Good times in Terelj

Got back from Terelj National Park a few hours ago. It's immense and I can only imagine what it will look like once everything starts to bloom. We went horseback riding, though we were being pulled by our guide the whole way, which got to be frustrating to me, like being in the driver's seat of a sports car while it's being towed.

For each of our stops we have pretty big expectations, but I think they were the loosest for UB. It's very much a city on the edge. The roads are wide and full of cars, but the pace is more like Ottawa than Beijing. One of our brief travel companions told us that Japan sells cars that are no longer street legal there to Mongolia for a pittance, so you constantly see left-driving Fords next to Domestic-market only right-driving Nissans. It seems like it would be confusing but they make it work.

Maybe the biggest disappointment about UB is the cost of living. The guide books will tell you that you can get by on 3 dollar meals but most of the time we swing by at 10. Western food and goods are sold at Western prices and local food isn't much cheaper.
Still, glad to be here.