Travel Guide

Places To See

National Museum of Mongolian History

Still sometimes referred to by its previous name, the Revolutionary Museum, the National Museum of Mongolian History is an Ulaanbaatar highlight.

The recently renovated 1st floor has some interesting exhibits on Stone Age sites in Mongolia (dating back 700,000 years), as well as petroglyphs, deer stones (stone sculptures of reindeer and other animals) and burial sites from the Hun and Uighur eras.

The 2nd floor houses an outstanding collection of costumes, hats and jewellery, representing most of Mongolia's ethnic groups. Take a gander as some of the elaborate silverwork of the Dariganga minority or the outrageous headgear worn by Khalkh Mongols. Some of the outfits contain 20kg to 25kg of silver ornamentation!

The 3rd floor is a must-see for fans of the Mongol horde. The collection includes real examples of 12th-century Mongol armour, and correspondence between Pope Innocent IV and Guyuk Khaan. Written in Latin and Persian and dated 13 November 1246, it bears the khaan's seal. The centrepiece is an enormous model of ancient Karakorum, which is quite astonishing to see if you've already been to the site of Karakorum, of which almost nothing remains. There is also a display of traditional Mongolian culture with, among other things, a furnished ger, traditional farming and domestic implements, saddles and musical instruments. One hall features early-20th-century history; look out for the very colourful Mongolian dollars, the first currency of the modern republic.

Victims of Political Persecution Memorial Museum

The little-known Victims of Political Persecution Memorial Museum consists of a series of haunting displays chronicling the bloody communist purges of the 1930s - an aggressive campaign to eliminate 'counter-revolutionaries'. During the campaign, intellectuals were arrested and put on trial, sent to Siberian labour camps or shot. Mongolia lost top writers, scientists and thinkers. One hall reveals this tragedy most vividly with a display of human skulls pierced with bullet holes.

The museum was inspired by the deeds of former prime minister P Genden, who was executed in Moscow by the Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti (KGB; Committee for State Security) in 1937 for refusing Stalin's orders to carry out the purge. Stalin found a more willing puppet in Marshall Choibalsan, whose purge ended in the deaths of more than 28,000 Mongolians, mostly lamas. The house containing the museum once belonged to Genden and it was his daughter, Tserendulam, who converted it into a museum in 1996.

Gandan Khiid

The Gandan Khiid is one of Mongolia's most important monasteries, and also one of its biggest tourist attractions. The full name, Gandantegchinlen, translates roughly as 'the great place of complete joy'.

Building was started in 1838 by the fourth Bogd Gegeen, but like most monasteries in Mongolia the purges of 1937 fell heavily on Gandan. When US Vice President Henry Wallace asked to see a monastery during his visit to Mongolia in 1944, then prime minister Choibalsan guiltily scrambled to open this one to cover up the fact that he had recently laid waste to Mongolia's religious heritage. The khiid remained a 'show monastery' for other foreign visitors until 1990 when full religious ceremonies commenced. Today, more than 600 monks belong to the monastery.

As you enter the main entrance from the south, a path leads towards the right to a courtyard containing two temples. The northeast building is Ochidara Temple (sometimes called Gandan Süm) where the most significant ceremonies are held. Following the kora (pilgrim) path clockwise around this building, the large statue behind glass is Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa sect. The two-storey Didan-Lavran temple in the courtyard was home to the 13th Dalai Lama during his stay here in 1904.

At the end of the main path as you enter is the magnificent white Migjid Janraisig Süm, the monastery's main attraction. Lining the walls of the temple are hundreds of images of Ayush, the Buddha of longevity, which stare through the gloom to the magnificent Migjid Janraisig statue.

The original statue was commissioned by the eighth Bogd Khan in 1911, in hopes that it might restore his eyesight - syphilis had blinded him; however it was carted away by Russia in 1937 (it was allegedly melted down to make bullets). The new statue was dedicated in 1996 and built with donations from Japan and Nepal. It is 26m high and made of copper with a gilt gold covering. The hollow statue contains 27 tonnes of medicinal herbs, 334 sutras, two million bundles of mantras, plus an entire ger with furniture!

To the east of the temple are four colleges of Buddhist philosophy, including the yellow building dedicated to Kalachakra, a wrathful Buddhist deity.

To the west of the temple is the Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar Buddhist University, established in 1970. It is usually closed to foreigners.

You can take photos around the monastery and in Migjid Janraisig Süm, but not inside the other temples. Try to be there for the captivating ceremonies - they usually start at around 10:00, though you may be lucky and see one at another time. Most chapels are closed in the afternoon.

Pickpockets sometimes target the monastery, so take care, especially when among crowds.

Pre-Departure Information

When to go?

Mongolia has an extreme continental climate; it's so far inland that no sea moderates its climate. Humidity is usually zilch and sunshine is intense: with over 260 sunny days a year, it's justifiably known as the 'Land of Blue Sky.' The travel season begins in mid-May: the weather is generally fair, although early May can still see snowfall, especially in the north. Ikh Duichin, Buddha's Birthday, is 18th May. Weather in June is fine and generally dry throughout the central and south, although the mountains and northern areas can still be cold. July, the time to see the Naadam Festival, is peak tourist season, stretching Ulaanbaatar's accommodation and transport to breaking point; it's a good time to look for travel partners and get out of the city. Summer daylight lasts until 10pm.

August can see lots of rain in the north and central areas, bogging the roads with mud and attracting mosquitoes; still, with full rivers and fresh grass on the steppes, it's a great time to travel in Mongolia. It's also usually the month of Maidar Ergekh - the Buddhist festival once banned by the communists - and Arkhangai's Yak Festival. September is another fine month: cooler weather brings relief to the Gobi (allowing the Gobi International Marathon to be staged) and the changing colours of the northern forests make for spectacular scenery. October is cool and changeable - pack your overcoat and your T-shirts - but still fine for travel.

