Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Post
Service
The postal service is generally reliable. Allow at least a couple of weeks for let-
ters and postcards to arrive home from Mongolia.
Stamps
You can buy stamps in post offices (and top-end hotels) in Ulaanbaatar and
aimag capitals.
Poste restante
The poste restante at the
Central Post Office
(CPO, Töv Shuudangiin
Salbar; 11-313 421; cnr Peace Ave & Sükhbaataryn Gudamj; 7.30am-9pm Mon-
Fri, 9am-8pm Sat & Sun) in Ulaanbaatar seems to work quite well; bring along your pass-
port as proof of identification. Don't even think about using poste restante anywhere else
in the country.
Couriers
The more reliable courier services include DHL and FedEx.
Postal rates
Normal-sized letters cost T1320 and postcards cost T1100 to all countries. A
1kg airmail parcel to the UK will cost T45,670, or T50,500 to the USA.
Public Holidays
Mongolians do not get many holidays. Naadam and Tsagaan Sar each warrant three days
off, plus there's a day off for New Year's and Chinggis Khaan's birthday. Most tourist facil-
ities remain open during holidays, but shops and offices will close down. The following
holidays are observed:
Shin Jil
(New Year's Day) 1 January
Constitution Day
13 January; to celebrate the adoption of the 1992 constitution (gener-
ally a normal working day)
Tsagaan Sar (Lunar New Year)
January/February; a three-day holiday celebrating the
Mongolian New Year
Women's Day
8 March (generally a normal working day)
Mothers' & Children's Day
1 June; a great time to visit parks
Naadam Festival
11 and 12 July; also known as National Day celebrations
Chinggis Khaan's Birthday
Early November; the date is the first day of the first winter
month, based on the lunar calendar. Most government offices and banks are closed
Safe Travel
Mongolia is a reasonably safe country in which to travel, but given the infrastructure of the
country, state of the economy and other development problems, you are bound to run into
