Hello fellow Steemites!! So for today's post I would like to talk about my trip to Mongolia last summer. To be honest, I was a lil bit nervous to travel to Mongolia alone even though I've traveled to lot of places by myself and managed to survive though haha. But mannnn, I've always wanted to travel to Mongolia because back in college, I have a few Mongolian friends and prior to meeting them, I had zer0000 idea about Mongolia and all I can think of is the Great Genghis Khan, the infamous high profile Altantuya Shaariibuu murder case in Malaysia and the super hard to pronounce capital city of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. That's it! No more than that.
The original plan was to travel with my Mongolian friend Sura in 2015 but he was really busy with his studies and we thought that we could just postponed it to 2016. But again, he had some personal stuff to deal and he couldn't make the trip. And I was like f@@k this!! I'm going to Mongolia by myself! and that's how it all started LOL.
That moment when I saw the grasslands from the airplane just before we landed, I was likeeee WOoooOahh! That's freaking awesome!! Sura's friend Mandy actually picked me up at the airport after work. We've never met before but only friends on Facebook and Instagram but she was very helpful especially thoroughly giving advice on how to get around in Ulaanbaatar, place of interests and so on. She dropped me off at the hostel and yeah I was alone all over again =( The best thing about travelling and I've said this many times ; you don't know what's ahead of you and that feeling itself is something hard to describe. I want to know what it's like to live like them even for a day. The smell, sound, crowd, atmosphere, food, music, language, culture.....everything counts! !
Zaisan, a must visit place if you're in Ulaanbaatar. You can actually view the whole city from here and it's interesting to see buildings surrounded with hills and hills of grasslands!!
On my first day, I went to Terelj National Park which is located roughly 40 km from the city centre. I hired a driver for my trip (which I don't normally do )but because if you don't have a car or a van, you won't be able to go beyond the city and missed out on lots of beautiful things Mongolia can offer. It's a trade off but totally worth it! I kinda paid extra because I was travelling alone but you can save a lot of money if you travel in groups! +traveltips I asked the driver to stop by the road when I saw......this!
Me, in front the the Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue. Standing tall at 40m high!
I really miss this view. Imagine... everything is so calm, peaceful and you can just lie down on the ground and relax.... the sun...the view...it's just amazing! !
Magnificent view!!
I forgot to mention that they have a huuuuge square in the middle of the city. Kinda reminds me of Tiananmen square in Beijing, China.
I also went to a different national park which is called the Khustain Nuruu National Park. I spent a night there in a Mongolian Yurt. !
The Mongolian Yurt or also known as Ger is a special identity of the Mongolian nomads. Spending a night or two in a Ger will give visitors an insight into the life of the nomads. !
I also had the chance to play basketball with the locals!!
One more thing!! You have to wake up early to view the sunrise. Trust me, you'll regret it if you don't!
I hope you guys enjoy my post! I wish I had more time to write more but anyway, feel free to drop down a comment below! Till then! Terraaaaa!