Mongolia: What an amazing place this is, again another place pursuing industrial capitalist development without the checks and balances which only institutional infrastructure can bring. This little city has a smog problem like nobody's business and street kids, once more of a problem so I hear, are a visible reality. This "model" developing national is a favorite for development aid with an open and transparent democracy with the ruling party being overturned at each of the previous three elections.
After floundering in Ulaanbaatar for a couple of days after my arrival I took a punt and left the city for the the Bogdkhan Strictly Protected Area and the Manzushir Khiid monastery. What a special place, as I hope you can tell from the photos. Some of the photos I didn't include however are of a chronic littler problem even in such an apparently pristine place.
I'm sure you can find all the information you like about this place on the net, but it was once home to over 300 monks and in total a population of about 1000 people or so I hear. It was flattened by the Cossacks in he 1930 and now with the exception of the rebuilt main monastery building only the camps, a little shop and a kind-of-restaurant remain and the ruins of what was once quite a thriving little place remain.
Managed to strike a car free day on my return today to the capital, a pleasant change from the congested thoroughfare which greeted me upon my arrival.
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