зохиогчийн эрхээр хамгаалагдана.

1-Dangers and annoyances; 2- Health issues; 3-Currency; 4-Time Zone; 5-Laundry; 6-Prostitution; 7-Food and drink; 8-Cultural tips;  9-Museums; 10-Theaters and concerts in Ulaanbaatar .....

1. Dangers and annoyances: The biggest threat for foreign travelers is pickpockets in Ulaanbaatar !!! So keep your valuables/passports, credit cards, cash etc./ in your safety belt!!!  Don't flash your money around or carry money you don't need, or keep it anywhere obvious or easy for pickpockets to take it from. Most notorious pickpockets act in team. Two or three them might block your path and push from the front while  another  dives a hand  into your pocket. Crowded places and narrow entrances are the places where you should be very careful. Railway Station and Narantuul are the heavens for pickpocketing. At very arrival in Ulaanbaatar's Railway Station, travelers, especially female and elderly people face a risk of being tried by some notorious pick-pockets who specialise on foreigners.  Foreigners are targetted ruthlessly at the Narantuul Central Market and pick-pockets might use razor blades to slice through to your walletBe careful even while waiting traffic lights to switch. Don’t be too relaxed about your bag while sitting in a café or in a restaurant. 
  
-Don't wander around by yourself at night especially in back streets!  Robbery attacks are not very rare on dark streets.

-Watch up cars!!! In Ulaanbaatar , some drivers keep going even on green traffic light. It' very important for your safety.

2. Health Issue:Being a country with relatively dry and cold weather in most of a year, Mongolia has much less infectious deseases in comparison with many Asian countries. Due to change in water, food, weather and eating habits etc, foreign traveller might catch health discomfort or sickness.  The weather can be very changeable. Dress and pack with this in mind. About diarrhoea: travelling in Mongolia has a risk of getting a traveller's diarrhoea. It is safer to drink boiled milk. Although, in the northern section of Mongolia, water is mostly pure and cristal clear, It reccomended to take containers with water and some bottled water when departing for a tour, specially for southern  or Gobi tours. When packing a basic medical kit for long trip in vast Mongolian countryside, take water-purifying tablets, charcoal, throat lozenges, indigestion tablets, anti-diarrhoea capsules, hydrocortisone cream/for bites and allergetic rashes/, good drying antiseptic powder, broad spectrum antibiotic/for respiratory, urinary or skin infections/, fine-pointed tweexers, surgical spirit, thermometer, burn ointment and plasters.

3. Mongolia currency: Currency is the togrog/MNT/. The exchange rate is approaximately MNT1200=1USD. Some banks open for 24 hours. Banks and exchange offices are numerous inUlaanbaatar . Exchange offices are found in State Department Store and Flower Center for example. Visa, Master Card, American Express, JCB and Thomas Cook travelers cheques are accepted at banks. In the countryside most tourist camps will not accept travelers cheques. Most credit cards are accepted at bigger hotels, restaurants, antique shops and supermarkets in Ulanbaatar/credit cards are worthless outside Ulaanbaatar /. In province centers, you can only cash USD at lower rate. In very countryside and in villages, you have no chance to cash your dollars at all. ATM machines you can find in the lobbies of bigger hotels/”Chinggis Khaan”, ”Bayangol” and “ Ulaanbaatar ”/ and banks/the Trade and “Development Bank”/. Money Gram and Western Union  are the easiest way to have cash sent from home/there is no charge for receiving money/.

4. Time Zone: Standard time in Ulaanbatar is UTC/GMT +8 hours.When it’s noon in Ulaanbaatar, it’s also noon in Perth; 2pm in Sydney; 8pm the previous day in Los Angeles; 11pm the previous day in New York; and 4am in London Mongolia is divided into 2 time zones:the three western provinces are 1 hour behind Ulaanbaatar and the rest of the country.

 5-Laundry: MetroExpres is a quick laundry service spread throughout Ulaanbaatar.

6- Prostitution: It's serious problem. Last  years, the number of Mongolian citizens infected with HIV, has doubled. The number of HIV infected are officially 35.

7-Cultural tips:

If your car stops by an Ovoo, the sacred mounds of stones, you are expected to circle the stones clockwise three times and toss something onto the file. A stone will always do the best in that case.

