This week, I traveled about one hour outside of Ulaanbaatar to visit Mandushir monastery. I traveled another hour to go horseback riding at Saraa's Ger Camp.
The farthest I have traveled is to the town of Olgii, on the very western edge of Mongolia. It took three days in the car to get there! It is about 800 miles away from Ulaanbaatar. We drove all the way there, then all the way back.
I mostly took taxis and buses from where I live, on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, to the city center. To go to Mandshir and Saraa's Ger Gamp, I rode in vans with my friends.
The most interesting place I visited was Mandshir monastery because it was cool to see a glimpse into the lives of monks several hundred years ago. Even though many of the buildings had been destroyed, a few remain and can teach us about their way of life. It was also cool to realize that the countryside surrounding Ulaanbaatar is very similar to the way it was in the past. This is rare when we live in a world that is rapidly developing!
