Ulanbaatar, April 2011
The visit was brief, and I didn't spend much time in downtown Ulanbaatar. Here are just a few photos of it.
A view of the city from the hills on one side of the valley. On the other side can be seen the smaller dwellings that are clustered at the base of the hills.
To the west is an industrial area. One might be surprised to see all the air pollution in "pristine" Mongolia, but it is a fact of life in the cities. The statue of Buddha in the foreground is an indication of the rise of spirituality in post-Soviet Mongolia.
The multicolored buildings on the right are a new American school that caters to better-off Mongolians.
This view from my hotel room gives a sense of all the construction in progress in Ulan Baatar. I was surprised, because it was not that way during my first visit five years ago.
Note the three yurts in this picture.
This one shows some of the hills that make up the valley in which Ulan Baatar is situated.
UB has a sizeable industrial area, too. Some of its less-controlled sources are notorious. Note the back smoke at the left.
This is one end of Mongolia's version of Tiananmen Square.
When my hostess learned that I was a musician, she took me to one of the music schools. There we got a private concert by two students on traditional instruments. This is one of them.