Day 1 - ICN-UBN, Ulaanbaatar

Race to airport and check into ICN-UBN flight. O gets in long conversation with flight attendant on MIAT. We are stuck in middle row so no good views.

UBN is small as I would have imagined, quick exit procedures. Our hostel sent a taxi driver for us. O says “Look at how muddy that truck is!”. Dense, dusty air, featureless Soviet-style apartment blocks on the ride into town, though the afternoon sun keeps it cheery. Turns out the taxi was probably a good idea since the place (Four Seasons GH) is on the third floor of an unmarked apartment building. It would have been very difficult to locate it on our own.

Our room is just large enough to fit the bed. We head out and find a Korean restaurant. There are a lot of them here, and, as it appears, many Korean tourists. The streets have that sort of broken, worn down feel, punctuated by glitzy new construction.