but it is a symbol of peace and happiness and can be found in many places.  It's fretless with four strings and a square soundbox.  This guy played it so well.  The part where he showcased his talents, I was too busy with my jaw dropped to get a good video of it, but you can get the sound from this one.

There was throat singing

And the contortionist was really amazing

They had great costumes.  I don't know how they danced in some of these!

The flautist showcased his awesome breath support.  If you've ever played a wind instrument (and even if you haven't), you can appreciate this!

After the show, Khosoo started driving us back to the hotel.  It was about 2.5 km from the theater.  It took us over an hour, and it was getting dark, so he eventually parked so we could walk the rest of the way.  We should have walked all the way.  Have I mentioned how bad the traffic is in Ulaanbaatar?  I've been a lot of places, but this is, hands down, the worst traffic I've been in when it's not rush hour!  At least the ice sculptures hadn't melted all the way yet!  This was just on the sidewalk.

After we got back to the hotel, we went to the KFC to get some food for dinner and the train and the Nice to CU store for drinks and got all packed up.  Confirmed the early morning taxi to the train station, and got packed up for the train to Beijing.