Ulaanbaatar travel info

Six in the evening on Peace Avenue. Traffic hasn't moved in minutes and commuters on foot are overtaking the cars. Shopfronts run CU, GS25, CU again, and plenty of restaurants have menus in several languages. Look up, though, and the hills north of the centre are covered in white gers and tin roofs. Close to half of Mongolia lives here, which explains the crush.

Ulaanbaatar sits in a basin more than 1,300 m up and is the coldest capital in the world. January nights average around −25°C, and on winter evenings coal smoke from the ger districts turns the air grey. Flip to June–August and it's 23–25°C by day, dry and clear under a huge sky, which is when most visitors come.

To be honest, the city itself takes a day or two: Sükhbaatar Square, Gandan Monastery, the Zaisan viewpoint and a plate of buuz dumplings. The real point comes after. You climb into a tour company's Furgon, the boxy Russian van, with a driver and a guide, and head for the grass of Terelj, the Gobi to the south or Lake Khövsgöl to the north. The city works as base camp: shop, change money, leave, then come back for a hot shower and a decent meal.

Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN)