Naadam Festival Mongolia

Places To See

Shiliin Bogd

At 1778m (5830ft), Shiliin Bogd is the highest peak in Sükhbaatar aimag region in Mongolia's east. The extinct volcano is sacred to many Mongolians and is set in a stunning and isolated area. A jeep can get you about halfway up the mountain, and then it's a short but blustery walk to the top for awesome views of craters across the nearby border to China.

Amarbayasgalant Khiid

Amarbayasgalant Khiid is considered one of the most important monasteries in Mongolia. It's also one of the most beautiful. It was originally built in 1737 by the Manchurian emperor Kansu, who dedicated it to the great Mongolian Buddhist and sculptor, Zanabazar. The communists found their way here in the 1930s and destroyed 10 of the 37 temples and statues.

These days the temples are normally closed, but you can ask the head monk to open them and you're welcome to watch the 30 resident monks conduct their daily ceremonies.

Tavanbogd National Park

This stunningly beautiful park includes the three lakes of Khoton Nuur, Khurgan Nuur and Dayan Nuur. It's a remote place, divided from China by the high wall of snow-capped peaks, and is known to local Kazakhs as the Syrgali region. It's possible to make rafting trips downriver from Dayan Nuur, and there are many archaeological sites in the area.

Pre-Departure Information

When to go?

The travel season is typically from May to early October, though Ulaanbaatar can be visited any time of year if you can tolerate the bitter cold. Early July has the best weather for the northern part of the country and is also the time to celebrate Mongolia's Naadam Festival. Unfortunately, this is the peak tourist season, when Ulaanbaatar's inadequate accommodation and creaky transport is stretched to breaking point. The rainy season, from late July through August, cools things down and the turn the countryside to green, but will also turn jeep trails into muck. Rains in the north also bring biting flies and mosquitoes. June and September are both pleasant times to visit, and attract fewer visitors.

The best months to visit the Gobi Desert and not get toasted are September and October. Be aware that between mid-October and mid-May sudden snowstorms and extreme cold can ground flights, block roads and cause the country's transport system to stall. Mongolians, especially nomads, consider March and April the worst months. After the long winter, livestock will already be thin, and a lack of rain means many will die, causing financial and psychological hardship. Staying with a nomad family at this time is not recommended if the spring is a harsh one.

Travel Visa Overview

Currently, a 30-day tourist visa is easily obtained at any Mongolian embassy consulate, consulate-general or honorary consuls.

To get a visa for longer than 30 days, you must be invited or sponsored by a Mongolian citizen, foreign resident (expat) or Mongolian company, or be part of an organised tour. It is therefore possible to get a 90-day visa for most nationalities; you just need to pay the inviting agency a fee of around 30.00 (most guesthouses can do this).

If you cannot get to a Mongolian consulate, you can pick up a 30-day tourist visa on arrival at the airport in Ulaanbaatar or at the land borders of Zamyn-Üüd and Sükhbaatar. You'll need 53.00 and two passport photos.

Standard tourist visas generally last 30 days from the date of entry and you must enter Mongolia within three months of issue. Tourist visas usually cost 25.00 for a single entry/exit, though there may be a 'service fee'. Each embassy or consulate sets its own price.

Multiple-entry/exit tourist visas (which cost 65.00 and are valid for six months after the date of issue) are usually only issued to foreign residents who do a lot of travel.

Electricity

220V

50Hz

Electrical Plugs

European plug with two circular metal pins

Health Information

Rabies

In the Mongolian countryside, family dogs are often vicious and can be rabid; it is their saliva that is infectious. Any bite, scratch or even a lick from an animal should be cleaned immediately and thoroughly. Scrub with soap and running water, and then apply alcohol or iodine solution. If you suspect that you may have contracted rabies, medical help should be sought promptly to receive a course of injections to prevent the onset of the symptoms and death. The incubation period for rabies depends on where you're bitten. If on the head, face or neck it's as little as 10 days, whereas on the legs it's 60 days.

Bubonic plague

This disease (which wiped out one-third of Europe during the Middle Ages) makes an appearance in remote parts of Mongolia in late summer (from August to October), when the ban on hunting marmots stops and their meat is eaten.

The disease (also known as the Black Plague) is normally carried by marmots, squirrels and rats and can be transmitted to humans by bites from fleas that make their home on the infected animals. It can also be passed from human to human by coughing. The symptoms are fever and enlarged lymph nodes. The untreated disease has a 60% death rate, but if you get to a doctor it can be quickly treated. The best drug is the antibiotic streptomycin, which must be injected intramuscularly, but it is not available in Mongolia. Tetracycline is another drug that may be used.

