A Guided Tour

The day started earlier, around 9 AM today. I didn't sleep well and was awake from around 1.30 AM on and off. We were getting a bus tour of some sights around UB. Traffic wasnt too bad so begin with, so we made it to our first destination just before 10 AM. This was a memorial to a Russian tank as well as a memorial to the Russian and Mongolian Soldiers who fought in several conflicts and against China to gain their independence. This involved a climb of around 150m on what seemed an endless number of steps. The view from the top was worth the walk though.  We stayed up there long enough to catch our breath and then made our way half way down. By this time the shopping mall was opened so we could get a lift to the bottom.

The shopping mall was just opening and werent really there to shop. We did stop at a souvenier shop where we saw some seabuck thorn juice. This apparently has some antioxident properties so we thought we would give it a try. It had an orangey honey taste, with a bit of a mango juice consistency.  We also noticed they had a lot of pine nut products although we didnt bother with them. 

Our next stop was the Bogd Khan Palace museum. Once again we had to refrain from taking photos inside the buildings, but outside was fair game. There were several buildings all filled with original artifacts from Bogd Khan. Interestingly enough a lot of the exhibits had QR codes so you could get AR information, and you need your phone for that. I will admit I was tempted to sneak a few pics but chose to respect their request.

It was now close to noon and our next stop was the Gandantegchinlen Monastery. This is oldest and biggest monastery in UB. The temple has burnt down twice and only part of it still remains. We couldnt take photos in the monastery but could in the old temple...... sweeeeet!

With a visit to the monastery and temple done it was time  for lunch. This time we are having authentic Mongolian Tibetan food.  I wasnt feeling all that hungry so I settled for a feed Biryani.

The after lunch plan was to go to the Chinggis Khan museum but as we had already done that we went back to the hotel while the rest went to ths museum. 

We finished the night off with dinner at a steak restaurant close to the hotel and repacked our bags for an early start.

I forgot to mention I am hoping to Vlog this as well so you can find some videos on Youtube. Subscribe for updates

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