Life in Ulaanbaatar
Outside view of the typical Ulaanbaatar apartment building where we used to live
Most people in Ulaanbaatar live in older Soviet-style apartment blocks. Individual apartments are sometimes renovated quite nicely, but hallways and other public areas can be less than pleasant. The most important quality measure of an Ulaanbaatar apartment is its heating. The heat in these buildings comes from the city, and there are no controls. Therefore one is at the mercy of The System for decent heat. We are lucky as we seem to live close to a heating plant, so our place tends to be 25°C in winter, but less fortunate souls have to live with 10°. The System turns on the heat on September 15, and off again on May 15, irrespective of the outside temperature. As a result it was +30 inside in early May when it was +20 out, and +15 in late May, when it starting snowing again. This year it got warm in February, so the System turned off some of the boilers.
Sukhbaatar Square
Sukhbaatar is Mongolia's national hero who liberated Mongolia from Chinese rule and called in the Soviet Red Army in the early 1920s. His statue still adorns Ulaanbaatar's central square. In the background stands the Opera House, where during the winter season one can watch excellent ballet and opera performances.

Map of Ulaanbaatar. (Red hero)