Asia Tour 2026 - Day 24/25 - 2nd September - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - City 15/15 - Country 9/9
It was decided that a day at the market was on the cards. After breakfast we walked 3 km to the Narantuul Market with its beautifully decorated gate. Then market was huge, selling clothes, school stationary, household stuff and what not.
More interestingly, they had lots of carpets which in itself was spectacular as they were hung on either side of the aisles and above the aisles making for a very colourful and special experience.
They also had a huge section of traditional clothing, and Stanislav made the most of that buying some nice Mongolian clothes.
After the market we walked back the 3 km to the hotel, we spent the afternoon doing our own thing. I went to another monastery, the Gandan monastery. While it was very beautiful, on day 24 I was feeling very touristed out. I also had a very large blister on my right foot.
I slowly limped back towards the vegan restaurant, stopping by the State Department Store trying to find a bright green shirt I had fancied the previous day. For some almost supernatural reason it felt like the entire traditional clothing department had just vanished.
My walking pace was now very slow as I limped towards our vegan restaurant. I arrived 30 minutes too early but the owner recognised us and handed me two menus in English. When Stanislav arrived, we knew exactly what we wanted to order, I had the curry ramen soup and a bean and vegetable curry with rice. This was now day 3 in the same restaurant and we said goodbye to the owner and he gave us both lollipops to say thank you!
On the walk back to the hotel we stopped by a restaurant/bar opposite the Belgian pub and ordered two gin and tonics. The rest of the walk home was painful with my blister.
I showered up and went downstairs to the hotel bar which was called "Double Shot" and had a few beers, speaking to two guides, one local and one from Australia. They left and feeling awkward I transferred to "Frankfurter" just across the road. I started with Eden vodka and a beer and then these tow Irish guys arrived, one from Cork and the Tipperary. I decided to stay a little bit longer and even spoke Irish. Feeling like I had enough I went back to the hotel after some more beers.
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