Singapore Travel

A City of Contrasts – Beyond the Little Red Dot

December 6, 2024

Mongolia has been a tantalizing thriller to me for years. Known because the Land of the Eternal Blue Sky, my data of the nation was restricted to info from the Internet. No one I knew had visited Mongolia earlier than, and so once I obtained the possibility this 12 months, I rapidly signed up for a images tour that was certain for Mongolia in October to expertise it firsthand.

Mongolia’s capital metropolis is Ulaanbaatar and it serves because the gateway for all worldwide flights. Modern Ulaanbaatar is a comparatively new metropolis and it could be troublesome to place Ulaanbaatar in perspective with out first understanding the historical past of Mongolia.

In 1206, Genghis Khan united the Mongol tribes and based the Mongol Empire, which turned the biggest contiguous land empire in historical past below his successors. The empire fragmented within the 14th century, and Mongolia got here below Chinese affect through the Qing Dynasty from the seventeenth to early twentieth centuries. In 1911, Mongolia (traditionally referred to as Outer Mongolia) declared independence, however remained below Soviet affect as a communist state from 1924 to 1990. During this era, in 1639, Ulaanbaatar was based as a movable Buddhist monastic middle, initially known as Örgöö (palace-yurt); it turned the nation’s capital in 1778 and was renamed Ulaanbaatar (“Red Hero”) in 1924, reflecting the brand new communist ideology. The nation transitioned to a multi-party democracy in 1990 following peaceable protests. Since then, Mongolia has embraced market economics and democracy, sustaining its sovereignty whereas balancing relations with its neighbors Russia and China. Today, Mongolia is a parliamentary republic centered on creating its huge mineral assets and preserving its nomadic cultural heritage, with Ulaanbaatar serving as its political, cultural, and financial middle.

There aren’t any direct flights from Singapore to Ulaanbaatar, and I made a decision to choose Hong Kong as my transit level with the intention to have a brief stopover on my means again. So after roughly 8 hours of flight time with a 6 hours layover in Hong Kong, I discovered myself in Ulaanbataar, the capital of Mongolia.

International flights land at Chinggis Khan International Airport. This is a brand new fashionable airport that opened just some years in the past. A model new freeway connects the airport to Ulaanbaatar. One factor to notice is that the street system is designed for LHD, however one can find automobiles in each LHD and RHD working round.

I didn’t spend a lot time in Ulaanbaatar as the aim of the tour was to go to the Golden Eagle Festival in western Mongolia. My preliminary impression of town is that its very industrial and fairly unattractive. So listed here are just a few of the primary sights that I visited.

Choijin Lama Temple Museum

The important faith in Mongolia is Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism) blended with some shamanistic practices. In 1921 nationalist revolutionaries with Soviet help drove out Chinese troops from Mongolia and declared independence from Chinese rule. The new regime sought to exchange feudal and spiritual buildings with socialist and secular varieties. Consequently, there was a purge within the 1930’s, nearly all temples have been destroyed and lots of monks have been pressured to surrender their faith, or executed in the event that they resisted. Freedom to follow faith was solely allowed once more in 1990 after Mongolia turned democratic.

This temporary introduction of faith in Mongolia leads us to the primary landmark that I visited. This is the Choijin Lama Temple Museum. It was first in-built 1904 to 1908 and is without doubt one of the only a few temples to have survived the purges of the 1930’s. Today it’s a museum and shops tons of of Tibetan spiritual artifacts.

After paying the doorway charge and passing via the primary gate, I discovered myself in a big courtyard. There was one other gate that and courtyard earlier than I might strategy the primary temple constructing. Workers have been busy with upkeep and restoration work.

The important temple constructing with its Chinese model structure.

There are 5 temples within the compound, however the primary temple right here is the one the place the Choijin Lama would go right into a trance and make oracular pronouncements to be interpreted by an attendant lama or monk.

The elaborate and vibrant Chinese styled roof is in stark distinction to the close by fashionable towers of glass and metal.

Inside the corridor of the primary temple, I’m confronted by a riot of vibrant tapestries, artifacts and statues.

Colourful statues depict violent scenes from historical past or fantasy.

What caught my consideration was the big assortment of Tibetan demon masks which have been displayed alongside the perimeters of the corridor. These masks have been utilized in Buddhist ritual dances and meant to scare of evil spirits.

