A day in Mongolia

Genghis Khan Statue

I have dreams of being in the Gobi desert, sleeping in a yurt (called gair in Mongolia) and exploring the adventure of the country. This by far will be a two week trip at minimum but there was no way i'd be this close and not visit. I took Air China from Beijing to Mongolia.

I landed in Ulaanbaatar shortly before noon. It was ealy October and I was bring two things, excitement and the first snow of the season. Having left China's seventy degree weather for twenty degrees and snow did not seem appealing but I had committed to the adventure. My first thought process was why is the airport so far from the city. I swear the ride took about two hours and the closer we got to the city, the worst the traffic got.

Gairs at Terrell National Park

I arrived at the Kempinski Ulanbataar and not a moment too soon as my driver was already outside waiting for me. I had signed up for a half fay tour in the city and couldn't wait to get started. The very first stop was the equestrian statue of Genghis Khan. Noted as being the largest equestrian statue in the world and on the site where his sword was found, it could be his final resting place. There is a museum inside the statue that goes into detail of the history of Mongolia from the wars, the foods and the games in the country.

Turtle Rock

From ther we had lunch at a lodge in Terelj National Park. We then moved to board games with the host and even though we couldn't communicate with each other, I felt the warmth. She also had gairs on premises that I could visit up close. Next stop was turtle rock, on the way to an offroading expedition. We hiked to the temple where we spent time and got to do a few prayers. I was extremely thankful for the experience as I hadn't gotten time to be in a temple since my time in Bhutan.

The ride back to the city was a few hours and enough for me to have a nap before the nap. I was pretty much beat and slept until the next day where I had a walking tour of the city before heading back to the airport. Mongolia has plenty on contrasts but it's an incredible place to visit.

Mongolian Air

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