Most Charming And Attractive Places in Mongolia
Sights of Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar The capital of Mongolia lies along the Tuul River and is surrounded by mountains. It looks like a neglected European town of the 50s. This is evidenced by old Soviet cars and buses. But despite this, Ulaanbaatar - an example of the communist high-rise style in civil architecture - is an interesting place for walking and getting to know the local culture.
Sukhbaatar Square is located in the center of the city. It was here in July 1921 that Damdini Sukhe Bator, the "hero of the revolution", proclaimed the independence of Mongolia from China. The building of the State Parliament is located on the square, as well as the modern Palace of Culture, where you can see the art gallery of Mongolia.
Not far from the square is the Museum of National History. It presents exhibits that tell about the geography of Mongolia, its flora and fauna, and several stands dedicated to Mongolian history. Also here you can see 2 complete skeletons of dinosaurs once found in the Gobi desert - this is a giant tarbosaurus and its closest relative, a small, similar to a platypus, saurolopus.
Another of the attractions of Mongolia is the Museum of Fine Arts Zanabazar. The works of the artist and Buddhist Zanabazar are stored here, including collections of paintings, carvings and sculptures. In addition, the museum displays rare exhibits of a religious nature, such as thangkas (cloth painting) and Buddha statues.
In addition, walking around Ulaanbaatar, you can see Buddhist temples (sum) and monasteries (khiid), one of which is Gandantegchinlen Khiid, which in Russian means "the greatest place for absolute joy." This monastery has several temples, each decorated with gold and other precious stones.
It is worth paying attention to the State Opera and Ballet Theatre, the State Drama Theatre, and the Theater of Dance and Folk Song. The centuries-old musical traditions of the country give reason to consider these institutions as another attraction of the capital. In the southern part of the city there is an amusement park and the Naran-tul market - the best cashmere market in the world, and even further south, on a hill, there is a monument to Soviet-Mongolian friendship with an observation deck from which an excellent panorama of the capital opens.
The surroundings of Ulaanbaatar are no less interesting. 39 km. South-east of the capital, on the very edge of a cliff overlooking a beautiful valley, is the Manzushir Monastery (1733). In the village of Dulun-Boldog (70 km from the capital) there is a sacred place for the Mongols - Mount Bogd-Ul (Bogdo-Ula, 2256 m.) - the birthplace and adolescence of Temujin (Genghis Khan). A monument to the great conqueror and founder of the Mongol Empire was erected here.
· Four Sacred Peaks
The four peaks surrounding Ulaanbaatar are considered sacred. These are, corresponding to the four cardinal directions, the mountains Tsetseegum, Chingeltey, Songino Khaykhan and Bayansurkh.
The mountains are great for hiking. They are famous for their larch forest, dense grass meadow and amazing wildlife, which is represented by mountain goats and sables.
The highest point of the Bogdkhan Uul ridge is the Tsetseegum peak, located at an altitude of 2260 meters.
· Kharkhorin
Kharkhorin is a modern comfortable city built on the site of the ruined Karokorum, the first capital of Mongolia. It is located 370 km. southwest of Ulaanbaatar. The city is known for its sights, including the Erdin Zuu Monastery, which in Mongolian means Hundred Treasures. Erdin Zuu was the first center of Lamaism in Mongolia. The monastery originally housed 100 temples. The monastery was destroyed more than once, but nevertheless, 3 functioning temples have now been preserved.
North-west of Kharakhorin, on the banks of the Chultyn-Gol River, rock paintings of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages were discovered. Rock art can also be seen in the canyon of the Chulut River, and gigantic Paleolithic workshops have been discovered in the Gobi Desert. In the steppes you can find runic stelae - tombstones of Turkic kagans and commanders (VI-VIII centuries). In the mountains of Nemegetu there is a beautiful hollow of the same name - the largest cemetery of dinosaurs in Mongolia.
Among the natural attractions, the most attractive is the mighty waterfall in the upper reaches of the Orkhon River, and in the Gobi Desert, not far from the spurs of the Gobi Altai, there are the rarest cemeteries of fossil animals on the globe from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (120-70 million years ago).
· Khustain Nuruu Nature Reserve The Khustain Nuruu
Nature Reserve was established in 1993 to conserve the wild takhi horses and the steppes they inhabit. The area of the reserve is 90,000 hectares. About 200 animals live here. These horses, better known as Przewalski's horses, roamed the steppe in huge herds until they became an endangered species in the 1960s. They were close to extinction as poachers exterminated them for their meat. After that, the horses were resettled in Khustain Nuruu and in the southern part of the Gobi Desert. Now about 200 horses live in the reserve and in the wild.
· Gurvansaikhan National Park Gurvansaikhan
National Park is located in the Gobi Desert. Here you can see interesting dinosaur fossils, sand dunes of extraordinary size, rock formations, mountains, as well as a valley that is covered with snow all year round.