Where in the World are Aimes and Hobbes?: Ulaan Bataar

Further to our previous post it is probably remiss of us not to say anything about the beautiful (?) capital of Mongolia - Ulaan Bataar..... In the previous post we mentioned the stunning power stations located in the centre of town, but this is probably a bit misleading, as though not much to look at there are quite a few cool things about the place.
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The metropolis of UB (in the centre top of the photo if you missed it)

After finishing our trip around western Mongolia we decided to take a week out to enjoy the town and kick back and recoop (ie. do our washing) before hitting the road again. It is surprising how easily we were able to pass a week here, though you probably wouldn't need to spend too much longer (and to think Hobbes almost got a one year job here!).

In contrast to our boiled mutton diet we had been consuming for the weeks prior, we were very happy with the cosmopolitan mix of restaurants in UB, including good Indian, Italian, Korean and 'Asian Fusion'. A favourite was the Chez Bernard Cafe where we spent many lazy afternoons with a good coffee and book. In the evenings we entertained ourselves at the rowdy Chinngiss Khan Irish Pub (?) and knocked back a couple of cheeky Chilean wines at the trendy 'Fashion Cafe' which had the fashion TV cable channel on high rotation and dated doggy eared copies of Vogue and Harpers Bazaar on the racks.
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The youth culture seems to be pretty advanced for such a small place, particularly when it comes to heavy metal bands (reminicent of the Rock and Roll Fan Club death metal of Saigon). We caught a great gig at Radio 105.5 a bar attached to the local youth radio station. Amongst what were obviously some Mongolian favourites we also had some covers of Radiohead and Nirvana (which we think were in english but were not really sure...).

UB's central square - every good (ex-) communist capital must have one!

As with most capital cities there is no shortage of museums, monestaries and monuments to fill in your days. In UB these sights range from the impressive (complete Gobi dinosaur skeletons and Chingiss Khan period armour) to the bizzare (hundreds and hundreds of stuffed animals, mostly aranged in fighting poses in dioramas).

The Modern Art Gallery has some stunning works with the most common subject matter of horses and mothers in various mediums (the two most important things to a Mongolian man, in that order). We also tried to find the Intelligence Museum which had a range of puzzles designed by local intellectuals, but we obviously didn't meet the entrance requirements as we couldn't find it!

Payphone Mongolian style

Perhaps the most impressive sight in UB was however the Central or 'Black' Market, which is by far the largest market either of us have ever seen anywhere. It was absolutely massive (and absolutely freezing, being primarily outdoors). It not only had just about everything you could ever imagine, it had about 100 stalls selling each of those things! If you are ever in the market for spare truck transmissions, beauty products, eastern european fashions or a bulk supply of plastic bags this is the place to come.

Our luxurious UB guesthouse

So that's about it for Mongolia, it was a pretty amazing experience and so different to anywhere we've been before. Before we start on our China posts here are a few more photos from our road trip....