Home » Russia Mongolia » The Kingsmill's Trans-Russia-Mongolian Overland Trip, Part 4: Tashanta

20 July 2004

The Kingsmill's Trans-Russia-Mongolian Overland Trip, Part 4: Tashanta

Geoff Kingsmill
2006-04-26 09:11:40

Displayed times (last time: )

involves asking directions at every GER and following the vague sweeps of the owners hand until you get to the next GER. Surprisingly enough we were able to find our way around Mongolia without a guide.

Mongolia has few ‘sights’ as such, apart from a couple of monasteries, a couple of lakes and the capital. The country’s real attraction lies in the untouched beauty of the countryside, the sense of space and the rich nomadic culture of the Mongolian people. As always, we camped all through Mongolia and had some wonderful camp sites. We camped in the desert under the stars, on the shores of crystal clear fresh water lakes, alongside streams and rivers and in beautiful grassy valleys cradled by tall mountains.

Mongolia is one of the highest countries in the world with an average elevation of 4500 feet. It is about the same size as Queensland and is know as the land without fences. All land in Mongolia is public land. There are blue skies for 260 days a year. Summer is the rainy season however showers are brief and gentle.

The first few days in Mongolia were spent looking around the capital, Ulaanbaatar. In UB some of the shop signs were in English. We were pleasantly surprised that more Mongolians spoke English than the Russian in Siberia. Kienny particularly enjoyed the much cleaner toilets. We ate at some very good restaurants. Kienny was even able to order a Chinese meal in Mandarin. Prices in Mongolia are generally very cheap, especially taxis and Internet access. Fuel was a little more expensive than Russia. We typically ate one meal a day at a café or guanz. If you like mutton, Mongolia is the place to be. We have had some very tasty Buuz (steamed mutton dumplings), Kuurshuur (fried pancakes filled with meat), goulash with mashed potato and rice, and fantastic salads! We did eat very well and stayed very healthy.

We had been in touch with Scott via Email and so it was good to catch up with Scott in UB. Scott ...