Sukhbaatar Square
Wandering around the city center
The Ger Exhibition
May 19, 2024
My first few days were spent strolling about and exploring the city center. Waking up on Sunday morning, my sole objective was to walk to see where my workplace was. The UNDP Mongolia Country Office is located slightly north of the city center and is surrounded by embassy row. Within a few hundred meters, you can walk past the United States, China, Canada, and Germany.
It is said that the traffic in UB is just awful because of the constant congestion, multiple lanes everywhere, and the fact that pedestrians do not have the right-of-way. Luckily, I did not yet have to battle the hordes of headlights charging down the roads at me like a raging bull until later in the morning. Compared to New York City traffic, UB traffic is much quieter. There are some honking horns but nary one shouted profanity—at least that I know of with all 5 words in Mongolian that I can recognize. While there is the occasional insufferable motorcyclist that lets it be known to the world that we can indeed hear their ferocious VROOM VROOM VRRRRRROOOOOM screaming down the street, the city and traffic as a whole are much quieter than the Bronx. I felt right at home. I scuffled down the sidewalk, the thickness of smelly exhaust puffing behind in the dust of each car. Despite being called the Land of Eternal Blue Sky, naturally my first full day out and about after my arrival was a bit cloudy.
I found my workplace, the UN House, right next to the German Embassy. Outside the embassy was a rather colorful and dynamic bear. Not a real bear of course.
I then walked down the avenue lined with restaurants, cafes, and even a music store selling traditional Mongolian instruments, and came across the Chinggis Khaan Museum. It was one mass of a grey cube, but a beautiful grey cube with a golden figure on top. In fact, it was quite modern compared to much of the soviet style residences across the city.
Sukhbaatar Square is the center of all major public festivals and functions. I was just in luck as I had stumbled across the annual Ger Exhibition. Gers, or yurts, are traditional one-room households in Mongolia consisting of a cookstove or oven at the very center which connects to a chimney that goes out the middle of the roof. Along the interior perimeter are the beds and living spaces. Each of the Gers on the square featured a different family and various businesses and crafts from artisan wooden tools to touring theater troupes. I weaved in and out of the Gers until a great falcon caught my eye. Such a large bird wearing a tiny metal hat. Towering above it all was the Government Palace, a massive building with white columns and a blue glass facade flanking both sides of the largest and roundest Genghis Khan statue I have seen in my life.
Once I had my fun on the square, I made my way back to the aparthotel and stopped at Mandu House on the way for spicy ramen and vegetable dumplings.
As with many of the other countries I have been privileged to visit, Mongolia has a very meat forward cuisine with many of its prominent traditional and non-traditional dishes featuring beef, pork, mutton, and yak. Likewise, I have had to be much less strict in my vegetarian diet. Food and cooking are one of my greatest passions in life, so while I wouldn’t normally choose a dish featuring meat, it has been a step into unfamiliar territory to try dishes that contain a bit of it. However, the best way to learn about a culture and connect with people is through food. It is a universal language around which identity, warmth, family, and the heart of a society revolves. I am sincerely looking forward to trying more and exploring more of the richness that Mongolia has to offer.