After saying farewell to our new friends and fellow overland travelers we rode the 50 km out to the statue of the great Mongol emperor Genghis Khan of the 12th and 13th centuries. The ride out was the normal Ulaanbaatar chaos of crazy drivers but once we got out of town the road and traffic was quite nice. The statue itself was very impressive - as we came over the rise it towered over the Steppe. You can also go inside and climb to the top where there is a small viewing platform in horses head. The platform offers a commanding panoramic view of the countryside. We took a few photos of the statue and with the eagles/buzzards out in the parking lot and headed back to the city to pick up SIM cards and visit the black market.
The SIM card proved to be as cheap as advertised - about $10 US for 2GB of data and unlimited calling. Not that there is anyone in Mongolia I would call, but we can at least call each other if we somehow get separated. We gave ourselves Mongolian names in our phone address books - just as we did in Russia. Ken is Kenghis, Mark is Markis Khan and I am Mongol Chip. We heard there is good coverage when near towns so won't be going as dark as we originally thought while crossing Mongolia.
After a quick lunch back at the Oasis we walked the 1.5 km to the markets. The first was all automotive parts and motorcycles and motorcycle parts. There were endless booths with piles of engine blocks, heads, suspension parts, tires, auto body parts, bolts, etc. You could pretty much find anything you need to get your vehicle back on the road - in fact one of the Land Cruisers at the Oasis had snapped a spring and they went earlier that day and easily procured a replacement set. All the motorbikes were Chinese models that were pretty cheap in price and build quality. You couple get a brand new small cc bike for less than $2,000 US. Most of the Mongolians are on these Chinese bikes. I can't imagine the bikes have a very long life here. The second market is the famous Naran Tuul Black Market - billed as the largest in all of Asia with 60,000 daily visitors. It was pretty impressive in the amount of goods, produce, dry goods, etc. available for sale in the endless lines of vendor container booths. Ulaanbaatar is also know as the pickpocket capital of the world with many tourists getting hit at the market. We had no problems, but kept close tabs on what we had in our pockets. The only thing we bought was a bottle of water. We didn't need anything but just wanted to see the famous market.
We walked back in time for last call on dinner orders from the Oasis kitchen, enjoyed a few beers with our new Italian friends Christiana and Sabrina. Tomorrow we head west across the vast Mongolian Steppe...
Me and the eagle/buzzard with Genghis Khan.
Ken and Mark posing with Genghis Khan on the view platform.
Some camels we saw on the road on the way to the statue.
Beth getting ready to head east.
The auto parts market.
A row at the black market.
The SIM card proved to be as cheap as advertised - about $10 US for 2GB of data and unlimited calling. Not that there is anyone in Mongolia I would call, but we can at least call each other if we somehow get separated. We gave ourselves Mongolian names in our phone address books - just as we did in Russia. Ken is Kenghis, Mark is Markis Khan and I am Mongol Chip. We heard there is good coverage when near towns so won't be going as dark as we originally thought while crossing Mongolia.
After a quick lunch back at the Oasis we walked the 1.5 km to the markets. The first was all automotive parts and motorcycles and motorcycle parts. There were endless booths with piles of engine blocks, heads, suspension parts, tires, auto body parts, bolts, etc. You could pretty much find anything you need to get your vehicle back on the road - in fact one of the Land Cruisers at the Oasis had snapped a spring and they went earlier that day and easily procured a replacement set. All the motorbikes were Chinese models that were pretty cheap in price and build quality. You couple get a brand new small cc bike for less than $2,000 US. Most of the Mongolians are on these Chinese bikes. I can't imagine the bikes have a very long life here. The second market is the famous Naran Tuul Black Market - billed as the largest in all of Asia with 60,000 daily visitors. It was pretty impressive in the amount of goods, produce, dry goods, etc. available for sale in the endless lines of vendor container booths. Ulaanbaatar is also know as the pickpocket capital of the world with many tourists getting hit at the market. We had no problems, but kept close tabs on what we had in our pockets. The only thing we bought was a bottle of water. We didn't need anything but just wanted to see the famous market.
We walked back in time for last call on dinner orders from the Oasis kitchen, enjoyed a few beers with our new Italian friends Christiana and Sabrina. Tomorrow we head west across the vast Mongolian Steppe...
Genghis Khan.
Mongolian security fence we passed on the walk to the market. Look closely and see the glass shards embedded into the cement.
No comments:
Post a Comment