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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Mongolia\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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 \u00d6rg\u00f6\u00f6 (palace-yurt); it turned the nation\u2019s capital in 1778 and was renamed Ulaanbaatar (\u201cRed Hero\u201d) 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s, 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s. Today it’s a museum and shops tons of of Tibetan spiritual artifacts.<\/p>\n This massive sq. is the middle of Ulaanbaatar. Its named after Mongolia\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 50% of the nation\u2019s inhabitants residing within the capital metropolis alone! Infrastructure hasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s distinctive topography, nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains, trapping these pollution.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s 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\u2019s robust facade.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s legacy a controversial one.<\/p>\n Mongolia can be well-known for its steppes and countless grasslands. You gained\u2019t see any of that in Ulaanbaatar. Luckily, you don\u2019t must journey far to expertise Mongolia\u2019s 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 \u201ctourists camps\u201d 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s horse, or \u201ctakhi,\u201d as soon as extinct within the wild. This 50,000-hectare park is a wildlife fanatic\u2019s paradise, boasting the world\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/beyondelittlereddot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/ulaanbataar1.jpg\")
Choijin Lama Temple Museum<\/h2>\n
Sukhbaatar Square<\/h2>\n
Zaisan Hill and Memorial<\/h2>\n
Chinggis Khan Statue Complex<\/h2>\n
Gorkhi Terelj National Park<\/h2>\n
Hustai National Park<\/h2>\n