Mongolia: Ulaanbaatar (Tonshuul)

We met with several more very important people today in the media world. Our first actual day in UB we met with B. Bayaraa, the senior officer of library and publishing policy at the Ministry of Science, Technology, Education and Culture of Mongolia. Only seven people set policy and staff the Ministry, and she is one of them.

Today was an intense introduction to the newspapers found primarily in UB. We started at Tonshuul and spoke a lot with the editor in chief then the actual owner, A. Amarsaikhan. Humor is a very important element in Mongolian life and the existence of literature such as Amarsaikhan’s humour magazine emphasizes this fact. The Daily News was also interesting, hearing from the editor in chief and seeing the original September 12, 2001 front page next to the released copy once news of the hijacking was received.

I must insist that driver’s in the US are not nearly as scary. No words can describe the utter chaos that ensues once a Mongol is behind the wheel, whether it is on the right or left of the car (as both types of cars are available here). Surprisingly, no accidents have yet been witnessed, but it is definitely among one of the scariest experiences I have had, and repeatedly too. Worst so far was on the way to the Press Institute when our driver tried going around a bus, heading into oncoming traffic that had to go around us as there was no way of getting back in the proper lane. The road connected perpendicularly to a highly congested street we nearly got crunched on, narrowly making it across to take a scary dirt road, in the process losing our second taxi.

We eventually met with the Press Institute’s managing director, M. Minkhmandakh, very friendly and personable. The last stop was at Seruuleg newspaper, although instead of speaking with someone from the paper, but rather the executive director from the Newspaper Association of Mongolia that recently became a member of the international organization. B. Oyungerel had previously worked at Seruuleg, a yellow paper, as she was quite knowledgeable. She had very adorable shoes on which brings to mind the high heels question once again. Not only is the sidewalk seriously cracked, but large drainage holes with missing mancovers are everywhere. I am so surprised no one has fallen down one, especially since they walk around the park in complete darkness in the evenings.

Another baffling and somewhat annoying feature is the septic system or lack thereof. Most public restrooms do not provide toilet paper in the city, so I have made sure to use the moody toilet in the apartment or go somewhere catering specifically to Westerners. We aren’t able to flush the paper though, so the toilet room smells from our makeshift garbage quite horribly. The worst smell goes to the stairwells though. That smell is indescribable. Regardless of its shortcomings we are all enjoying it so far with its beautiful mountainous backdrop, friendly and beautiful people, and nice cheap stores with fashionable clothes I fit into.