By Tim Neville
ACCESS
Most flights from the U.S. to Mongolia (which start around $1,500) pass through Beijing or Seoul. If you’re transferring through Beijing, you’ll need a double-entry Chinese visa—even if you never leave the airport. Companies like Travel Document Systems (traveldocs.com) can help if you can’t take your passport to the Chinese consulate yourself; no mailing it in.
> If you’re going through Beijing, it’s worth spending a few extra days in the Chinese capital to help kick the jet lag. China Delight Tour (chinadelighttour.com) can arrange for airport transfers, book hotels, and organize a day trip to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, two hours outside the city. The Peninsula Hotel (beijing.peninsula.com), which is within walking distance of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, is a great spot to unwind, with a restaurant that serves a huge breakfast buffet and excellent Peking duck.
LODGING
The Ulaanbaatar Hotel (ubhotel.mn) is Mongolia’s only five-star hotel—though you’ll quickly realize the star scale is a subjective measure. Located right in the heart of downtown, the hotel has large, airy rooms with a distinct Soviet feel to them—sparsely decorated with heavy furniture—that are clean and comfortable and by far the best in the country.
SUSTENANCE
A coupel of years ago there were fewer than five international-caliber restaurants in Ulan Bator, and most of them served leathery mutton. Today, the Mongol capital has a fine array of French, Italian, German, and Korean restaurants, as well as American-style sports bars. Outside Ulan Bator you’re confined to ger camps and the goodwill of nomads.
> For excellent Korean barbecue, where marinated chunks of meat are cooked over coals at your table, head to Seoul, off Chinggis Avenue in the south of Nairamdal Park.
ATTRACTIONS
> The naadam festival in Ulan Bator is the sporting event in Mongolia and generates as much excitement as, say, the Super Bowl. Held annually in summer (July 10–11, 2008), the two days of high-pageantry horse racing, archery, and wrestling are worth planning a visit around.
> The Natural History Museum in Ulan Bator might not seem like much, until you see the world’s finest dinosaur fossils. Don’t miss the fighting dinosaurs: the skeletal remains of two beasts caught in mortal combat by a sandstorm.
> The 100-mile-long Lake Hövsgöl, in the country’s northwest corner, is Mongolia’s largest freshwater lake and contains 2 percent of the world’s freshwater reserve. Boojum Expeditions (boojum.com) offers trips to the lake, including a horse trek across the nearby steppe.
> In the Altai Mountains near Kazakhstan, nomads still practice the sport of hunting with eagles and falcons. The practice takes place only in winter, when rabbits, foxes, and wolves have their thickest pelts. It’s a frigid—and beautiful—time to visit, and hardy travelers will witness Mongolia in December, something most will never experience.
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