summers all end at some point. jc is enjoying her post-mongolia life by interviewing for jobs and eating avocados. jj is on his way back shortly, dreaming of riding bikes and buying a mountain of kale.
thank you, mongolia, for your sunshine and hospitality.
anyone out there looking for a hostel to stay in should consider edelweiss mongolia. nice folks, plus free tea and toast every morning!
…and here’s to more stateside adventures for us both.
xo
jj wrote this a little while after arriving in UB, for the fine folks he is friends with on facebook. the roads have gotten even crazier since the start of school in september.
So what’s Mongolia like? I have received a few emails asking that question. First off, I live in a city. Not just any city but the countries largest at 1.1million, which is almost half of the nations population! Here in UB, we have lots of traffic. Lots. Driving here is crazy. If you thought it was bad in Mexico City, its nothing to UB. Specifically, the drivers here obey no laws. I have seen traffic cops on hoods of cars. Drivers are programmed to never stop. Today for example a car was pulling out of a lot behind me and ran right into me, expecting me to move. Instead I used my hand on the hood to keep myself upright. Despite all this craziness, I (and other expats) almost never see wrecks of cars or humans! And despite all the horn honking, this anarchy is not road rage. Rather its a city and it citizens dealing with the exponential growth of a city not equipped for so many cars. Most unfortunately bicycles are never seen. At least there are lots of carpools happening. Anyone with a car becomes a defacto taxi.
Due to the busyness of traffic I have to run early in the morning. Its ideal anyhow as the pollution from cars is at a minimum. I often see other foreigners running early. The bright sun and cool temps add to the peace of running through the various neighborhoods of the “Red Hero”
anyone who tells you (ahem…lonely planet guidebooks) that eating vegetarian is difficult in UB is mistaken.
there is certainly a lot of meat to be had, and the countryside is another story, but the city has at least a dozen specifically vegetarian/vegan restaurants. excellent choices for mongolian and international cuisine.
UB by night. the global peace festival drew a large crowd to sukhbaatar square for speeches, entertainment, bicycling in the dark, and glow sticks. august 26, 2011
we developed a pretty good system for watching movies in a busy hostel using these tools:
-1 suitcase
-1 netbook computer
-1 headphone splitter purchased for 1000 T at the black market, plus headphones
-2 pillows
-1 bottom bunk
optional (necessary) tools:
-golden gobi chocolate, in the form of crispy rice or coconut
we stood the suitcase upright, with the netbook on top, our legs hanging off the side of the bunk like it was a couch (a much more comfortable option than both trying to stretch out on the twin bed with the computer between us).
movies watched in the UB summer:
fire trucks await washing.
one of my sisters and my new brother-in-law both work for fire departments in the u.s., so i was excited to get some pictures for them.
september 2, 2011
skateboarders rest on the backside of the beatles monument, located between the state department store and the state circus.
according to an article in the UB post about its construction, it was promoted by mongolian prime minister s. bayar as “a symbol of a period of time when many mongolians aspired to have the freedom of the west.”
