\n<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll be honest: I arrived in Ulaanbaatar with low expectations.<\/p>\n
Back when I first started planning my trip to Mongolia, I quickly discovered that for most travellers, the country\u2019s polluted capital was more of an obligation than a destination. It was a place in which to land, get your bearings, and organise your transport, before promptly heading to the steppe.<\/p>\n
Very few people have positive things to say about Ulaanbaatar, and even the statistics are depressing.<\/p>\n
This is the coldest capital city in the world, with winter temperatures regularly dropping as low as -40\u00b0C (-40\u00b0F), and many locals having no option but to heat their homes with coal in order to stay alive. It\u2019s one of the most polluted cities because of this, with the winter\u2019s thick, toxic smog resulting in numerous health issues for its residents.<\/p>\n
Think: sky-high rates of carbon monoxide poisoning, lung cancer, pneumonia, bronchitis, and asthma. Pneumonia is the second highest cause of death for those under five, and children living in Ulaanbaatar have 40% lower lung function than those who live in the countryside. Local women will even time their pregnancies so they give birth in the summer, to avoid the higher risk of miscarriage.<\/p>\n
The housing shortage in Ulaanbaatar means that more than half of the city\u2019s population live in gers<\/em> (Mongolian yurts) without running water, heating, sanitation, or paved roads. At -40 degrees, with coal as your only option for heating, your options are to freeze to death or slowly poison the lungs of your family.<\/p>\n If that wasn\u2019t enough, Mongolia still has the occasional case of bubonic plague. Yep, dozens of people still die of the plague<\/em> in this country each year.<\/p>\n Needless to say, I was expecting my time in Ulaanbaatar to be more than a little bleak.<\/p>\n At first, that\u2019s exactly what it was.<\/p>\n My first impressions weren\u2019t great. The traffic was abysmal, the sidewalks were falling apart, and there was a sense of depression lingering in the air. I\u2019d read that pickpocketing was rife before arriving, so I held my bag close as I walked, unsettled and uncomfortable, tripping over rocks. It didn\u2019t feel welcoming and I didn\u2019t feel welcomed.<\/p>\n And now, at this point in my introduction, I have to somehow convince you guys that three days later, I came away announcing that I loved<\/em> Ulaanbaatar. Given what I just wrote, I\u2019m not quite sure how to explain my abrupt change of heart.<\/p>\n Slowly, though, I began to warm to the city. Ulaanbaatar is home to some of the best museums I\u2019ve ever stepped foot in \u2014 no exaggeration! \u2014 and I learned more about Mongolia than I thought I would without leaving the city.<\/p>\n I had fun shopping here, too, from the chaotic stalls of the local Black Market of Narantuul to picking up world-class cashmere at factory prices. I took an incredible tour that introduced me to Mongolian culture, and promptly developed an obsession with Mongolian metal band the Hu<\/em><\/a>. I wandered around colourful temples and monasteries, met friendly locals, and began to understand that what I\u2019d mistaken for bleakness was more like resilience.<\/p>\n
\n