Between CHINA and RUSSIA - First time travelling to MONGOLIA
[Music] Mongolia, a land of vast wilderness and ancient traditions. A place I've dreamt of exploring for as long as I can remember. In the series I hope to uncover what makes this nomadic heartland so captivating. From navigating untouched landscapes by
motorbike to sharing life in ger/yurt with nomadic families, each episode will dive deeper into this fascinating country. Today we begin by exploring the bustling capital, Ulaanbaatar. Good morning from Ulaanbaatar, the largest and capital city of Mongolia, a country in East Asia. This is where you will be likely landing if you were to visit the country.
A fascinating nation I'd say because as a modern country Mongolia is pretty much still unknown to many. So today I will be exploring the capital city, the downtown area of this fascinating capital as my first timer because tomorrow I'll be exploring a bit more with the locals that I have been introduced to very kindly by someone from my Patreon account. So yeah I am excited because I didn't know anything as I arrived here in this city. Mongolia's capital has a unique past, shifting locations 29 times and changing names five times before settling in the protective valley where it stands today. Surrounded by four sacred mountains that shielded from the harsh winds and extreme climates. Nestled between the superpowers of Russia and China, Mongolia has adapted to some of the world's toughest conditions serving as a peaceful buffer in East Asia, embodying resilience and independence.
This traditional city that is considerably full of monasteries, temples and Mongolian gers, or yurt, has expanded for the past 300 years into this bustling metropolis of a city. And you can see definitely that this is the major hub because there is no other any other city in the country that is quite like this. I just remembered that I have been to areas that are so close to Mongolia and that is Inner Mongolia in China, when I used to live in China back in 2017 to 2018. I stayed in the capital city, Hohhot, with a local. And I think that was the closest experience I had to Mongolia.
Welcome to Sukhbaatar which is considerably as the square in the city where locals would use that as a meeting point. Look at this statue of Chinggis Khan sitting here proudly. This is considered as the founding fathers that unite Mongolia. I think historically their or his warrior has got influence all the way to Eurasia.
It's quite majestic to just see this statue sitting here overlooking the city. The joy of coffee. I am having a coffee and cake break in one of my favorite coffee shops in the city, Potala Coffee Shop, with its Tibetan interior design.
This is actually something that I always look forward to. I actually would like to share a few words from today's paid partner, Holafy , which is my perfect travel companion. Holafly is your perfect partner for staying connected abroad. With their international e-SIM, you can skip the hassle of physical SIM cards. Having an Holafly app on my phone is not only convenient but also hassle free. I would just need to open
the app, type directly Mongolia as my destination currently and choose my plan for about 15 days. I'll go continue to payment. With my purchase being successful, I have now received an instant message from Holafly on my WhatsApp. What is great about e-sSIM is that you don't have to carry physical SIM cards all over when you travel. I can just click activate my e-SIM and it is connected to the local network. So I have personally been using Holafly this year for all of my travels.
Recently from Hungary, all the way to Romania, I was able to be connected even in trural places, remote areas of the country. I did a live stream from Bucharest, the capital city of Romania without any hassle. If you are traveling soon or if you're already traveling, please make sure to check out wide range of packages that Holafly offers by clicking the link at the top of my description box. Now I can't wait to actually explore some of the city to show it to you what the downtown Ulaanbaatar that looks like. Let's go!
So this is a statue of Mongolia statesman and a military leader, which was also a prime minister of the country between 1939 and 1952. Behind it is, I think, perhaps a mayor's office of the city. What's interesting is that if you can look at this section, this is actually the traditional Mongolian writing, whereas this part is actually the cyrillic alphabet which they then changed into it during the Socialist era.
Look at this colorful building. This is actually a state opera and ballet academy theater. I think they have a Swan Lake performance currently, and I've seen a couple of locals dressing up in such beautiful costume just entering this. Upon my observation, I think the youth actually has got more influence from South Korean fashion, food in terms of cuisine that exists as well as like the way they dress and the makeup. It's quite interesting because you would think that it would be more Russian based of influence or Chinese influence, but I think South Korea looks a bit cooler perhaps for them.
In fact, there's a street dedicated to Seoul named after the city, and it hosts so many Korean restaurants, Korean theme based restaurants, which I find quite fascinating. As my attempt to be well-cultured, I would like to conclude my day with a dinner that encompasses Mongolian food and hopefully their local beer. This is half a liter for the Golden Gobi beer, I think it's called. Wow, this is probably the biggest beer I'd drink. I'm sure I can't really drink it fully. Thank you. Wow, that smells fantastic. I wasn't so sure what to order. I'm going to wash it down with this beer.