During an outbreak, travel to affected areas is prohibited, which can greatly affect overland travel. All trains, buses and cars travelling into Ulaanbaatar from infected areas are also thoroughly checked when an outbreak of the plague has been reported, and vehicles are sprayed with disinfectant.

Hepatitis

This is a general term for inflammation of the liver. It is a common disease worldwide. The symptoms are similar in all forms of the illness, and include fever, chills, headache, fatigue, aches and pains and feelings of weakness, followed by loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, light-coloured faeces, jaundiced (yellow) skin and yellowing of the whites of the eyes. People who have hepatitis should avoid alcohol for some time after the illness, as the liver needs time to recover.

Hepatitis A is transmitted by contaminated food and drinking water. You should seek medical advice, but there is not much you can do apart from resting, drinking lots of fluids, eating lightly and avoiding fatty foods. Hepatitis E is transmitted in the same way as hepatitis A; it can be particularly serious in pregnant women.

Hepatitis B is endemic in Mongolia. It is spread through contact with infected blood, blood products or body fluids. The symptoms of hepatitis B may be more severe than type A and the disease can lead to long-term problems such as chronic liver damage, liver cancer or long-term carrier state. Hepatitis C and D are spread in the same way as hepatitis B and can also lead to long-term complications.

There are vaccines against hepatitis A and B, but there are currently no vaccines against the other types of hepatitis.

Tuberculosis

TB is a bacterial infection usually transmitted from person to person by coughing but which may be transmitted through consumption of unpasteurised milk. Milk that has been boiled is safe to drink, and the souring of milk to make yogurt or cheese also kills the bacilli. Travellers are usually not at great risk as close household contact with an infected person is usually required before the disease is passed on. You may need to have a TB test before you travel as this can help diagnose the disease later if you become ill.

Brucellosis

The UN Food & Agricultural Organization (FAO) reports that Mongolia is a high-risk area for brucellosis. This is a disease of cattle yaks, camels and sheep but it can also affect humans. The most likely way for humans to contract this disease is by drinking unboiled milk or eating home-made cheese. Another way is for humans with open cuts on their hands to handle freshly killed meat.

In humans, brucellosis causes severe headaches, joint and muscle pains, fever and fatigue. There may be diarrhoea and, later, constipation. The onset of the symptoms can occur from five days to several months after exposure, with the average time being two weeks.

Most patients recover in two or three weeks, but people can get chronic brucellosis, which recurs sporadically for months or years and can cause long-term health problems. Fatalities are rare but possible. Brucellosis is a serious disease which requires blood tests to make the diagnosis. If you think you may have contracted the disease, seek medical attention, preferably outside Mongolia.

Weather Information

Although it boasts over 260 sunny days a year and is known as the 'Land of Blue Sky', Mongolia has an extreme continental climate with temperatures that have been known to range over 37°C (99°F) in one day. Only in summer does cloud cover shield the sky. Humidity is usually zilch and sunshine is intense. Gobi summer temperatures hit 40°C (104°F) but winter winds often send the mercury plummeting to -30°C (-22°F) or lower. You can see snow in the Gobi Desert as late as April and some lakes remain frozen until June. There's a short rainy season from mid-July to September, but showers tend to be brief and gentle. Because of the high altitude, evenings are cool even in summer.

Ulaanbaatar is possibly the coldest capital city in the world. Temperatures generally start to drop below 0°C (32°F) in October, sink to -30°C (-22°F) in January and February and remain below freezing until April. Horrific dust storms kick up during the short spring (May to June). July to September is pleasant, but it can still suddenly turn cold, and unfortunately, most of the city's rain falls in this period. Summer daylight lasts until 22:00.

History and Culture

Pre-20th Centure History

Archeological digs have uncovered human remains in the Gobi and other regions of Mongolia dating back nearly 500,000 years. Agriculture has rarely been attempted on the harsh steppes, although there is evidence that some clans grew crops 1200 years ago. Most nomadic tribes in the region followed their herds of sheep, goats, camels, yaks and horses, occasionally engaging in tribal warfare or raiding settled Chinese cities to the south.

The name 'Mongol' was first recorded by the Chinese during the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD). At that time Mongolia was dominated by a Turkic people called the Uighurs. The Uighurs controlled most of Mongolia until 840 AD, when they were defeated by the Kyrgyz, who now live in the Chinese province of Xinjiang.

The Mongols had little inclination to ally with other nomadic peoples of northern Asia. They remained little more than a loose confederation of rival clans until the late 12th century, when a 20-year-old Mongol named Temujin emerged and managed to unite most of the Mongol tribes. In 1189 he was given the honorary name of Genghis Khan, meaning 'universal king'. The Genghis Khan imprinted in the memory of the west bears little relation to the Chinggis Khaan revered by Mongolians. Not only the spelling is different: to Europeans, the name epitomises merciless warmongering; to the Mongolians, it embodies strength, unity, law and order. Genghis set up his capital in present-day Kharkhorin, and launched his vital cavalry against China and Russia. By the time of his death in 1227, the Mongol empire extended from Beijing to the Caspian Sea.