Sukhbaatar Square

This massive sq. is the middle of Ulaanbaatar. Its named after Mongolia’s revolutionary hero Damdin Sukhbaatar after his dying in 1923, and options a big equestrian statue of him within the middle of the sq.. Sukhbataar Square can be the location for main state ceremonies and cultural occasions.

Dominating the north finish of Sukhbaatar Square is the Government Palace the place the places of work of the Mongolian Government are situated.

In the middle of the Government Palace, an enormous statue of Genghis Khan appears down upon the sq..

The equestrian stature of revolutionary hero Damdin Sukhbaatar stands tall within the middle of the sq..

Evenings are a pleasant time to be on the sq.. Besides the nice mild for images, crowds of employees from the places of work and college students from the colleges close by cross the sq. to get round of grasp round with pals.

Along the jap fringe of the sq. is the distinctive State Opera and Ballet House.

On the western aspect is the Ulaanbaatar Bank, Mongolian Stock Exchange and City Administration Building.

Public transport in Ulaanbaatar isn’t nicely developed and lots of locals use these public rent electrical scooters to get round.

Locals use the sq. as a central place to fulfill and manage social actions.

These children have been utilizing the concrete steps round Sukhbataar’s statue as their private bicycle monitor.

Zaisan Hill and Memorial

On the south of Ulaanbaatar and throughout the Tuul River stands Zaisan Hill from which you may get a panoramic view of town. time to come back right here is within the early morning earlier than the crowds of locals and vacationers arrive.

Climbing this staircase of 300 steps from the carpark will deliver you to the highest of the hill the place a memorial stands.

I lastly reached the highest of the hill and seemed upon the memorial. This memorial was constructed to honor allied Mongolian and Soviet troopers killed in World War II.

The angular and tough options of the monument are reflective of Soviet period structure.

The exterior of the memorial was constituted of uninteresting concrete. Again the design appears very Soviet period with the previous identify of the Soviet Union – CCCP.

However, the within of the memorial has a vibrant mural depicting historic scenes reminiscent of Soviet help for Mongolia’s independence declaration in 1921, the defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army by the Soviets at Khalhkin Gol on the Mongolian border in 1939, victory over Nazi Germany and peace time achievements reminiscent of Soviet area flights together with the flight of Soyuz 39 which carried the primary Mongolian into area.

The memorial has additionally turn out to be a spot for locals and vacationers to loosen up and socialize. This previous man climbed up the hill and commenced feeding the pigeons.

Young college students gamely posed for the digital camera.

The place turned extra cheerful and noisier when the close by kindergarten introduced their children up for some morning play time.

From the highest of Zaisan Hill you possibly can see the entire of Ulaanbaatar, and likewise the issues that it faces as a quickly rising metropolis. Mongolia has a complete inhabitants of barely greater than 3.4 million (as of 2024) with 1.7 million of them residing in Ulaanbaatar. That’s 50% of the nation’s inhabitants residing within the capital metropolis alone! Infrastructure hasn’t saved up with inhabitants progress and site visitors jams are a perpetual prevalence. I skilled being caught in site visitors for greater than 2 hours simply to get out of town.

With the fast progress in human and vehicular inhabitants, different issues like air pollution and housing additionally turn out to be crucial. Air air pollution is very a big problem as fumes from the coal energy vegetation that energy town, car exhausts and burning of coal and firewood by households for heating and cooking means that there’s a perpetual layer of smog that blankets town. This smog will get worse throughout winter, and is additional exacerbated by town’s distinctive topography, nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains, trapping these pollution.

From the highest of Zaisan Hill I might see the layer of smog that covers Ulaanbaatar, and the chimneys belching smoke are the exhausts of the coal energy vegetation offering electrical energy and steam to town.

There’s not sufficient homes for the inhabitants and past the city sprawl of excessive rise residences one can find the Ger Districts. This is the place nomads who need to settle within the metropolis however can’t afford residences will arrange their Ger and commute to work within the metropolis, or dwell on authorities subsidies.

A majority of the city inhabitants lives in Ger Districts surrounding town. Here, nomadic life clashes head on with city life. There is commonly lack of water, sanitation and electrical energy in these districts. Residents use public wells and pit bogs, whereas burning coal and wooden for cooking and heating, additional polluting the very land they dwell on.

