A friend told me that there's nothing in Ulaan Baatar. I disagree. It's big boulevards are lined with large concrete buildings painted optimistic pastels. The ground floors of these carribbean colored monstrosities offer up a variety of shops selling everything from rice cookers and waist wigglers to Korean fashions and North Face knock offs.
There are no McDonalds, Starbucks or 7/11s. Instead there are several "Berlin Burgers" and countless "National Fast Food" restaraunts offering gristly mutton and beef served with many different sidedishes. Including coleslaw, carrots and potatoes! Pretty tasty as long as you get there early enough in the evening, before they run out of the more popular menu items like omlettes or dumplings!
Wait, I haven't even gotten to the best part. Chinngis Khan. He's everywhere you look. He's on bill boards advertising energy drinks and bbq 's. (watch out George Foreman!) He's on packages of potato chips and bottles of vodka. There's even the Chinngis Khan Irish pub a few blocks from my guesthouse. He's so popular they carved him into a hillside nearby!
Other fun sights in UB include payphones and manholes. The payphones are people on the sidewalk with telephones (often doubling as lollipop and cigarrette vendors) At first I couldnt figure out how they were connected. Then I saw a cell phone taped to the side of one. Aha! This system is very convienient since Mongolian currency doesn't have coins and we all know how finiky those bill feeders on vending machines can be!
Manholes are also another urban obstacle. Just like in Guatemala, they dont have covers. So you really have to watch your step! Today I saw a car tire stuck in one. There was a crowd watching one man trying to pull the car out with a rope. I hope it worked out for him.
Thank you for all your comments! The weather has warmed up a bit. Everything looks good for me to start cycling on Friday. Then the real fun will begin. Stay tuned!
4 comments:
Thanks for posting all these cool updates! We sure do miss you in Philly.
B: You post us and we'll post you. You post girl!
Love,
Tim
Sigh... whatever happened to Kublai? Always overshadowed by daddy.
Can you post more pictures? Intrigued from the one here - want to see more Mongolian people and Mongolian landscapes. Is that a house in the picture?
Poor Kublai. Personally I think he got a raw deal. I think the Empire was stretched to its limits when it was handed down to him. Chinggis just knew how to quit while he was ahead.
Yep those are apartment buildings going up on the edge of town. Lots of development happening. They are even building a Hyatt!
Will post more photos when I can.
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