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.