I spent a few day in Ulanbataar and then went on a horse trek in the Altai in 2014. Ulanbataar felt, to me, like a post-soviet city bursting at the seams with i

I spent a few day in Ulanbataar and then went on a horse trek in the Altai in 2014. Ulanbataar felt, to me, like a post-soviet city bursting at the seams with informality (which it is). The main plaza with its status of Ghengis Khan is something but I got the sense that the locus of Mongolian culture is outside the cities. The Altai was amazing. The horse trek was an organised affair (through Zavkhan trekking) and struck that sweet spot between immersion and comforts. Comfort preferences vary but we got hot meals, someone else dug our pit latrine, but we still had to pitch our tents. On horseback or not, I highly recommend it.