Mongolia: Come back in 5 years

Lonely Planet says "by no stretch of the imagination could Ulaanbaatar (the capital of Mongolia) be called pretty." That's an understatement. The city is composed of Soviet-era apartment buildings, factories and a whole lot of air pollution. However, it does have the all the basics a tourist needs in a city: good restaurants, numerous hotels and guesthouses, real supermarkets, clean asphalt roads, banks and ATMs, internet cafes, really cheap taxis and very friendly people.

Once you're out of the city though, its a whole different ballgame. The scenery (rolling hills, sand dunes, blue sky, clean rivers, animals and animal herders) is absolutely stunning. The phrase "off the beaten path" doesn't do this place justice. "Driving" (more on this later) in the countryside is like looking into the Old West in 1850.
- No houses (families live in one-room yurts);
- No plumbing (think outhouse);
- Sheep, horses, goats and camels FAR outnumber people;
- Small 'General Stores' provide the locals with whatever supplies they need.

Other interesting facts:
- Alas, Mongolian BBQ is a myth (weep): There is only 1 restaurant in Ulaanbattar that serves "Mongolian Barbecue", and when we described it, no one knew what we were talking about. Soup and mutton are staples of the Mongolian diet.
- As a people, Mongolians have been the friendliest we've met on the trip thus far.
- The Mongolian language uses the Russian Cyrillic written alphabet. Although the locals claim the languages are very different, to us they sound identical. And we found it extremely difficult to pronounce anything in Mongolian.
- The locals love Chinggis Khaan (aka, Genghis Khan) - during his time, Mongolia ruled most of Asia. His face is on all the money, and there is a hotel and a beer are named after him.
- Airag, a beverage made out of fermented mare milk, isn't nearly as appetizing as it sounds (note the hint of sarcasm).
- The same applies for homemade cheeses made out of fermented and unfermented goat and mare milk.
- Its the first country we've been to where both left-hand drive and right-hand drive cars are allowed.
- Its a large tourist destination for South Koreans (the closest non-communist Asian mainland country, only a couple of hours away via plane).
- As the country has about 25% unemployment, Mongolians are often times overqualified for the job they receive (e.g, college educated, but job only requires a high school education). A growing number are moving to South Korea to work, and send money back to support their families.

About driving in the countryside:
Apparently China, Dubai and Singapore have taken the lion's share of civil engineers. Words can't describe how bad the roads outside of Ulaanbattar are. Actually, they aren't roads; people just drive on grass and dirt and "make" their own road.

We hired a car and guides to bring us 280km southwest of Ulaanbaatar so we could go horseback riding on sand dunes. Those of you that have seen my pre-Marie residences know that I can peacefully co-exist with a little thing called dust. Well, lets just say thanks to the combination of being near the desert, long-term drought, 35+ degree centigrade (95+ degree farenheight) temperatures, lack of asphalt roads, an old Korean mini-van that lacked seat belts and an HVAC (heater, ventilation, air-conditioning) system, and a 20-year old driver that thought he was in the Paris-Dakar rally, even I was having trouble dealing with it. Marie, who is very allergic to dust, was practically on her death-bed. Our guides Doljoo and Tseveenee were wonderful, and really made us feel at home; and the sand dunes were amazing; but the journey to get there: not so good.

Bottom line:
If you really like nature, or ever wondered what "The Old West" was like, this is the place for you. Just wait until they finish construction on the roads.