June 28, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

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It does not exactly hit the top of the list with most travelers. Paris, London, Rome, Tokyo, and New York probably still occupy those spots. But we were fascinated by Mongolia. It is one of the largest countries in the world, home to the people who made one of the biggest impacts on world history, even though their empire lasted only about 160 years (1206–1368). In that relatively short time they created the largest contiguous land empire in history.

So after a long but not too horrible journey - first a 9.5-hour hop to Istanbul and then another 8 hours to Ulaanbaatar, the capital - we arrived. Caught up on reading and phone games in a big way.

People on the plane - a very mixed crowd from all over the world, some mixed families with beautiful kids, and, of course, many Mongolians. Spotless airport in UB. We were through immigration in about 15 minutes. The driver was waiting for us with a super clean car. He kept checking the temperature to make sure we were comfortable. Then a super nice modern highway into the city. Beautiful landscape with some steppe and green covered hills in the background.

The city is huge - about 1.75 million people, about half of Mongolia's population. A ton of construction cranes everywhere you look. Lots of Soviet-style high-rises. A ton of restaurants, especially Korean ones. Everything clean. And they have sidewalks. 😊

A little background. Mongolia's time in the spotlight came under Genghis Khan and his descendants, who connected East and West in a way no empire had before. After the empire broke apart, Mongolia eventually came under Qing Chinese rule before declaring independence in 1911. Following the 1921 revolution it became closely tied to the Soviet Union, which explains much of what we see today - the architecture, monuments, museums, and even the alphabet.

Modern Mongolia is a democracy with a fast-growing economy driven largely by mining - copper, coal, gold, and increasingly rare earth minerals. At the same time, somewhere around a quarter of the population still lives a nomadic or semi-nomadic life. It is an unusual combination of deep tradition and rapid modernization.

The mix of multiple writing alphabets is confusing. It looks like they have Cyrillic but also some other alphabet, plus English. The other one is the traditional Mongolian script, written vertically from top to bottom. It was largely replaced by Cyrillic during the Soviet period but is now gradually making a comeback. The Cyrillic lends itself to easy reading... except we don't understand most of it - except things like плов and шашлык. 😊

Then we arrived at our hotel. Huge room. So big you could probably fit another two king-size beds in there.

But they didn't, so you can do whatever in that open space. Yoga? 😊

It was probably quite the party hotel in its past, recently renovated, and just a block from the main square.

Naturally, we went there promptly.

There was a decent number of people around, many in traditional outfits. Beautiful tents (gers) had been set up, stages were going up, kids were playing basketball... clearly some event was coming. Everything spotless.

We walked around the main square and then went looking for an ATM.

Lots of Soviet-style edifices - magnificent, imposing, and covered with bronze monuments celebrating both Mongolia's past and more modern themes.

The ATM from Trade & Development Bank (TDB) did the trick. The one from Khan Bank... not so much.

Then we walked to the State Department Store, similar in the idea to the one in Moskow where the country's best things are showcased. On the way we spoted a pretty pedestrian street that looked like it could have been somewhere in Europe. There were bridal parties everywhere taking wedding photos. Some bride was perched in fancy cars, others were posing around Chinese-style pavilions in a little square. Apparently this is one of the city's favorite wedding photo spots.

At first the department store just looked like any department store on the first first. Then Gemini suggested we check out the sixth floor.

They have a really nice collection of souvenirs, traditional crafts, and artwork. We especially liked the work of the famous Mongolian illustrator Zaya Sambuu. Some of the book illustrations by other illustrators in the bookstore at the store were absolutely incredible. We bought a postcard and what we thought were buckthorn candies.

Not Zaya but posh :)

The candies sucked and went into the trash promptly.

Then we had to keep walking to get our steps in before the end of "yesterday" in the Eastern U.S. Our step tracker still lives on East Coast time to avoid recalculating and losing our streak. There is a 12-hour difference, and we had about two hours left.

So... More walking. Coffee break.

Very nice coffee - actually some of the best we've had in a while.

Then more walking.

Then we bought tickets for the Land and Air Show. We saw something similar in Mexico City and loved it. Apparently this showcases some of Mongolia's best performers demonstrating traditional skills, horsemanship, archery, wrestling, music, and more. That's Monday - our last day before we start moving around the country.

A quick stop for lunch at the Ayanchin restaurant. The decor looks just like it could be in Vilnius. 😊

We opted for the local sampler platter - dumplings (definitely some Chinese influence), chebureki!!!, Olivier salad, a nice cabbage salad, pasta salad, and a cabbage-and-sliced-meat salad that turned out to be the best thing on the platter.

We ate maybe half. The portion was enormous - enough for four people. About $30.

Then we went to the National Artists' Association Gallery.The bronzes stood out the most. UB clearly has a phenomenal school of bronze sculpture and plenty of talent to go with it.

Next stop - the post office. Open until 8 p.m. on Sunday!! Quite a difference from Spain, where it often felt like post offices had gone extinct.

We also tried the National Museum of Art after being inspired by Zaya. But it's closed until the end of the month for renovations.

So instead we went to the National Museum. Again, another very Soviet-looking building. The museum prompted the same comment we made in Santiago de Compostela Cathedral: "Who robbed them?"

Yes, they were nomadic, but the general historical collection is surprisingly slim - almost on the level of a regional museum. Even Greenland had a larger historical collection. There were numerous references to joint Soviet-Mongolian archaeological expeditions, leaving us wondering about the who and how many important finds ultimately ended up elsewhere.

The collection of ethnic costumes, though, is stunning. Now you can really see where artists like Zaya get their inspiration. The museum was clearly designed with much shorter people in mind. See Dan's picture. 😊

The entire top floor is devoted to the Soviet period. One thing we learned was that Mongolia actually wanted to become one of the Soviet republics after World War II. Stalin refused. Keeping Mongolia formally independent created a convenient buffer state between the USSR and China while allowing Moscow to maintain almost complete political and economic influence anyway and gave them the additional vote in the UN. They had their own purges and political repressions. The photographs and propaganda, and outfits are stunningly familiar to anyone who grew up around the former Soviet Union.

As we came out we passed a clothing rental store - and some Asian tourists comparing their photos in the national cosumes. Ah, it makes sense now, the ones we saw in the main square :) Maybe we should do it too - I know, I know cultural appropriation and all but if that's what they are willing to share and we are not getting any benefits other than a stunning shot, I don't see why not. If they had an issue with it, they have the power to stop the spectacle. Instead, more people around the world will see and perhaps decide to come.

By then we were really starting to struggle to stay awake. The afternoon here was the middle of the night back on the East Coast.

We hid out for a while in a coffee shop inside one of the malls. Some malls look like office buildings, and once inside you kind of stumble upon shops hidden upstairs in hallways and corners. We saw something like this already. Maybe Japan or Korea? Interesting use of space.

Then, out of our last remaining strength, we went to the supermarket. It too was hidden in the basement with almost no signs.

We grabbed water and more buckthorn products. Fruit and berries are surprisingly expensive here.

Then we made it back to the hotel... and promptly collapsed at 6 p.m. local time.

To be continued.