Ulanbaatar, Mongolia

The capital city of Mongolia is kind of what you'd expect... Mostly dirt roads, some heavy soviet-era influence, and a moral code not dissimilar to Vegas.  The booze, the ladies, and the karaoke are unbelievably popular here.  I suspect thats due in large part to the number of years that Russian troops policed this place like the bouncer at the Continental.  The products and the tradition feel much more Eastern European than North Asian, which was unexpected.  As soon as we can post pix, I'll shoot through a few of the city. 

On Wednesday (Wednesday? I've lost track in the haze of jet-lag), we saw the main squares and walked the majority of the city.  Yesterday we visited a well-known and amazingly beautiful temple.  The grounds also contained a monastery and a Buddhist University.  Photos, from someone else who was there once:

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-photo/ae.middlemarch/1/1277146510/the-huge-golden-buddha.jpg/tpod.html

When we first arrived at our hotel, we thought the place was kind of a dump but have now had a sec to understand the broader context.  The city hasn't been on its own for that long, and still owes much of its progress to its big bros, China and Russia.  So while there is rampant construction (like, 8 story communist-style architecture going up about every other block) the infrastructure hasn't caught up.  So, certain luxuries have been provided here, but of the sort that seem unbelievably random and somewhat ill-contrived.  For illustrative purposes, let's play "guess which of these things can be found in Rodney & Ed's hotel" - ready?  Feel free to make your selections as a comment.  Answers manana.

1.  Air Conditioning
2.  Warming Towel Rack in bathroom
3.  Sauna
4.  Twin beds
5.  Flies
6.  A bedside console that controls the lights and electronics in the room
7.  3 course breakfast
8.  In-room safe
9.  Chain lock for door
10.  An individual water boiler
11.  Internet access

We're about to head out for the day to see the Natural History Museum and maybe the Winter Palace.  Its super hott here and there is minimal breeze/shade, so our walks outside have been limited to a few hours at a time before we seek shelter.  On the plus, the people are SUPER friendly and the tour guide we head off with tomorrow seems nice and speaks English.  Also, she's a she.  Another surprise there.

Darlings, we are off to scavenge for culture and something edible.