蒙古之首－乌兰巴托／The heart of Mongolia - Ulaanbaatar

从火车上看到了蓝蓝的天空和绿绿的大草原后，再来到乌兰巴托，对于这个蒙古的首都可说是失望透顶。这里看不到一丝的绿，闻不到新鲜的空气，有的只是灰沉沉的建筑、被汽车污染的空气、凹凸不平的街道和行人道和满街的外国游客。所以一抵达后，第一个念头就是快点找到适合的团，尽早到蒙古其他地方去。因此在蒙古的首两天都是从A宿舍走到B旅舍，再从B旅舍走到C旅舍，探听各个旅舍的旅游团，对乌兰巴托的印象就只有这个全国唯一的百货公司。
After seeing so much blue sky and green hills from the train, I must say, Ulaanbaatar (or Ulan Bator), the capital of Mongolia is a real big disappointment. There are no greens or fresh air. What greets you as the train rolls into the station are dull buildings and heavily polluted air. As you stroll down the streets, you can’t help but notice the uneven roads and pedestrian walks and tons of tourists. Hence, the only thought I had upon arrival was to get myself signed up with a tour group as quickly as possible and wander into the wilderness of Mongolia. So my first two days in Mongolia was spent walking from hostel to hostel, trying to get a suitable tour group. What can I remember of my first two days there? The one and only State department store. It has everything in it. A big supermarket, bank, atm machines, souvenirs, money exchange, etc. You name it; the State department store has it. 另外，就是这个像极了迪拜六星级酒店的这个建筑。
Oh yeah, then there was this building under construction, obviously modelled after that 6 star hotel in Dubai. 还有就是，不胜枚举的韩国店铺和韩国餐厅。不要问我为什么，可是韩国人似乎都偏爱这个地方。五个游客中至少有一个是韩国人，自然就有大把韩国人开的店，就连青年旅舍也有韩国人的份。不过好处是，当你吃腻了蒙古食物时，韩国餐真的是很不错的选择。问了我碰到的韩国人，为什么这里有这么多他们的同胞，他们也说不出一个所以然，因为在韩国国内，只要听说有人要到蒙古去，第一反应是“为什么要去哪里”，所以大家唯一能够想到的原因是韩国和蒙古很靠近吧。
The other thing I remembered, the countless Korean restaurants and shops all over the city. Don’t ask me why, but Koreans seem to love this place. For every five tourists you see on the street, chances are at least one would be Korean. Even hostels are being owned by Koreans. The good thing about this is, when you are sick of Mongolian food (which happens to lots of people, including yours truly), Korean food is a really good alternative. I did try asking some of my new found Korean friends why are there so many of them around, and the only reason they could offer was that Mongolia and Korea are close to each other. One person even mentioned that, when he told his friends he is visiting Mongolia, his friends went, “Why would you want to visit such a remote place?”

为了不“对不起”乌兰巴托，在蒙古的最后一天和新认识的韩国朋友特地到这里著名的大广场去走一走。其实也没什么特别的，不就是那一般的大广场，加上一两个大铜像嘛。不过另一个新韩国朋友却捕捉到了广场漂亮的一面。
In order to do justice to Ulaanbaatar, I did try to walk around a bit on the last day I was there. This of course means a visit to the famous Sukhbaatar Square. Frankly speaking, I was not impressed. Other than the usual monuments and statues, there was nothing special. One new Korean friend did managed to capture the good side of Ulaanbaatar though.说实在的，要我点出对乌兰巴托有没有好印象，那就只是我们在离开蒙古前几个小时发现了一家又便宜，有好吃的素食餐厅。我并不是什么素食主义者，对于素食向来都是有必要的时候才吃。当时会走入这家餐厅纯粹是因为我们在找便宜的食物吃，结果无意中发现了这个宝。最贵的主菜也只不过3.50美元（约4.80新元）罢了，沙拉一大碗才3美元。结果我们两人叫了沙拉加主菜，再配上茶，两个人加起来10美元不到，太划算了！　　～伟
If I really have to put down something positive about this place, then it will be the wonderful vegetarian restaurant that I and one other new Korean friend discovered a few hours before we had to say goodbye to Ulaanbaatar. I am a meat and junk food lover, so I do eat vegetarian unless necessary. We sat down at this restaurant only because we were looking for cheap eats and the prices on the menu seems right. It turned out to be a wise choice in the end. Not only was the food delicious and totally did not look or taste like vegetarian, it was cheap too. The most expensive main course on the menu only cost 3.50 USD (about 4.70 SGD) and the salad was humongous (for only 3 USD)! We share a salad, drank tea and had a main course each, and it cost less than 10 USD for the both of us. What a steal!　　～wei