Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Transport between western Mongolia and Ulaanbaatar (UB) is mainly by plane and the
cheaper seats on flights fill up fast in summer. Buy tickets a few weeks in advance if you
can. Transport by land from Ulaanbaatar is a rough and tedious three-to-four days if you
drive nonstop. The northern route via Arkhangai has several points of interest, but most
share vehicles and public buses travel along the less-interesting southern route via
Khovd, Altai and Bayankhongor.
Though not yet a main traveller route, it is possible to enter or leave Mongolia at the
Tsagaannuur border crossing with Russia (best accessed from Ölgii) or the Bulgan border
with China's Xinjiang province (best accessed from Khovd).
Getting Around
Hiring a jeep is relatively easy in Ölgii but can be more difficult elsewhere. All three
westermost aimag capitals are linked by decent jeep trails (Uliastai is much further east
so less well connected to the west). You'll waste a lot of time if hitchhiking in the area;
trucks will most likely be heading for the nearest border post and jeeps will be packed
full of people. You are better off with the buses and the shared jeeps and minivans that
congregate at the markets. As it is easier to get on a bus heading back to Ulaanbaatar
than trying to hop on an already full one on its way out, a good plan is to fly out and
overland it back to the capital.
ONE HOUR BEHIND
Note that the three westernmost aimags in Mongolia - Bayan-Ölgii, Khovd and Uvs
- are in a different time zone from the rest of the country: they are one hour be-
hind.
Zavkhan aimag, however, remains on Ulaanbaatar time.
BAYAN-ÖLGII
POP 90,500 / AREA 46,000 SQ KM
Travelling to Mongolia's westernmost aimag gives one the distinct feeling of reaching
the end of the road, if not the end of the earth. High, dry, rugged and raw, the isolated,
oddly shaped aimag follows the arc of the Mongol Altai Nuruu as it rolls out of Central
Asia towards the barren wastes of the Dzungarian Basin.
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