Ulaanbaatar, on my first go to, revealed itself as a metropolis of placing contrasts. The conventional nomadic life-style is regularly giving method to city residing, as many Mongolians migrate to the capital for higher job alternatives and schooling. While remnants of its Soviet previous are nonetheless seen, town is quickly modernizing, reflecting its rise as a world metropolis. Diplomatically, the nation maintains a fragile stability, fostering pleasant relations with its largest buying and selling companions, Russia and China, whereas concurrently partaking with Western nations to diversify its worldwide ties. Despite Ulaanbaatar’s rugged exterior and complicated historical past, its individuals are heat and pleasant. Throughout my keep, I all the time felt welcomed, experiencing firsthand the real friendliness that belies town’s robust facade.

Chinggis Khan Statue Complex

No dialogue of Mongolia is full with out mentioning Genghis Khan, arguably essentially the most famend determine in Mongolian historical past. My data on Genghis Khan has been restricted to my secondary college historical past books. Born as Temujin, he took the title of Genghis Khan after uniting the Mongol tribes. While he’s usually portrayed in historical past books as a ruthless and savage tyrant whose armies killed thousands and thousands of individuals throughout their conquests, in Mongolia he’s seen because the founding father of the nation and held in excessive regard for unifying the Mongol tribes and establishing the biggest contiguous land empire in world historical past stretching from the Sea of Japan all the best way to Eastern Europe. Like Ulaanbaatar, this distinction between historic views and his contributions to empire constructing makes Genghis Khan’s legacy a controversial one.

Located round 54 km east of Ulaanbaatar is that this big statue of Genghis Khan. In Mongolian, its pronounced Chinggis Khan and one can find this type utilized in Mongolia.

The statue is 40m excessive and made from stainless-steel. There is a store and museum on the basement of the statue. Taking a carry and stairs you possibly can exit the to the highest of the horse’s head the place there’s a viewing platform.

Once you exit onto the viewing platform you will notice the strict gaze of Genghis Khan on you. His likeness is used in every single place from Mongolian vodka to native souvenirs like fridge magnets and fur boots.

Inside the statue complicated you will discover the household tree of Genghis Khan and his subsequent successors.

I’m undecided why they made this big boot however perhaps they needed folks to know that Genghis Khan left very huge footwear to fill.

Gorkhi Terelj National Park

Mongolia can be well-known for its steppes and countless grasslands. You gained’t see any of that in Ulaanbaatar. Luckily, you don’t must journey far to expertise Mongolia’s pure wilderness. Just 60 km eastwards out of Ulaanbaatar is Gorkhi Terelj National Park. This is the closest nationwide park to town and is a well-liked place for vacationers to expertise residing in a ger. There are quite a few “tourists camps” starting from rustic to luxurious, so you possibly can choose your required consolation stage and price range. Some residents of Ulaanbaatar even have summer season homes right here to get away from town.

Imagine waking up within the morning to see horses passing via.

Only a small portion of the park is developed for vacationers and the vast majority of the park is undeveloped. There are additionally quite a few rocky mountains and formations for rock climbers.

One of essentially the most well-known rock formations within the park is that this one known as Turtle Rock. From this angle it positively appears like an enormous turtle. The gers beside it are simply so tiny as compared.

This is a Buddhist meditation temple that’s simply additional up from Turtle Rock. Its constructed alongside the aspect of a small mountain vary.

From the highest of the temple I obtained a wonderful view of the valley in autumn colors. If you look carefully, you possibly can see Turtle Rock within the distance alongside the street.

Hustai National Park

Traveling west from Ulaanbaatar for 100 km one can find Hustai National Park. This is in stark distinction to the tourist-oriented Gorkhi Terelj. Established in 1993, Hustai is famend for its essential function in preserving the Przewalski’s horse, or “takhi,” as soon as extinct within the wild. This 50,000-hectare park is a wildlife fanatic’s paradise, boasting the world’s largest inhabitants of those wild horses of their pure habitat, together with numerous steppe fauna together with roe deer, gazelles, marmots and wolves. I discovered that Hustai affords a extra genuine, much less commercialized nature expertise, specializing in conservation and sustainable tourism.