Genghis' grandson, Kublai Khan (circa 1216-94), completed the subjugation of China, ending the Song dynasty (960-1279) and becoming emperor of China's Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). Kublai soon realised, though, that the Mongol empire had reached the limits of its expansion. Instead of looking for more wars to fight, he concentrated on keeping the vast empire together. This was the height of the Mongols' glory: the empire stretched from Korea to Hungary and as far south as Vietnam, making it the largest empire the world has ever known.

After Kublai Khan's death in 1294, the Mongols became increasingly dependent on the people they ruled. They were deeply resented as an elite, privileged class exempt from taxation, and the empire became ridden with factions vying for power. The Mongols were expelled from Beijing by the first emperor of the Ming dynasty in the mid 14th century. The collapse of the Yuan dynasty caused over 60,000 Mongols to return to Mongolia. Their unity dissolved and frequent clan warfare and a long period of decline followed. Manchu rule over China was reasonably benign until around 1800; thereafter the Qing emperors became increasingly corrupt and despotic.

Modern History

In 1911 China's Qing dynasty crumbled. The Mongols quickly saw their opportunity and independence from China was declared on 1 December 1911, with a theocratic government under the leadership of the 8th Jebtzun Damba (Living Buddha). On 25 May 1915, the Treaty of Kyakhta, which granted Mongolia limited autonomy, was signed by Mongolia, China and Russia.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 shocked Mongolia's aristocracy. Taking advantage of Russia's weakness, a Chinese warlord sent his troops into Mongolia in 1919 and occupied the capital. In early 1921, retreating White Russian anticommunist troops entered Mongolia and expelled the Chinese. The brutality of both the Chinese and Russian forces inflamed the Mongolians' desire for independence. As the Russian Bolsheviks were steadily advancing against the White Russian forces in Siberia, Mongolian nationalists asked the Bolsheviks for help. Together they recaptured the capiral Urga in July 1921. The country's Buddhist leader was retained as a figurehead and the newly formed Mongolian People's Party (the first political party in the country's history, and the only one for the next 69 years) took over the government. On 26 November 1924, the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was declared and Mongolia became the world's second communist country. Urga was renamed Ulaanbaatar (Red Hero) in celebration of the communist triumph.

Mongolian communism remained fairly independent of Moscow until Stalin gained absolute power in the late 1920s. The Stalinist purges that followed swept Mongolia into a totalitarian nightmare, with the government's campaign against religion being particularly ruthless. In 1937 a reign of terror was launched against the monasteries, and thousands of monks were executed. It's believed that by 1939 some 27,000 people had been executed, three per cent of Mongolia's population at the time.

As the Soviet regime faltered in the early 1980s, Mongolia came under the leadership of Jambyn Batmonkh, a decentraliser heartened by the Soviet reforms under Mikhail Gorbachev. Batmonkh instigated a cautious attempt at perestroika and glasnost in 1986. By 1989 full diplomatic relations were established with China. The unravelling of the Soviet Union resulted in decolonisation by default. Few in Mongolia were ready for the speed of the collapse or prepared to seize the moment.

In March 1990, large pro-democracy protests erupted in the square in front of the parliament building in Ulaanbaatar and hunger strikes were held. Things then happened quickly: Batmonkh lost power; new political parties sprang up; and hunger strikes and protests continued. In May the government amended the constitution to permit multiparty elections but, ironically, rural areas voted overwhelmingly to stay under the protective shelter of the communist party. The communist party was forced into making concessions that snowballed into the election of the Mongolian Democratic Coalition on 30 June 1996, ending 75 years of unbroken communist rule.

Recent History

Over the next few years, successive Mongolian governments pursued Western-style policies of reform and privatisation and courted foreign investment, but the gap between rich and poor has widened, exacerbated by corruption that reaches the highest levels of government. A couple of particularly harsh winters in 2000 and 2001 impacted badly on the nomadic Mongolian way of life and forced many nomads to re-locate to the cities where they have joined the ranks of the urban poor. Yet Mongolian democracy has proven itself remarkably viable, free and fair. In the last Parliamentary election, in 2004 neither the Democrats nor the former communist MPRP won an outright majority and were forced into a power sharing agreement. Street protests are increasingly common in the capital, and hunger strikers - often condemning rampant corruption - take up positions in Sukhbaatar Square. Meanwhile, forays into the world of international diplomacy saw a visit from the Dalai Lama in 2002 bitterly condemned by China and 300 troops sent to Iraq in 2003 as part of a peacekeeping force.