Ulaanbaatar, the world's coldest capital city and really the only city of Mongolia, is a giant bustling metropolis. Three or four million people with no concern (or awareness?) of personal space and boundaries, share crowded roads and chopped up sidewalks from late morning to late night. A mix of modern skyscrapers and old brick and stucco buildings co-mingle downtown. They are interspersed by monuments to cultural, historical and political icons, large squares, lots of sculptural art and a boatload of baby trees. Looks like the city planners have been on a spending spree at the local tree farm and have a vision for a more green downtown in the future. (Could take a while... growing season appears to be short around here.) Those same planners have executed tax breaks/incentives for driving Prius cars and Ulanbaatar is FULL of them... Like every 3rd car is a Prius, no exaggeration! Even more fascinating might be how they park their cars, though.
Despite my discomfort at almost being silently run over or indeed pushed over every 5 minutes, I like the people here. They take a lot of effort to present themselves well, even if the job they are doing is trash collection and leaf sweeping. I admire it! Mongolians smile a lot and have pleasing, slightly round and not-quite Asian, not quite Native American looking faces with full lips and sparkly eyes. They dress well and their style is more European than American in my opinion. I know; I probably should refrain from profiling a race of people like this - but my blog, my honest thoughts, like it or lump it.
English is not widely spoken and while Mongolians use the same or similar alphabet as the Russians, I'm finding it harder to crack the code here!
Mark and I have taken to spending the first day in any new city as a kind of settling in day. We normally stroll, eat, admire... not much else. On September 30th we tried in vain to do all kinds of low energy touristy things, but found the main museums closed and many of the shops too. Perhaps a combo of it being "off season", Sunday and the last day of the month - which apparently also meant our hotel couldn't take charge cards.
The last night had been long and loud on the train. After coffee and cake, sightseeing and an awesome lunch, we ended up napping away some of the cold afternoon on our first day in Ulanbaatar! I don't regret it.
October 1st/Monday was another day, much warmer and not a cloud in the sky. Museums were still closed, but we had a rather delightful time completing the 2 things on our to-do list today:
1. Get money from an ATM. The limit here is 400,000 MNT... or $160 US.
2. Have a little poke around the stores for gifts and to learn the "regular" prices of things before being confronted by tourist prices on our Gobi tour, which starts tomorrow.
The State Department Store is 6 floors of everything from groceries to cashmere, overpriced imported outdoor gear (Zamberlan, North Face etc) electronics, baby stuff, furs and leather goods. Souvenirs take up one whole floor and the experience of meandering through is one of being overstimulated by colors, choices and the subtle message that you might need some/all of these very unnecessary things. On the way out... your last chance to buy the new Chevrolet that you never thought you needed until you realized how much stuff you bought and now have to schlep home!
Speaking of unnecessary, Mark and I might have had somewhat lengthy diversion to the hat and fur area (fur is BIG in Mongolia) where selfies and poses brought giggles and judgmental stares. What is it about hats that change a person's personality in an instant?!
At some point during most days traveling together, one of us inevitably wants to try and eat something new and mysterious. Most times, that person is Mark - He is definitely more adventurous in the food department than I. Today however, in the bakery, I discovered squid ink rolls. Black, round, hollow sounding and covered in orange crumbs with an all-over oily sheen to the exterior. We added a squid ink roll to our sweet pastry order and agreed to share both. Outside, picnicking in the square, it was game time.
I actually really enjoyed the black ink roll! Did it have mashed potato or something else creamy, crammed into the center... yep, sure did. It was a light and fluffy bread, vaguely calimari tasting and kind of delicate in its flavors. I'd eat another.
Not all forays into experimental food tasting go as well. We stopped for a late lunch in what looked to be an authentic Mongolian restaurant. It featured one super nice waitress/hostess and a clean and simple vibe. Mark and I both decided to try a Mongolian drink with our meal.
Mark got "traditional tea".
I got "tea with milk".
Having up to this point successfully avoided ordering the "salty mare's milk" that we had read about, I'd say lunch was a giant fail or we simply ended our lucky streak here.
Marks tea was white with floating black lumps. Mine was yellow-white with an impressive oil slick and some peppery looking granules on top. Both were very hot (temp), slightly salty and oily-milky. I can only speculate that the gamey flavor was evidence of it being mare's milk - although never having had it before, it's hard to say. In any case, it was yucky. It took a lot of mental strength to imagine mine was a creamy chicken soup and get down another few mouthfuls. But that was it. We ordered Sprite and left the tea cooling on the table! Hahaha.
