Returning to Ulaan Baatar, on a highway we were pleased not to be riding – only one nasty crash scene seen, we had two days to clean and pack our bikes and gear. Not having to find bike boxes as we’d stored ours from NZ at the hostel, it didn’t take too long to pack. But I did want to find a set of individual hex keys, particularly a 6 mm, and thread fastener for the next leg of the trip. Ian and I spent some time on foot going to places that may or may not have been hardware stores. After some failures, we hit the jackpot at a large two-storey indoor mall filled with small shops that specialised in one type of engineering goods or other.
An electrical components shop.
Rather obvious what they’re selling.
Safety shop.
All quite fascinating, it reminded me of Istanbul and its engineering shopping district! We did find what we were looking for too.
Our last day in Mongolia was spent on a day trip of some sights in and outside the capital. First up the largest Soviet influenced monument I remember from our visit – the Zaisan Memorial, on a hill near the edge of the city. To commemorate the fallen Mongolia and Soviet soldiers in the Second World War, the panoramic mosaic on the inside was impressive in size and detail.
First, some stairs.
Good view of the city.
Still a little smoggy.
A flasher part of the city, right on the edge.
(Rachel’s photo.)
Unfortunately our next stop, a winter palace was closed for the day.
The most remarkable aspect of this scene for me is not the palace, although I do like all the green, it is the use of a lawnmower in Mongolia!
Leaving the city, we were off to the giant statue of Chinggis Kahn – the largest horse and rider statue in the world, unsurprising when you see it up close, big is an understatement. All the stainless steel looking rather fetching.
It was all pretty touristy, but being tourists we couldn’t complain too much.
Ian aside Mongolia’s tallest man.
Very crowded inside, we did make it up the congested, tight staircase to emerge from Chinggis’s crotch onto the neck of the horse.
Back inside and the world’s largest leather boot – if you were wondering.
Stopping at a roadside ger restaurant, we struggled ordering again and were pleasantly surprised when a huge bowl of roast lamb and veges arrived, along with milk tea and fermented mare’s milk (which was better than the other time I’d sampled this). Well, Ian and I were delighted with the meal – Rachel and Pauline perhaps not so much.
After all that food, I may have been a bit sleepy for the rest of the afternoon at a national park where there were plenty of rock formations that one could imagine were animal shaped. The best example being Turtle Rock below.
Nicely balanced.
Interesting rocks all around, animal shaped or not.
Up the end of the valley was a large temple complex, that required a decent uphill walk, ostensibly for meditative purposes – it was so busy, the few quiet moments away from the crowds were pleasing.
With a final Mongolia ice cream, it was back to the car and into UB for the last time and our last night in Mongolia – this trip that is, we all left the following morning hoping to return one day. What a great place to explore by bike and so much open space to roam and camp in; very friendly and hospitable people too, even if our grasp of the Mongolia language never developed beyond poor.