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Welcome to Mongolia
Mongolia is a huge nation with a tiny population. Imagine a country larger than France, Germany, Austria and Switzerland combined, but with a population only 20% of London's population, and you get some idea. Mongolia's heyday was under its (in)famous medieval leader, Genghis Khan (properly called "Chinghis-Khan" in Mongolian). The country was over-run by its own satellite, China, in 1388, and became a heavily-subjugated province of China until 1924 - when a Socialist Revolution was declared, throwing-off Chinese control. However, when the Mongolians accepted the USSR's help in strengthening their borders against China, they simply exchanged one occupying power for another . By 1930, the original leaders of the 1924 Revolution were dead "in mysterious circumstances" and Stalin's puppet-rulers were in charge. Mongolia remained effectively a Soviet outpost until the USSR itself crumbled in 1990, and Mongolia regained genuine independence.
Ulaanbaatar
The Mongolian Royal Court, long called Urga, was not a static "city" - it was a mobile Assembly housed in the traditional Mongolian Felt Tents called Gers - although these were truly royal Gers of great size and spendour. Its movements were seasonal, as it progressed around the country. However, towards the C19th, it spent longer and longer periods near the Gandantegchinlen Monastery, the largest in Mongolia, and eventually became stationary there. However, the only stone buildings in the city were the Buddhist Monasteries - all the residents lived in Gers. For this reason, there is not the large collection of ancient architecture in Mongolian cities which you might expect in a European city of equal age and tradition (in fact, Mongolian tradition holds the earth in great respect, and there is a belief in leaving no trace of your having passed-by on its holy surface). It also suited the Chinese Manchu overlords to keep the Mongolians relatively poor and unsettled.
This tradition was rapidly overturned in the Revolution. The young Mongolian State wanted to join the industrialised world - and the USSR lost no time in building soviet-style buildings to assist its "socialist neighbour". Consequently, Ulaanbaatar today has a very definite "soviet" appearance. However, hiding behind the Stalin-Gothic, there are several things worth seeing - although 2-3 days is plenty in this small city of only ½M people:
Gandan Monastery (the full name is Gandantegchinlen). The oldest and most prestigious Buddhist Monastery in Mongolia - on the edges of Ulaanbaatar. Numerous temples, a Great Temple, several stupa's etc
Choijin Monastery Museum Complex. A stupendously-decorated Temple hidden in the heart of the city - now a Museum.
Residence of the Bogd-Khans. The surprisingly modest former private home of the Priest-Kings of Mongolia - now displaying priestly regalia used in coronations etc.
Natural History Museum. Ignore the awful, broken display-cases - the collection of Dinosaur finds from the Mongolian Gobi is worth the trip.
Experience the life of Mongolian Nomads
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