Some final thoughts on Mongolia

So before I move onto the Korea stuff I have some final thoughts about Mongolia.

It's a really beautiful country.

Probably not a surprise to anyone.  The scenery is just excellent everywhere you go.  I did feel it became a bit same-same after a while but that's a pretty awesome complaint to have.  It was the same level of excellent the whole time ... stop whining James!

However ...

The Mongolians are going to ruin it with rubbish before long.  Everywhere you go there are plastic bottles thrown on the ground on their own or in large garbage dumps.  It's really disappointing to see.  At the Nadaam festival though we saw the children being rewarded for running around and picking up garbage then putting it in a garbage truck.  Hopefully this is a sign of the Mongolians teaching the next generation to take care of their country.


The Food
Overall the food was a bit of a disappointment.  There were a couple of excellent things I had (big fried dumplings, flatbread, guts stir fry) but most of it was pretty simple, hearty, stodgy meals with meat, rice and potato.  Even the goat and marmot (while tasty) were not taste explosions ... the appeal there was more experiential.

The beer was generic Asian lagers.  Nothing interesting, great nor terrible.


The people are super friendly.
I'm sure it's the same in many countries but the people were just lovely.  Everyone you met was friendly and willing to help.  It's a nice culture and I hope they keep it going in the next decade as they start to navigate the transformation from traditional nomadic society to westernised country with heaps of mineral wealth.


Will I be back?
I'm not sure.  There are big parts of the country I didn't do.  Didn't see the Gobi desert, far east or far west.  But I don't think so.  There's a big world to see.  Time will tell.

I'm definitely glad I went though.