Ulaanbaatar -
the city dreams are made of
If Mongolia’s yin is its pristine countryside, then Ulaanbaatar
(UB) conforms nicely to its yang. – Lonely planet
Ulaanbaatar is a city unlike any other. It boasts of more than
one cinema complex, at least two restaurants serving edible
However, if my time in Mongolia has taught me anything it is
that sometimes the best experiences are those you would never
anticipate.
food, and a wonderful statue of predator riding a xenomorph- As it turned out, on my third day I was almost sent to an
come-motorbike. ‘Why?’ I hear you asking ‘why have I never abandoned village for a weekend because the entire hospital
visited this place?’ Well boy, do I have the elective for you! staff had gone on a summer vacation to Beijing. I was saved
from the unenviable fate by the fortuitous arrival of a group of
Newcastle medics, who were staying in my hostel and just so
happened to have recently visited the village in question. Turns
out they were doing their electives with the same organisation
as me, so we all agreed to stick together. This is the point at
which things got really weird.
That weekend we spent having a rave on a Mongolian family’s
patio in the middle of a storm, illuminated by the strobe function
Sometime in the middle of June I set off for pastures new, of a travel torch… at 8 o’clock in the evening. We climbed a hill
seeking the wonders of Mongolia: eagle hunters, wild horses, to find a pristine Buddhist temple, and had a photo taken with
and untamed wilds as far as the eye can see. The following day the world’s largest model of a Mongolian boot.
I awoke from a peaceful plane-flight slumber to find myself
within a concrete jungle of tarmac, chain-stores and factories Over the weeks of my elective I got to see a very different
(including the aptly-named ‘Factory No. 2’). culture than I’m used to, and developed a taste for Mongolian
Korean-style French pastries.
I arrived at my hostel, to be greeted by a middle-aged Korean
man with no teeth, who seemed to have no knowledge of me And I even got to experience some Medicine as well. Let’s just
booking a room. At this point, I began to re-evaluate my say I will never look at spinal anaesthesia in the same way
expectations for the coming 5 weeks. again…
The first day went from strength to glorious strength. First, I got
lost going for a walk and spent an hour marching up and down
the high street; and then I entered the wrong building, and
broke my key in someone else’s door.
The following day I set off from my hostel bright-and-early, keen
to start my elective in earnest. I arrived at the designated area
to meet my co-ordinator, only to find that it closed for two days
in order to facilitate an effective presidential election. ‘Hey’ I So when it comes to thinking of somewhere to go for your
thought to myself, ‘at least I can drown my sorrows in a nice elective, maybe think about trying somewhere a little different.
pint’. Unfortunately, Mongolia’s answer to this cry for inebriation You never know what you might find.
was an unceremonious ‘err… no’, as every drinking
establishment