Oh wow, wow, that's actually really good. Now I'm just going to enjoy my food in peace. Good morning, so I am here with Mina and Tugso. We are at... very difficult for me to pronounce. In short, it's Gandan Monastery. It's really beautiful, the weather is stunning as well with the autumn leaves. But yeah, I hope you enjoy this video and let's go exploring the city.
Yeah, let's go. The monastery is stunning and some aspects of this reminds me of the Tibetan monastery I have seen in certain parts of India, Bhutan border and even certain parts of Korea, in South Korea. There's a section that you'll be able to grant your wishes if you ring the bell. Often traveling to a country as unique as Mongolia reminds me of how little I know and I feel like often I am out of my depth.
I am in an awe often when seeing this for the first time and trying to observe that while trying to communicate it in my perception of what I see. While exploring the monastery, we managed to organize a short interview with one of the leading monks who was able to tell us a bit about himself and the history of the monastery. Gandan monastery is practically a complex of this huge monastery that also determined historically the location of UlaanBaatar as the capital city. It's fascinating because I am standing in front of the main temple, which also happens to have A family that's currently celebrating a wedding. I dont know if you can see...
They are taking a family photo over here. So cool. It's a beautiful day but also fascinating to be able to see such a massive Buddha statue.
This is probably the second or even bigger to the one I've seen in Bangkok, Thailand. It is interesting because you would see many locals whispering their wishes here. It's fascinating to observe this tradition. So I'm going to try to whisper my wishes and hopefully these wishes will be granted. I think you just have to push yourself into the crowds and whisper it to the woods. I'm just hoping this travel in Mongolia will be successful. That's my only wishes.
Welcome to Black Market Silk Road. The silk is our traditional clothes material and there are tons of silks and every silk has their own unique pieces. We have come to the local market in Ulaanbaatar.
I suppose this is more like an open market that you would visit if you need all sorts of stuff to shop in one place. Tugso said that she can't even remember the last time she was here. But I asked her specifically can we visit and see what the locals are selling. So we are at the silk section of the market and I was told that price range could start from 8,000 Tugrik to even 100,000 Tugrik per meter depending on the quality of the silk. Often locals would come here when they do want to have it tailored to their taste.
I was told by Mina that if you were to block one of the sellers' stalls, there's a superstitious belief that you will practically close their business. So it's a bad luck to actually stand in front of one of these stalls. This section is specifically for cashmere product of the country and if you don't know, Mongolia is famous for its cashmere and the quality is superb. They also have got some yak wool over here which is the high altitude animal of the country. It's stunning some of those colors. These are Mongolian design. Absolutely gorgeous these bags! I think leather these are quilted leather. After visiting the market, we made our way to the Ger district where traditional homes dot the landscape, and many are still warmed by coal fires.
Seeing where locals live always gives me a new perspective and it was fascinating to get a glimpse into everyday life here. From there, we headed to a nearby park, a popular spot where residents come to relax and gather. What a better way to end the day other than visiting a park.
It is absolutely needed, especially after going to a market, being stuck in a traffic, going to a Ger district. It's so cool. Just cycling around. Look at these kids. Look at their skill.
Obviously Tugso and Mina are also enjoying walking with the hot drinks, stunning with the sun about to set. Oh, this is a perfect way to end the day. So cool to see youth playing basketball like this, because they are so active, being outside and engaged in sports. How do you describe UlaanBaatar as your city? Well, for UlaanBaatar, we should talk Mongolia first. Mongolia has got beautiful nature, a big landscape.
Well, the first time, UlaanBaatar was built for only 400,000 people, but now we try to build more buildings and reduce the air pollution and trashes. What I want to say is that UlaanBaatar is still improving. I love my country, my city, my hometown.
Yeah, it's probably a beautiful place. You should visit here. The job will fill your pocket, but the adventure will fill your soul. Thank you! So that's pretty much about today's video. I hope you enjoyed seeing this really fascinating city as a capital, because obviously it is developing, vibrant, and there's so much potential.
A lot of people migrate to the city to seek better life, better jobs and whatnot. So yeah, thank you so much for watching and let me know what you think in the comment section below. I would love to hear your comment and I can't wait to see you from the next episode. Bye!
2024-11-09 16:25
