As Promised - A Review

[Rene]

I honestly don't know where to begin. But now that I am not associated with Mongolia anymore, I can go ahead and give a rundown of my experiences there.

First off, when we put it on the list, we weren't expecting to actually go there. It was at the VERY bottom of our wishes... but we had to put something crappy, and it was the least crappy of the crappy options. And that is saying something, let me tell you...

Our first impression of the place was... it was cold... in both the temperature sense, the color scheme, and the people. It was just an all around cold place. It's ok. We can overlook that, right?

Second impression, after getting settled in our apartment and taking a good look around. It is dirty... and I don't mean just a some random garbage on the streets, either. It is just a filthy place.

 

[Rene]

That isn't the best part, though. The best part was the winters. OMG it was so bad! You had to wear masks around, just to be able to breathe. I tried to post the best versions on FB, because I didn't want any (more) crap...

This was the things you get to see on vacation sites and things. (I took this photo at the end of summer)



But this is the reality most of the year. One sand, and one smog. Believe me, I have many more photos where that came from.



This one is in the middle of the day...

 

[Rene]

Now the fun stuff.

At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, Mongolia loved to say that their Gengis Kahn blood was immune to such things. NO WAY were they going to be impacted by this. China is just weak.

Yeah... We are RIGHT NEXT DOOR to China, so you can see where that went. Mongolia was a the top of the infection list for quite some time. But they didn't report most of the cases, because they weren't pansies like the rest of the world.

Well... There was a group that was for expats in Mongolia. It was for sharing experiences, looking for things to do, ect. You know, the typical foreigner things. It was all in English, so it was easy to get around.

Anyway... there was a post made about the virus, and someone said "It is probably already here" and of course, I replied with "Yeah, I don't think the government here wants anyone to know, but I guarantee it is already here"

Boy, was that a mistake... Someone took a screenshot of us both and shared it around social media. Not a big deal, right? Wrong... It got around to the media, and I was on the news. My name wasn't even blurred out or anything. Just right there for all to see. Needless to say, I got a bit of backlash.

I had a few people messaging me about what a fucked up person I am, and if I didn't like it, I should just leave. I know you all know the scenario... The US is riddled with this garbage. One woman told me that if she ever sees me in the streets, she was going to set me on fire.

It got so bad that I had to disable my FB account and stay off of all social media. The Embassy told me to keep my door locked and do not answer for anyone if I was home alone. It was quite a situation.

Just for this, alone, I would never go back.

 

[Rene]

Now... it wasn't ALL bad. We did meet a few people there who were decent.

A waitress from a Bar and Grill restaurant. She was just adorable! We got to actually sit and have conversations outside of her work, and apparently, she wants to travel to the states to study. That would be pretty awesome.

There was also a couple who ran a Fusion restaurant, also. He was French, but she was Mongolian. They had a very laid back demeanor. Unfortunately, they had to close their place and didn't get opened in time for us to leave.

Now, I am huge into music. The metal scene there is almost non-existent. I know most of you guys know The Hu, but they are an exception, not the rule. Anyway, there was a guy that was trying his best to get the metal scene going there. He booked Sepultura to play in 2018. That was the first and last show we got to see there. But I keep in contact with him on Facebook here and there.

Sven's boss lady was pretty cool, too. She was... different lol. Like the mom type that seriously didn't want to be in the "old crowd." LOL! It was pretty cute. She and I had a few common hobbies, so we chatted pretty often.

Overall, though... the bad did not outweigh the good. So, I will never put that back on another list for a post when it is time to move.

 

[Rene]

And... you have always seen the city photos, but I can tell you, it doesn't actually look like that. Most of the buildings are just shells. They seem to be "in progress" with building, but they never actually progressed in the entire 4 years we were there.

These are two different buildings that aren't that far away from each other. There are SO MANY MORE just like this.

 

[Rene]

The people do not have a respect for any property, either. Not the kids, not those who are supposed to maintain it, no one.

 

[Rene]

The maintenance... ugh

 

[Rene]

There were sometimes some funny things to see, though! They had every knockoff you could think of. They also had an actual black market! They sold all kinds of things that would be considered illegal elsewhere. I didn't take any photos there, though, because I was just too overwhelmed.

But here are some pretty amusing things I found here and there.

 

[Rene]

Ok, that is it for now. I will add some other stuff when I think of it lol

 

[mistress]

Oh my. That doesn’t sound like a good time at all. It’s a good thing I’ve never put that on my bucket list. The part about the fire is especially scary.

 

[Alicat]

Glad you were able to get away from there