The cold season runs from November to February, but Mongolians consider March and April the worst months. Staying with a nomad family at this time is not recommended, particularly if the spring is a harsh one.

Weather Information

It is said that Mongolia can experience four seasons in a single day. This seems especially true in spring, when changeable weather creates snowstorms intermixed with bouts of wind and sun. Bear in mind the wind chill factor: a 10-knot wind can make 0°C (32°F) feel like -5°C (23°F). The four seasons are distinct - winter lasts from November to February, spring from March to mid-May, summer from mid-May until late August, and autumn is during September and October.

UB is the coldest capital city in the world. Temperatures generally start to drop below 0°C (32°F) in late October, sink to -30°C (-22°F) in January and February and remain below freezing until April. July to September is pleasant, but it can still suddenly turn cold, and unfortunately, most of the city's rain falls in this period.

The cold weather in the far north can last a month or two longer than in the Gobi areas. The highest amount of rain falls in the taiga (southern reaches of Siberia) areas along the northern border, especially Khentii and Khövsgöl.

History and Culture

Pre-20th Centure History

Emerging periodically to export mayhem to their long-suffering neighbours (and states as distant as imperial Rome and medieval Poland), the peoples of the Mongolian plateau were many and varied. Xiongnu (Hun), Rouran, Göktürk, Uighur and many other nations, all pretty much equally martially gifted, supplanted each other - or co-existed in Byzantine tangles of federations, dependencies and coalitions - for centuries before the ascendancy of the eponymous Mongols. Mongolian mastery was achieved around the turn of the 13th century, when Chinggis Khaan, uniting the factious nations of the plateau through conquest and legislative genius, founded the Yeke Mongol Ulus, or Great Mongol Nation.

Chinggis hammered out the greatest unbroken land empire the world has seen, stretching from China to the Mediterranean, with its capital at Karakorum. Following his death, the empire was split into four khanates, with the Great Khanate incorporating modern-day Mongolia and China. Established by his grandson Kublai Khan and administered from Dadu (Beijing), the Mongol suzerainty in China was known as the Yuan Dynasty. With the emergence of the Ming Dynasty, in 1368, the Mongols were forced back to their ancestral homelands, falling into a relative decline that lasted until the 'renaissance' of the 16th and 17th centuries.

The first recorded capital city of the recent Mongolian empire was created in 1639. It was called Örgöö and was originally located at the monastery of Da Khuree, some 420km (260mi) from Ulaanbaatar in Arkhangai aimag (province). The monastery was the residence of five-year-old Zanabazar, who had been proclaimed Jebtsundamba, the spiritual head of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia. Because it consisted of felt tents (yurts, known as gers in Mongolia), the 'city' was easily transported when the grass went dry. Some 25 movements were recorded along the Orkhon, Selenge and Tuul gols (rivers). Throughout this peripatetic phase, the city was given some fairly unexciting official and unofficial names, including Khuree (Camp) in 1706. In 1778 the capital was erected at its present location and called the 'City of Felt.' Later, under the rule of the Bogd Gegeen, or Living Buddha, it became known as Ikh Khuree, or 'Great Camp.'

Modern History

In 1911, when Mongolia first proclaimed its independence from China, the city became the capital of Outer Mongolia and was renamed Niislel Khuree (Capital Camp). Seven years later it was invaded by the Chinese, and three years later again by the Russians. Finally, in 1924, it was renamed Ulaanbaatar (Red Hero), in honour of the communist triumph, and declared the official capital of an 'independent' Mongolia. In 1933 Ulaanbaatar gained autonomy and separated from the surrounding aimag (province) of Töv.

From the 1930s the Soviets rebuilt the city in typical communist style: lots of ugly apartment blocks, large brightly coloured theatres and cavernous government buildings. Tragically, many old Russian buildings and Mongolian monasteries and temples were destroyed in the process. While the collapse of the USSR in 1991 brought years of hardship to a state dependent on Soviet subsidies, Mongolia's transition to capitalism - involving the aggressive privatisation of state-owned resources - was ultimately successful. Unlike other Soviet satellites that expelled the communist party, the Mongolians created a new democratic synthesis that included both the old communists of the Revolutionary Party and a coalition that became known as the Democrats.

Gradually the Mongolians found their way toward the modern global economy and embraced a brand of capitalism and democracy that drew heavily on their ancient history while adjusting to modern realities. Despite difficult episodes - such as the unsolved murder of the Democratic leader S Zorig in 1998 and some violent clashes between government and citizens - Mongolia managed to move forward with tremendous cultural vigour. Maintaining staunch friendships with old allies such as North Korea, Cuba and India, it reached out to Europe, South Korea, Japan and, most particularly, to the United States, which they dubbed their 'Third Neighbour' in an effort to create a counterpoint to China and Russia.

Recent History

Today, the city booms with new private construction projects, while ever-expanding ger (yurt) suburbs offer a glimpse of life before Soviet urban planning. Loose talk has suggested the foundation of a new capital on the site of Karakorum (a nod to Mongolia's greatest days), but for now, UB remains the centre of the country's government, industry (including the manufacture of textiles and building materials and the distilling of vodka), and communications infrastructure.

UB has also enjoyed a cultural resurgence, with lots of museums, galleries, theatre performances and clubs bringing out the best in traditional Mongolian culture. New buildings are put up on any available patch of ground, while humvees battle Landcruisers and yellow taxis for right of way on pot-holed boulevards. On the high street, tourists and new-moneyed Mongols look for bargains in European fashion shops and Mongolian cashmere boutiques, while islands of serenity - quiet monastery courtyards, public squares and the odd beer patio - offer respite from the fray.