The most popular vehicles in Ulaanbaatar are old SUVs, Toyota Land Cruisers being the preferred model.  Like this fine specimen in a car dealership lot with it’s German license plates still on, all of the cars are are imported used from overseas.

Don’t worry, as a North American suburbanite never having driven your SUV off of a paved road, you should rest assured your SUV will be driven to it’s death on the types of roads that it was engineered for.  I think the average life of a car suspension in Ulaanbaatar might be around six months, and that’s driving on the roads.

 

It was a grey, cloudy day in Ulaanbaatar when I decided to go for a walk.  Without much on the horizon, a big ferris wheel was as good of a destination as any.

 

Up close, it actually looked like a pretty cool small amusement park, although the bathrooms look like they leave a little to be desired.

 

Sükhbaatar Square is a large open square in the capital of Mongolia.  It’s exactly what you would have expected the Soviets to build while occupying Mongolia.

Even from a distance, it’s pretty clear that Genghis Khan sits  at the center overlooking the square.