[GM]

Here is the fifth thread about my train journey, in last july, from Moscow to Beijing.

- the first thread (about Moscow) :http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1228115&highlight=
- the second thread (about Siberia) :http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1230031&highlight=
- the third thread (about the Baikal):http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1232523&highlight=
- the fourth thread (about the journey from Irkoutsk to Ulan Bator) :http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1236449&highlight=

First, what about some music for the ambience :

See the reason of this particuliar choice at the end of the thread...



1- Let's start by the surroundings of Ulan Bator. Here is the Transmongolian, but seen behind the windows of a bus :

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3- Some huge antennas near Ulan Bator :

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5- Police checkpoint ?

6- French chocolates !

7- Eagles :

8- Entering a very touristic valley, not far from Ulan Bator :

9- Budhist monument. We were supposed to go three times around this stones heap while throwing stones on it to make it bigger. It brings luck.

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11- Goats and sheeps on the hills :

12- While we go further into the valley, there is not a true road anymore, just an earth track. Here is the "Turtle Rock" :

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15- Continuing by foot towards our place of accomodation, deep in the valley :

16- Meeting some Mongolian riders on the way :

17- And some cute little cows :

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19- They have ladas there too !

20- And some yaks :

21- Ah... the quiet rural life of Switzer... Mongolia !

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24- Our yurts for one night :

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26- Leaving back the valley, the next day :

27- Lot of people in Mongolia :

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29- Passing in front of a muslim cemetery on the way back to Ulan Bator :

30- Lot of cars, there was probably some funerals that day :

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32- Some kind of military base along the road :

33- Again the transmongolian seen from the bus :

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35- A budhist temple in Ulan Bator (there was a huge statue inside the temple but we couldn't take picture of it without paying) :

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38- Buildings going up in Ulan Bator :

39- In a great restaurant of Ulan Bator :

40- The view from my hotel room :

41- Other views :

42- Tower blocks :

43- Abandonned (?) budhist temple :

44- On the great square of Ulan Bator :

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47- Mongolian parliament :

48- Mongolian skyscraper :

49- Mongolian hero :

50- Mongolian stock exchange :

51- Mongolian svastikas :

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53- The State Department store, the central point of meeting for every tourist visiting Mongolia (Chinese, Russian, French, etc.) :

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55- Consumption at its best !

56- Another building near the store :

57- Various pictures of the city :

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61- Kids playing football in the street :

62- That's the amount I had to pay for my dinner in an Ulan Bator restaurant. It's not as expensive as it appears... it's just that Mongolian love bank notes !

63- This "signal" graffiti was everywhere in the city... very strange :

64- Gang sign ? Let's go to google to have an answer !

Next part : Leaving Ulan Bator and experiencing the Gobi desert.
Coming soon !

 

[veoveoveo]

Very interesting. It looks like a northern Chinese city in the 90's.

 

[Armidall]

there was a GAZ-24 Volga... not "LaDa"

 

[christos-greece]

And the final thread about Ulanbaatar and beyond the city, its really interesting and very nice too; thanks for all those train-tour images kay:

 

[otta]

great photos... and i like the band, too!

 

[capricorn2000]

this is one great tour in pictures.
I wonder how this place looks like in winter.
thanks for the great job.

 

[warden987]

I think Mongolians don't like their city to be called Ulan-Bator nowadays, they would prefer as Ulaanbaatar. Pics are fine.

 

[kingsway]

wow, this is one great travel adventure @ GM.
nice photot tour.

 

[Pansori]

This is truly interesting. We certainly do not get to see Mongolia on SSC too often let alone such an amount of photos and descriptions. Thank you!

 

[Rinchinlhumbe]

This is truly interesting. We certainly do not get to see Mongolia on SSC too often let alone such an amount of photos and descriptions. Thank you!

Thats right, unfortunately. Check the link in my signature for some more pictures.

Nice photos, btw, thanks for putting them up

 

[Jonesy55]

Great adventure GM!

I was looking at Ulaanbataar on Google maps today, its incredible how there are whole large suburbs of yurts around the city which can presumably be loaded onto trucks and taken away into the vast Mongolian wilderness if the owners want to.

Even within a few hundred metres of Sukhebaator square you can see many yurts on open plots, amazing!

The Mongolians don't seem to be very creative with their naming though unless Google is being lazy with its labelling. I saw a lot of "kindergarten #27", "Government building #12 - Ministry of roads", "School #7" type names on the map and even "Grocery store #4" :laugh:

 

[urbane]

interesting photos.

I notice that Mongolians write mostly in cyrillic, however some government buildings have another script that looks very similar to Manchu script. Is it the same as Manchu script and is it used at all these days by the Mongolian population?

 

[Conor]

Thanks for these photos. Mongolia is a place that has always intrigued me. It is so beautiful and unique. I have looked through your whole series and it is fantastic!

 

[travelworld123]

interesting photos.

I notice that Mongolians write mostly in cyrillic, however some government buildings have another script that looks very similar to Manchu script. Is it the same as Manchu script and is it used at all these days by the Mongolian population?

I think that in Mongolia, they mainly use cyrillic, but in Inner Mongolia (which is an autonomous region in China), uses it's traditional Mongolian script which looks similar to the Manchu script (they're both related).

If you look at photos of cities such as Hohhot (which is in Inner Mongolia), you'll see most buildings with the traditional Mongolian script along with Chinese.

I personally think that Mongolia (the country) should reintroduce the traditional script as it's so beautiful and brings the culture and uniqeness of the place!