Sunday, May 25, 2008

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

After our time in the Gobi we caught the local Mongolian night train to Ulaanbataar where we did a short city tour.
Train station

We visited the main square which was full of secondary students who have examinations at this time.

There is a new Government house that will open soon. It has an enormous glass front and huge columns. An enormous statue of Genghis Khan fronts the building.


The Gandan Tegchile Temple covers a large area in the middle of the city. There was lots of construction going on to rebuild paths.

The temple was full of the students walking clockwise around the sacred poles, and spinning the prayer wheels for good luck in their exams.

These boys were ringing the bell from a tower.


A view of the city from Zaisan Hill Memorial. The memorial was built by the Russians to commemorate war dead. Students like to spend time at the monument so it is covered with graffiti.