לובג ירבעמ ,תויורירגש ,הסינכ תורשא -
םייללכ םיפיט -
תויצקרטאו הכישמ ידקומ -
הרובחת -

: לובג ירבעמ ,תויורירגש ,הסינכ תורשא

Obtaining a transit Mongolian visa in Moscow is debatably the easiest visa you'll ever apply for. Business hours are flexible and necessary documents are few. Bring US30 and a photo and you should be in and out in half an hour.
Anna J Piller, USA (Sept 99)

If you are an individual traveller and want to stay longer than your visa permits, then you need an invitation letter to extend your stay. Otherwise, the Ministry of External Relations in Ulaan Baatar won’t accept your visa extension form. Yes, it is so ridiculous that they issue Mongolian visas to individual tourists abroad without an invitation letter, but when it comes to extending in UB, the letter is a must. I think the travel agencies in UB can organise these letters. One working day is required for getting your visa extended after you’ve submitted all the necessary forms.
Hyun-mi, Jeon, Hong Kong (Jul 99)

Crossing the China-Mongolia border by bus is now possible. I managed to cross the border from Erenhot or Erlianhot (city) into Zamyn-Uud without a hitch. It’s only a very short distance but the trip takes all day due to the Chinese customs and formalities about crossing into Mongolia. It’s very disorganised but the locals seemed to have a fair idea about what was going on.
Danny Williams, Australia (Mar 99)

We went to Mongolia on the 36 hour international train from Beijing. Our travel agent in Tel Aviv told us that we didn’t need a visa for Mongolia, that they were issued at the border. Sounded reasonable to us because that’s how it works in Israel. After changing the bogies of the train on the border, which took about five hours, we arrived in the small Mongolian border town at about 2 am and upon the presentation of our passports were told to get off the train because we didn’t have visas! All our arguing was to no avail and we found ourselves on the train platform in a tiny town in the Gobi Desert in the middle of the night. There are three very small hotels in that town but they either didn’t have free rooms or wouldn’t open for us. The chief border policeman had sort of taken responsibility for us and ended up taking us home to his house to sleep!

Everything was very vague, but to make a long story short, the next day we were taken in a police jeep back to China where we were handed over to the Chinese border police and were able to get a Mongolian visa there. We had to buy new train tickets to Ulaan Baatar and arrived there about two and a half days late. Later we found out that there were people who received visas at the border and that apparently Israelis don’t need visas at all! So in other words, things are very unclear there, but you would be wise to get your visa ahead of time in any case.
Judy Pex, Israel (Feb 99)

It is much easier to get a visa for Mongolia now than it was previously. I got a visa in one day in Beijing for $60 and could have paid $40 if I had waited three days. You no longer need an invitation from a hotel or someone in Mongolia to get a visa.
Concetta Tuori, USA (Aug 98)

A single entry tourist visa is $45 and is valid for 21 days from the date of entry in Mongolia. One is not required to have an invitation. I simply phoned the Embassy in Washington, completed the application and sent my passport along with a money order and received the visa in about two weeks.
Kurt Piemonte, USA (Mar 98)

Regulations have been hanged as Mongolians realise that they need to be INVITING to tourists. So tourist visas are officially obtainable at the point of entry, though maybe it would be unwise to try to do so unless in an emergency; border guards are not always up with new rules. But for a tourist visa, no 'invitation' should now be necessary.
David O'Connor, Australia/Mongolia (Dec 97)

It's as easy as pie obtaining a visa for Mongolia from the embassy in Beijing, as long as you fork out the US$40.
Tina, New Zealand (Nov 97)

Beginning July 1st 1997, there are new visa regulations. Entry visas of up to 30 days can be obtained at the international border points of Buyant Ukhaa Airport, Altanbulag in the north and Zamyn-Uud in the south. Foreigners are permitted to enter Mongolia by transport other than rail or air (eg car or foot). Invitations are no longer required for short term visitors (less than 30 days). Visa extensions over 30 days cost US$15 plus US$2 for each extra day. Single entry-exit visa costs US$25, single transit visa (two weeks) costs US$15 and multiple entry-exit visa (six months) costs US$65. Foreigners visiting Mongolia for less than 30 days will not need to register at the Police Station Registration and Information Centre.
Manuel Guillen, Spain (Jul 97)

: םייללכ םיפיט

In summer most hotels and camps will soon fill in Kharkorin. If you have no place to stay go to the Monastery around six, just before closing time. Get inside through the main entrance and left to the shop. The monastery guides will gather there, one or two speak English.

To make an international phone call in Kharkorin, make your way to the post office, at the edge of town. The post office is easy to recognise as it is a three storey yellow building with a satellite disc on the roof. Although you may see goats running in and out of the building make your way to the second floor. There is a lady behind a huge antique telephone switchboard. She speaks no English so just gesture and she’ll give you paper to write the number down. Watching her make the call is fascinating - it’s a bit expensive but the line was very clear.