  • Don't step to the eastern side of the Ger, when you visit a nomadic family. It is customary for visitors to sit along the western side of a Ger.
  • Always accept some food or drink. You don't have to eat everything, but it's rude not to accept a gesture of hospitality. Both food and drink are passed with and accepted by the right hand.
  • It is very unusual to pay for staying in a ger and offering to do so may be seen as an insult by your host. Give a small gift instead.
  • Give little children some candies and small items that can be interesting for them, if it is possible. It is usual that they expect something from visitors, as they are inaccessible to shops and entertaining places.
  • Don't ever whistle when in a Mongolian ger, as this is really rude.
  • Never step over dishes and cooking utensils when they are placed on the ground. The hosts of the family can be badly offended.
  • Putting your feet up on someone's table is also very offensive.
  • One of the most important rules is-never place someone's hat on the floor. Because a man's or woman's hat (or deel sash) represents his or her fortune, according to Mongolia's etiquette tradition. If they are placed on the floor it is bad lack for the wearer.
  • Take both light and warm clothes. Though it might be not during the day time, the weather gets chilly during nights and early in the morning in the countryside.
  • Don't approach a horse from the hind and the right side. He may kick you, as he can be scared.
  • Mount or dismount a horse only from the left.
  • Don't put your feet deep into the stirrups. It can be dangerous, if the horse is scared from something.
  • Put on long-legged trousers and jeans. Mongolian traditional saddles with high wooden frame and silver decorations may make your legs sore, if you ride with shorts.
  • Don't wear too bright colored clothes or those with loose flaps. Because it may scare your horse.
  • Don't take pictures with a flash-light camera whilst riding.
  • 8. Museums in Ulaanbaatar :

1- Bogd Khaan Palace Museum /tel:342195/.    2-  Choijin Lama Monastery  Museum/tel:344788/.  3-Mongolian National History Museum/tel:325656/. 4- --Natural History Museum/tel:321716/.   5-Mongolian Costumes Museum/tel:91910917/.    6-Calligraphy Museum/315388/.     7-Asian Art Museum/317837/.    8-Theater Museum/tel:326820/.  9-International Intellectual Museum/tel:461470/. 10-  Post Stamp Museum/tel:362972/. 11-  Mongol Military Museum/tel:261782+261863/. 2-  Museum of Political Repression/tel:450960/. 13-  Museum of MongolianTraditional Medicine/342650, 99244135/.

Natural History Museum:  Museum displays views of the geography, flora and fauna of Mongolia. Here is   a collection of dinosaur scheletons, eggs and bones, which were found in theGobi Desert. First sensational discovery of dinosaur bones were made by the expedition of adventurous American, Roy Chapman Andrews back in 20s. Since then, expeditions from Russia, Poland and recently from the USA and Japan are coming regularly. The museum is located just across the street from the Government House.

National History Museum:   The museum offers the richest collection on the history of Mongolia, from Stone Age to modern times. It allows to retrospect the unique culture of steppe nomads and their lifestyle. The exhibition contains many artifacts of traditional handicrafts and arts, military equipment and arms of Chinggis Khaan warriors. The museum is located on the corner of the downtown Suhbaatar Square.

Gandan Monastery: Built in 1840, it is the biggest monastery in Mongolia. It is easily seen north west of the city center. In the past it was one of the main Buddhist centers in Asia having two dozens of chapels and famous for its library collection of religious documents and the typography. The monastery was severely damaged during the repression of 30s and only few building remained among them a chapel for 20 meters high statue of Megzhid Janraisig god erected in 1911 as a symbol commemorating the Mongolia's independence. During the WW II the statue was taken to Russia to be used as scrap metal for shells. In 1990 the statue was built   on donations. The Gandan Monastery is the central place for major religious ceremonies and festivities, including Tsam Dance, a theatralised performance. The monastery has a Buddhist School.

Fine Arts Museum:This museum is dedicated to paintings, religious arts and artifacts. You will find a wonderful collection of archeological artifacts from Hun period (III-II centuries BC) and panel embroidery. It houses the largest tanka scroll (Buddhist embroidery tapestry) in Mongolia, but the museum premises are not spacious enough to display this 36 meters long tanka. The museum also has two unique Tsam Dance masks lavishly decorated with 15,000 and 5,000 pieces of deep purple corals. The museum is on a five minutes walking distance east from the Suhbaatar Square. 

Winter Palace of Bogd Khan:This is the only remaining palace out of four residences where Bogd Khaan, the last Mongolian king, resided. This palace now displays the collection of personal belongings of the last Khaan and his wife. The museum offers a wide variety of Buddhist arts. Special attention attracts by paintings by Marzan Sharav depicting with a slice of humor and irony scenes from the everyday life of Mongols in the turn of this century. The Bogd Khaan was known as a true lover of nature who spent tremendous amounts on setting up large gardens with small ponds and boats. The palace zoo had even an elephant and a giraffe. He also collected staffed animals, some of which are exhibited.

10. Theaters  and Concerts in Ulaanbaatar : 1.      National Folk Song and Dance Emsemble/tel: 323954, 99718218, 91199961/.   2.      Tumen Ekh National Song and Dance Ensemble/tel:99199542/.  3.      State Drama Academic Theater/tel:324621/.  4--   Opera and Ballet Theater/tel:322854