Mongolia for 8 days including Naadam...any tips?
Feb 20, 2013, 6:00 pm
#1
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Mongolia for 8 days including Naadam...any tips?
After years of getting thwarted on award availability or some other plank for adding Mongolia to a summer Asia trip, it looks like this year I might've finally done it and gotten the award on Korean Airlines for 8 days in ULN or elsewhere, spanning Naadam.
I plan to do the due diligence with the guidebooks and have been other places in Asia with modest degrees of difficulty, so this is more an asking of things in the "I wish I'd known before I went" vein. Stuff like:
a) How much time to give Naadam and what to see and what to skip. I have no special interests in any of the sports but can appreciate them on broad level like most people.
b) What's the best 2-3 day sidetrip from ULN if you like nature or culture
c) Best allocation for withdrawing money (how reliable ATMs are, whether traveler's checks do any good, etc.)
d) Is safety an issue? State Dept. sheets have warnings, but I've seen before where they can be sometimes overprotective.
e) Do they have Mongolian barbecue there? and
f) Anything else.
Any suggestions appreciated.
I plan to do the due diligence with the guidebooks and have been other places in Asia with modest degrees of difficulty, so this is more an asking of things in the "I wish I'd known before I went" vein. Stuff like:
a) How much time to give Naadam and what to see and what to skip. I have no special interests in any of the sports but can appreciate them on broad level like most people.
b) What's the best 2-3 day sidetrip from ULN if you like nature or culture
c) Best allocation for withdrawing money (how reliable ATMs are, whether traveler's checks do any good, etc.)
d) Is safety an issue? State Dept. sheets have warnings, but I've seen before where they can be sometimes overprotective.
e) Do they have Mongolian barbecue there? and
f) Anything else.
Any suggestions appreciated.
Feb 20, 2013, 9:36 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 670
I didn't have too long of a stay in Mongolia, so I'm not exactly a wealth of knowledge, but I can offer what knowledge I do have.
After years of getting thwarted on award availability or some other plank for adding Mongolia to a summer Asia trip, it looks like this year I might've finally done it and gotten the award on Korean Airlines for 8 days in ULN or elsewhere, spanning Naadam.
I plan to do the due diligence with the guidebooks and have been other places in Asia with modest degrees of difficulty, so this is more an asking of things in the "I wish I'd known before I went" vein. Stuff like:
a) How much time to give Naadam and what to see and what to skip. I have no special interests in any of the sports but can appreciate them on broad level like most people.
I wasn't there during Naadam, so I have no help for you.
b) What's the best 2-3 day sidetrip from ULN if you like nature or culture
For nature, the easiest sidetrip from ULN is probably Terelj national park. I believe it's only a couple hours from ULN and excursions are easily planned from most hotels in ULN. You can arrange to stay in a ger in or near the park.
Keep in mind the distances in Mongolia can be vast, so there probably aren't many places you will travel with a 2-3 day sidetrip.
c) Best allocation for withdrawing money (how reliable ATMs are, whether traveler's checks do any good, etc.)
I used ATMs and had no issues. I also was able to exchange US$ easily. However, as far as I know, you will only be able to do this in ULN (I may be wrong about this). If you are going on a trip outside ULD, make sure you have enough money to last until you return. The country kind of feels like you are in the old West, with ULN being the one town where people go to stock up on supplies and food before heading out into the wilderness. Once you leave the city, there is not much.
d) Is safety an issue? State Dept. sheets have warnings, but I've seen before where they can be sometimes overprotective.
Pickpocketing in ULN is extremely common, so be vigilant. I did not hear much about serious crime, though.
e) Do they have Mongolian barbecue there? and
There was at least one Mongolian BBQ place in ULN, but it seemed like a Western chain...
f) Anything else.
Have fun. It's an awesome country, and one of the few places that I have visited where I feel the need to go back.
Any suggestions appreciated.
I plan to do the due diligence with the guidebooks and have been other places in Asia with modest degrees of difficulty, so this is more an asking of things in the "I wish I'd known before I went" vein. Stuff like:
a) How much time to give Naadam and what to see and what to skip. I have no special interests in any of the sports but can appreciate them on broad level like most people.
I wasn't there during Naadam, so I have no help for you.
b) What's the best 2-3 day sidetrip from ULN if you like nature or culture
For nature, the easiest sidetrip from ULN is probably Terelj national park. I believe it's only a couple hours from ULN and excursions are easily planned from most hotels in ULN. You can arrange to stay in a ger in or near the park.
Keep in mind the distances in Mongolia can be vast, so there probably aren't many places you will travel with a 2-3 day sidetrip.
c) Best allocation for withdrawing money (how reliable ATMs are, whether traveler's checks do any good, etc.)
I used ATMs and had no issues. I also was able to exchange US$ easily. However, as far as I know, you will only be able to do this in ULN (I may be wrong about this). If you are going on a trip outside ULD, make sure you have enough money to last until you return. The country kind of feels like you are in the old West, with ULN being the one town where people go to stock up on supplies and food before heading out into the wilderness. Once you leave the city, there is not much.
d) Is safety an issue? State Dept. sheets have warnings, but I've seen before where they can be sometimes overprotective.
Pickpocketing in ULN is extremely common, so be vigilant. I did not hear much about serious crime, though.
e) Do they have Mongolian barbecue there? and
There was at least one Mongolian BBQ place in ULN, but it seemed like a Western chain...
f) Anything else.
Have fun. It's an awesome country, and one of the few places that I have visited where I feel the need to go back.
Any suggestions appreciated.
Feb 21, 2013, 4:19 pm
#3
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Thanks, sk8uno. Sounds a bit like Vietnam when I went (ATMs only in HCMC and Hanoi, big pickpocketing problem). Unlike Vietnam then, there don't appear to be any visa hassles to contend with for Americans, so if flight availability or reliability weren't a bottleneck it sounds like they could get many more visitors.
Apr 26, 2013, 9:53 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Austin
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I'm slated to be in Ulaanbaator July 5 and 6, just a few days before Naadam. It turns out that my barber's husband grew up there, and he and she visited 2 years ago.
Here is some of what she told me:
Here is some of what she told me:
1. Pickpocketing is almost an honorable profession in UB, so be extra vigilant. I told her that I routinely carry a fake wallet in my back pocket in that sort of area, she suggested that I take it and also a replacement.
2. She confirmed that there was a Mongolian BBQ place in UB, and said that there was no McDonalds. She thought there was a foreign fast-food place, but didn't recall the name.
3. She gave the correct "American" pronunciation for the capital city as OO lahn BOT 'r. The OO rhymes with "food", the second half rhymes with "hotter." She said that she could not reproduce the actual, Mongolian pronunciation for the name.
4. If you look like you need a ride, any passing car will stop and present itself as a taxi. However, it may charge an extraordinary amount of money for the ride.
I hope you have a fun time during Naadam.
2. She confirmed that there was a Mongolian BBQ place in UB, and said that there was no McDonalds. She thought there was a foreign fast-food place, but didn't recall the name.
3. She gave the correct "American" pronunciation for the capital city as OO lahn BOT 'r. The OO rhymes with "food", the second half rhymes with "hotter." She said that she could not reproduce the actual, Mongolian pronunciation for the name.
4. If you look like you need a ride, any passing car will stop and present itself as a taxi. However, it may charge an extraordinary amount of money for the ride.