Asia - Anyone been in Mongolia recently

About a week ago I pulled the plug on a standard award business class ticket in May on Korean Air and Alaska found by the kind folks at the Chisholm, MN now DL call center. It turned out to be the only thing available after looking at flights to Cartegena, Panama City, Buenos Aires, much of Europe and other assorted places.

Since this will be my first time in Mongolia, I am starting early in my research. I have six days and am looking for things to do, places to stay, places to eat and other assorted information. The internet is not brimming with recommendations for Ulan Baator and even less outside the capital. Hotel options seem to be limited. The visit is early in May when balmy spring comes to the country. Highs in the 40's and possibly sunny if there is not a cloud of pollution.

I am an experienced traveler with over 90 countries under my belt. Definitely not a back packer, yet thrifty-but not that thrifty, see my profile please. I expect that Ulan Baator will be similar to Prague in the early 80's (perhaps kind of grim) but perhaps it has some different things to pique my interest. BTW, I'm more of a meet the people, get to know the culture, visit markets, explore than organized visits with museums and that awful word-tourists type of traveler. I detest "bus people" with their flag waving, megaphone toting leaders.

Please help with your suggestions.

If you haven't already checked out the Northeast Asia branch of the Thorntree forum on lonelyplanet.com, you should do so. Even if you are not a "backpacker" per se. Focus on the "what to do" first. I think you're going to find two things that may limit your options:
1) Six days is kind of an awkward length of time--too long for just a stopover in Ulan Bator but too short to really see a lot of Mongolia's more worthwhile and more distant sites. And Mongolia is the kind of place where ultra-tight scheduling and heading out to the hinterlands don't really go together. Infrastructure is extremely poor.
2) May is still fairly cold, and some sightseeing options may not be easily available as in the June-August period. Or, due to a sparseness of other travellers to join up with, setting something up for a solo may be doable but expensive.

You might also look at the websites of adventure tour companies that deal with small groups--not to sign up for a tour, but only to see how their itineraries are constructed and get a sense of sights and timing to/from. Try www.journeys-intl.com and www.absoluteasia.com maybe also www.wildernesstravel.com. You will soon see why most visits to Mongolia are for two weeks not one. Then from the independent traveller sites like LP, bootsnall, virtual tourist, etc. you can get some specifics on local operators, guesthouses, etc. that you can contact directly to set something up. And one of the nice things about being a US passport holder (I assume from location that you are) is that a visa for Mongolia is NOT required for a simple tourist visit.

It's been nearly a decade since I've been to Mongolia, so take all this with a grain of salt.

Six days is enough time for a couple of excursions outside of UB. Kara Korum / Erdene Zhu (the ruins of the city associated with Chingis Khan) is worth a visit and you can stop at a National Park on the way where you can see the teki (Przwalski wild horse). Usually this gets done as a 2 day / one night trip, with the night spent at a ger camp.

With a Mongolian-speaking interpreter, you can drive up to pretty much any ger (the preferred word in Mongolia; yurt is a Tuvan word) and be invited in for a visit. Typically you have to eat dry cheese, drink araq (fermented mare's milk), and sniff your host's snuff bottle.

You could also fly to the Gobi for a few days to see the Flaming Cliffs (where Roy Chapman found the dinosaur eggs). Or fly up to Lake Hovsgol to visit reinheer herders.

UB itself is a depressing crowded Soviet-style city, but there are a few monasteries of interest in the outskirts and the people are friendly. Khan Brau (the local beer) is among the worst I've ever had, alas. The State Department Store is a good place to do souvenir shopping as you can buy traditional clothing there.