Lesson learned - no more traditional Mongolian teas for us. The next stop was back at the grocery store, stocking up on instant coffee sachets for the Gobi "glamping" tour that would constitute our next 4 days of adventure.
Despite my discomfort at almost being silently run over or indeed pushed over every 5 minutes, I like the people here. They take a lot of effort to present themselves well, even if the job they are doing is trash collection and leaf sweeping. I admire it! Mongolians smile a lot and have pleasing, slightly round and not-quite Asian, not quite Native American looking faces with full lips and sparkly eyes. They dress well and their style is more European than American in my opinion. I know; I probably should refrain from profiling a race of people like this - but my blog, my honest thoughts, like it or lump it.
English is not widely spoken and while Mongolians use the same or similar alphabet as the Russians, I'm finding it harder to crack the code here!
Mark and I have taken to spending the first day in any new city as a kind of settling in day. We normally stroll, eat, admire... not much else. On September 30th we tried in vain to do all kinds of low energy touristy things, but found the main museums closed and many of the shops too. Perhaps a combo of it being "off season", Sunday and the last day of the month - which apparently also meant our hotel couldn't take charge cards.
The last night had been long and loud on the train. After coffee and cake, sightseeing and an awesome lunch, we ended up napping away some of the cold afternoon on our first day in Ulanbaatar! I don't regret it.
October 1st/Monday was another day, much warmer and not a cloud in the sky. Museums were still closed, but we had a rather delightful time completing the 2 things on our to-do list today:
1. Get money from an ATM. The limit here is 400,000 MNT... or $160 US.
2. Have a little poke around the stores for gifts and to learn the "regular" prices of things before being confronted by tourist prices on our Gobi tour, which starts tomorrow.
The State Department Store is 6 floors of everything from groceries to cashmere, overpriced imported outdoor gear (Zamberlan, North Face etc) electronics, baby stuff, furs and leather goods. Souvenirs take up one whole floor and the experience of meandering through is one of being overstimulated by colors, choices and the subtle message that you might need some/all of these very unnecessary things. On the way out... your last chance to buy the new Chevrolet that you never thought you needed until you realized how much stuff you bought and now have to schlep home!
At some point during most days traveling together, one of us inevitably wants to try and eat something new and mysterious. Most times, that person is Mark - He is definitely more adventurous in the food department than I. Today however, in the bakery, I discovered squid ink rolls. Black, round, hollow sounding and covered in orange crumbs with an all-over oily sheen to the exterior. We added a squid ink roll to our sweet pastry order and agreed to share both. Outside, picnicking in the square, it was game time.
I actually really enjoyed the black ink roll! Did it have mashed potato or something else creamy, crammed into the center... yep, sure did. It was a light and fluffy bread, vaguely calimari tasting and kind of delicate in its flavors. I'd eat another.
Not all forays into experimental food tasting go as well. We stopped for a late lunch in what looked to be an authentic Mongolian restaurant. It featured one super nice waitress/hostess and a clean and simple vibe. Mark and I both decided to try a Mongolian drink with our meal.
Mark got "traditional tea".
I got "tea with milk".
Having up to this point successfully avoided ordering the "salty mare's milk" that we had read about, I'd say lunch was a giant fail or we simply ended our lucky streak here.
Marks tea was white with floating black lumps. Mine was yellow-white with an impressive oil slick and some peppery looking granules on top. Both were very hot (temp), slightly salty and oily-milky. I can only speculate that the gamey flavor was evidence of it being mare's milk - although never having had it before, it's hard to say. In any case, it was yucky. It took a lot of mental strength to imagine mine was a creamy chicken soup and get down another few mouthfuls. But that was it. We ordered Sprite and left the tea cooling on the table! Hahaha.
Lesson learned - no more traditional Mongolian teas for us. The next stop was back at the grocery store, stocking up on instant coffee sachets for the Gobi "glamping" tour that would constitute our next 4 days of adventure.
2 comments:
One thing I loved while walking around UB was seeing the men in their big coats with a he big wide belts around their middles. Just like in the movies. Glad you guys are having fun. Had any yak or camel cheese yet? Minna
Just had time to catch up with you two. SO pleased you're enjoying it all (except for the yucky tea). I loved laughing out loud at the hat modeling - happens to us, too. Mike in various swiss/bavarian hats made me nearly wet 'em!! Keep it up and wave the next time you see a yak. Cool here in BoCo at last - summer's over. I spotted snow up on the tip tops before the clouds settled yesterday and they've not lifted yet. Onward and upward. Want to hear about the yurts and yaks next! xox Kathy
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