Mongolia with a population of 3 million is  the most sparsely populated country in the world. Nearly half of the population lives in Ulaanbaatar which is spread over a series of hills around the Tuul river valley at an altitude of 1,300 metres.

Taxi from the airport to the City was MNT20,000. Most of the vehicles here are used Japanese right hand drive cars similar to the Eastern part of Russia.

I got a SIM card from the Main post office near Chinggis Square for MNT5000 and another MNT6000 for 600 Mb of LTE Data (total about USD$5), good for 15 days on the Mobicom network which is the main one in Mongolia. It started working after 15 minutes and I did not have any problems for the week I was in Mongolia.

Chinggis Square and the Centre

My first meal in Mongolia turned out to be a surprise, first by the prices which were almost free compared to Tokyo and then by what was on my plate. My order was based on a picture from the menu which looked like grilled meat of some sort. It turned out to be grilled slices of liver and grilled slices of fat hahaha, neither of which are my favourite. The liver was washed down with beer and the fat was left on the plate much to the puzzlement of the waitress as she looked questioningly at me when clearing the table hahaha.

Beatles Square and the National Theatre

I went on a private tour, the only kind available which gave me a car and driver for the day at a cost USD$100. The tour starts with a visit to the Zaisan memorial on top of a hill, next drive to the 40 meter high stainless steel statue of Chinggis Khaan astride a horse, then cross country to a Nomad camp for lunch and an hour’s horse riding, I gave the horse riding a miss hahaha. Back to the paved road and to the Terelj National Park and a Meditation Center on a hill, a perfect day.

Gandantegchinlen Monastery, Dinosaur Museum, Choijin Lama Temple Museum

.