Ulaan Baatar

Noelle writes:

I know I keep harping on about transportation but Mongolia's is the best. And by the best I mean worst!

It is faster to walk most places than drive in UB as the traffic jams are atrocious! That being said your life is put at considerable risk by walking given that drivers don't pay any attention to traffic lights.

Our first night here our group was at the corner of a very busy intersection and we waited patiently for the green man light to come on. It did and we started to cross the road. BIG MISTAKE! We found out quickly that cars don't care what colour light they have they will go if they can. We slowly made our way across the street with a few of our party nearly ending up beneath the cars. The odd thing was, I looked back across the street and saw a traffic cop standing on the very same corner we had been on and he was doing absolutely NOTHING!

My strategy is to make sure I have a Mongolian between me and the traffic when crossing the street. I know that sounds bad but I figure they know what they're doing and if they don't they'll be a good buffer for me when the car decides not to stop.

Our guide here has told us that there are huge numbers of accidents and fatalities every year but it doesn't change the way people drive.

Another funny thing was that on our drive out to the ger camp we had to pay a road toll for one of the worst roads I have ever been on. It reminded me of the rocky boat trip out to the Yasawas in Fiji. Mom, you would have been very sick!