Today is sunny and warmer, but still quite chilly particularly out of the sun. 10am we transfer to Ulaan Baatar by coach and a 4* hotel. Back to civilisation and the delights of a proper shower and comfortable bed! We spent the afternoon exploring UB, but there is not a great deal to see. We made the long walk to the Bogd’s Palace – now a museum – only to find that it is closed on Wednesdays! (The Bogd was the head of Mongolia’s buddhists – equivalent to the Dalai Lama). Did some shopping for tomorrow’s train journey to Beijing.
Ulaan Baatar is a poor city, although there is a considerable amount of new building going on. Nonetheless, there is still a significant proportion of the inhabitants living in Ger tents in amongst the apartment blocks. And it is quite common to see tents on the pavement being used as shops. We go in a few shops more out of curiousity than any intention to buy. One of which turns out to be a jewellery market with rows of counters manned by sales assistants many looking bored and some slumped on the counter – one at least asleep!. We also visit the State Department Store where you can buy electrical goods, cosmetics and designer clothes and so on. Like most of the shops there seem to be very few customers and we wonder who is able to afford these luxury goods. Cashmere stores abound – but the prices seem relatively high when compared with the general cost of living here.