The black market in Ulaan Baatar has moved. It is now a few kilometres east of Nairamdal Park, follow Teeverchidiin Gudamj and you can’t miss it. It is huge and partly covered and the presence of many guards will hopefully keep you safe. Most goods including food, cigarettes and water are cheaper than in town.
Tycho de Feijter, Netherlands (Sept 99)

Seeing as nomadic children don’t have access to education these days, ideal gifts to bring into the country are Mongolian children’s books. There’s a good selection of these on the first floor of the State Department Store in UB. We found a really excellent Mongolian language children’s atlas and science book, as well as a book of traditional Mongolian children’s stories. Travellers should be encouraged to bring books with them for the children, but not the Mongolian translations of Walt Disney stories - there’s enough American crap around the world; we don’t need to spread any more.
Patrik Parkes, Cananda (Jul 99)

If fishing in Mongolia, it is a legal requirement to have a permit to fish in every national park and soum. The permits need to be purchased from park rangers. Enforcement of this law varies from location to location depending on the local rangers: most do not speak English and the potential for corruption is huge. The best defence against this is to have a Mongolian guide with you or try and contact someone at the Ministry of the Environment as they have English speaking staff.
Hilary Anne Exon, USA (May 99)

Beware when arranging local transport to Tsetserleg, the capital of Arhangai province. You'd be surprised how many towns bear the same name. In Moron, I was looking for a jeep to Tsetserleg and specified, in Mongolian, that I wanted to go to the Tsetserleg in Arkhangai, not the one in Huuvsgul province. We did get to Arkhangai province, but at 2 am, found ourselves in an obscure town which turned out to be Tsetserleg somon, not Tsetserleg aimaging tov, both in Arkhangai.
Karen Harmatuk, Canada (Jan 99)

Inner Mongolia: China Youth Travel Service has emerged as a serious competitor to good old CITS when it comes to grasslands tours. The prices are competitive, and the staff generally speak English relatively well. CYTS had a stand at the foreigners' ticket office at the Beijing Railway Station, and we ordered a two-day grasslands tour to Huitengxile there for Y350 a person (student discount). The good thing about the CYTS tour to Huitengxile was that we got one day off to do whatever we wanted. It's great to go hiking in the grasslands. We reached a small, remote village after some hours of walking, and also had the chance to see the wind farm in the area (some US researchers have shown how building large wind farms in Huitengxile could provide more electricity than China's total production today). Don't try to squeeze in a trip to the desert if you only have two to three days to do a grasslands tour. You will only have time to see it from the minibus.
Joerund Buen, Norway (Sep 98)

Vegetarians will have no trouble surviving in Ulaan Baatar. There's lots of choice now, especially if you eat fish.
Julie Brittain (Aug 98)

The Trade & Development Bank in Ulaan Baatar now gives same day (instant) cash advances on credit cards and has one of the best T/$ exchange rates in the city.
Stephen Bodio, USA (Mar 98)

It is now easy to change yen and marks in Ulaan Baatar. Changers may be uneasy about trading 'old' $100 or $50 bills. A T1000 banknote certainly isn't rare. There are T5000 and T10,000 denominations also.
Adam Zenko, USA (Jan 98)

The so called 'Dollar Market' (also called the 'Black Market', even though it is not), is legal and licensed, but offers rates no better (and often worse) than the Currency Exchange Points (CEPs). Also, you'll find offices set up in more convenient places for the CEPs, like upstairs at the Ard Cinema, opposite the MIAT town office. The Exchange Point rates vary hour to hour and may be negotiated a little. Check the week's bank rate before going to an Exchange Point - the bank sometimes has a better rate and you get a piece of paper that allows you to change any left over money back again on the way out. The Dollar Market and the Exchange Points give a better rate for US$50 and US$100 bills. The rate they give for notes below these denominations is usually below the official bank rate, so take them to a bank.
David O'Connor, Australia/Mongolia (Dec 97)

: תויצקרטאו הכישמ ידקומ

I definitely recommend learning how to read Cyrillic. If you do, you can find some things on your own. I had studied Russian in college and even though I've forgotten most of the language, I can still read the alphabet. As a result, when I was walking around on my own one day, I came across a small building with a sign on it in Cyrillic. I took a closer look and found that it said 'Museum'. Since I love museums and plan trips by how many cultural places of interest there are in a city, I had to investigate and find out what kind of museum. It turned out to be a museum to honor Natsagdorj, the major Mongolian poet/author/playwright of the 1930s and 1940s. A man came out and asked if I spoke English and after I said yes, I got a guided tour by the museum director with this man as interpreter. Wonderful! The museum show-cased his family background, his studies, his time in the USSR and it had some of his works displayed and many artefacts that he used, such as the typewriter he wrote on. It is located near the Chojin Lama Temple and Museum, and is very close to the park that is nearby.
Susan L Schwartz, USA (Mar 98)

: הרובחת

In Ulaan Baatar the domestic railway office has moved to the railway station itself. It’s a brand new building on the east-side of the station. Entrance is via two black stairways. Inside is a huge destination table in cyrillic. If you want to leave the same day buy your ticket on the first floor, for reservations visit the second floor.
Tycho de Feijter, Netherlands (Sept 99)

It is possible to obtain a Trans Siberian train ticket and Russian visa in Ulaan Baatar (even if travel companies in Beijing try to tell you differently).
M D Tinker, UK (Mar 98)

The Beijing - Ulaan Baatar #23 train leaves on Tuesday, not Saturday (or at least it did in October).
Kurt Piemonte, USA (Mar 98)

Train tickets for onward travel (eg to Moscow, Beijing, etc): you can use your current, and even Bangkok purchased, ISIC card for a discount. The ticket says you get 25% off but it's more like 15%. Also, I bought a UB-Beijing train ticket on the #4 Trans-Mongolian 10 days before departure no problemo, ie I didn't have to queue the day before the train left like the LP advised, although some others did.
Tina, New Zealand (Nov 97)

It's now possible to cross the border from Mongolia to China by local transport rather than the Trans-Mongolian train. We took a daily local train from Ulaan Baatar to Zamyn Ude, hopped in a jeep to cross the border, then took another Chinese local train from Erlian (Erenhot) to Jining the next morning. Unfortunately, the timing of the train-jeep-train combo doesn't work out very well and people are often stuck in Erlian overnight (but this isn't so bad because the people are fantastic and very curious - we learned lots of basic Chinese).
Gerry Timmermans & Eric D'Souza, Canada (Sep 97)