Trip to mongolia

Few travelers visit Mongolia, and those who visit call it one of the most impressive countries they have ever seen. This was the first reason I went to this country. The second - in June, there was held the “House for All”: the project of the Academy of Free Travels, which is periodically organized in different countries of the world. In this house any traveler can live for free. I was attracted by the opportunity to talk with different travelers and learn something new from them.

Russian travelers and tourists do not particularly indulge Mongolia. I met with those who lived near the border with the birthplace of Genghis Khan, but had never been there. And in vain! A wanderer will have something to see in this country, and the bonus will be that the majority of the population speaks Russian (many in conversation with me called Mongolia the 16th USSR Republic).

They use those tugriks as currency. The banknotes depict the founder of the Mongol Empire - the great Genghis Khan. In general, with his name or image you will meet all the time in Mongolia - in the names of hotels, shops, beer and various dishes. The Mongols are still very much loved and honored by Genghis Khan.

Most of the hotels in Mongolia are concentrated in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, where you can find accommodation for every taste and budget. So, the cheapest hostel will cost from € 3, and the “presidential suite” in the hotel “Ulaanbaatar” will cost € 500. In general, the country’s couchsurfing is also worth looking for only in Ulaanbaatar. True, they can try to sell you a tour around the country through couchsurfing - either to the desert or to real nomads, do not agree. I personally received many such requests (I even remembered Morocco, where there was exactly the same situation with couchsurfing), but ordinary Mongols also wrote, who happily invited me to their home.

You cannot write a lot about transport in Mongolia, simply because it is missing. You can get around the city and for short distances with the help of buses, but if you want to go to the Gobi Desert or to some other interesting cities, then the only option is a car (either hitchhiking or rent).
In my opinion, hitchhiking in Mongolia is beautiful, people pick up very willingly. But here you will have to face three difficulties at once - sometimes these same wonderful people will ask you for money, the second - in parts of the distant parts of Ulan Bator, traffic is much less busy. Once I even had to wait one car for two hours. The third difficulty is that in some parts of Mongolia there are no roads at all.

Gorkhi-Terelj National Park

We spent a little bit in the city and that's enough, it's time to go to nature! Good in Mongolia, only one nature is, as well as many national parks. You can get to Gorkhi-Terelzh by bus, which will cost a little less than a euro, take about two hours.

The park is very beautiful: camels themselves graze between the mountains, and some even offer to ride them. The most famous park brought rocks of extraordinary shape, created by nature. Also inside the park is a Buddhist temple Aryabal, where you should definitely look! This is a place of power, a place where the soul and body rest. During the ascent to the temple you will have to overcome 100 white and 8 black steps, at this time you will be surrounded by wooden tablets on which Buddhist wisdom is written.

Elsen-Tasarkhay National Park

If you, like me, do not want to spend a lot of time and money to visit the Gobi, go to the park of Elsen-Tasharhai, where you can see a piece of the desert. It takes about four hours to get from Ulan Bator here, and public transport does not go here, so you have two options: hitchhiking or renting a car. Huge dunes and whistling wind - this is what will allow you to feel yourself in the real desert. At night, the stars here shine brightly as ever. To see it all, take a tent with you, or beg for a night to the local nomads.