If you've made it to Beijing, you might as well catch the flight to Ulaan Baatar. The grass is always greener.



It's always a curiosity to see how middle class urban Mongolia lived. In the centre of Ulaan Baatar, home to a third of Mongolia the skyline is still dominated by Soviet-style multi-storey apartment blocks. In the tiny enclosed space, the vastness of Mongolia's Russian history showed through: everything from the curios to the furniture bore the unmistakable imprint of that Socialist bear hug.

Pack your bags for the weekend in the Ger Camp at Undor Dov. The picturesque mountains surrounding UB give way to a gentler terrain. A steady procession of hills, with their undulation shades of dark and light. Up ahead, a vast expanse of flat land, with the lengthening shadows giving an increasing sharpness and depth to the landscape.

UB: a scene out of Star Trek. Middle of nowhere a town surrounded by bald hills, their outlines visible through a dense reddish haze and, occasionally, cream-colored smoke billowing out of black factory chimneys. But speeding mirrors and fading light are not the preferred way to appreciate the charms of UB. In bright Mongolian sunshine, UB has the feel of a laid-back East European city where the clock has somehow stood still for nearly half a century, but with one difference: it escaped the ravages of the European war.

The city outside is rapidly erasing the memory of its Russian past, although the architectural legacy-ugly government buildings and large garish theatres-will doubtless endure for a while yet. Despite the time warp, though, UB has little sense of history-most of the monasteries and temples having been destroyed at the beginning of the Soviet era. But thee is a fair bit of tradition: Whether it's the gers-of which more in a moment-in the suburbs, or the men and women in distinctive Mongolian dresses-of del (long robe) and loovuuz (hat)-on the streets.

Undor Dov Ger Camp was a piece of fenced-off land in which four rows of ger tents stood next to a modern-looking concrete tower topped by a bulbous, onion-shaped dome. The ger is the obvious choice. A ger is a traditional circular tent, which is still very much a symbol of the Mongolian Way. Even in cities like UB, where nearly a third of the locals live in gers. It's partly economics, but many Mongolians prefer gers to flats, which they find too damp. Like much else in traditional Mongolia, a ger has a simple, functional design. It is a round tent covered on the outside with canvas. There is an insulating layer of felt in the middle, while it is lined on the inside with richly printed cloth

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Makeup is a Russian gift to Mongolia that separates the urban from the rural. It is rare in UB to see women without makeup.

TERELJ; - 80 KM northeast of UB as lovely scenery and is great for adventure activities. There are also temples and monasteries

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Go camping. This lonely planet Mongolia ?probably the greatest countries in the world for camping? -. Unfenced and unowned land spectacular scenery. At a tourist ger camp, a night stays cost

Is about $35(including meals)

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Undor Dov about 50 km south of ub has a tourist camp ($45.00)

Getting there fly to Beijing and then to Ulaan Baatar (UB)

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