Monday, May 18, 2015

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Today we flew to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, landing at Genghis Khan airport. Mongolia became communist in 1921 but was never incorporated into the USSR but rather was a satellite state. It gained independence in 1990, just before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Unlike Uzbekistan and Georgia, though, they retained use of the Cyrillic alphabet.

The population is only 3 million, and half reside in Ulaanbaatar, the capital. The city has some modern buildings ...

... but still has what appear to be communist-era apartments.

With a cow along the road.

It's late so we come straight to the hotel for dinner, and are entertained by Mongol musicians ...

... acrobats ...

... and some kind of folk dancers whose costumes are beautiful but the meaning of the dance was lost on us.

We tour the city tomorrow morning and then take a short flight into the Gobi desert tomorrow. There will be no internet for a few days so don't be concerned. I think the next post will be Thursday night from Yangon in Burma.

 

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