Mongolia Travel Tips

Social Conventions
Religious customs should be respected. Mongolia has a large number of customs and traditions. Further details can be obtained from the Mongolian Tourism Association (see Top Things To See & Do section). Visitors are requested to familiarize themselves with these customs. Photography: Not permitted in temples and monasteries. A fee is payable for photography in protected areas, although this regulation is often not enforced. Caution should be exercised when photographing government buildings, military establishments and border crossings.

International Travel:

Getting There by Air
The national airline is Mongolian International Air Transport (MIAT) (OM) (website: www.miat.com).

Departure Tax
US$12.

Main Airports
Ulaanbaatar (ULN) (Chinggis Khaan) is 15km (9 miles) from the city. To/from the airport: Buses run to the city center (journey time – 30 minutes). Taxis are also available (journey time – 15 minutes). Facilities: Bank, duty-free shops, car hire, post office and a restaurant.

Getting There by Rail
Ulaanbaatar is linked to the Russian Federation and China by the Trans-Mongolian Railway. An express train runs once a week between Moscow, Ulaanbaatar and Beijing. Trains on international routes have sleeping and restaurant cars. There are also other weekly trains from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing and Ulaanbaatar to Moscow.

Note
At present, there are problems reported on buying train tickets to Ulaanbaatar for the Trans-Mongolia train. Although the trains certainly stop in Ulaanbaatar, tickets are only being sold to Chinese or Russian destinations. Therefore, a passenger wishing to travel from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar will have to pay for a ticket to Ulaan Ude, just over the Russian border. The other trains between Moscow and Ulaanbaatar, and Beijing and Ulaanbaatar are unaffected.

Getting There by Road
There are several international road links; the principal route is via Irkutsk (East Siberia) to Ulaanbaatar. Travelers are not normally allowed to enter Mongolia by road unless they obtain prior permission from the Mongolian authorities.

Overview
The following goods may be imported into Mongolia without incurring customs duty:
200 cigarettes or 50 cigars or 250g of tobacco; 1l of vodka and 2l of wine and 3l of beer; personal effects; goods up to a value of US$1000.

Guns, weapons and ammunition without special permission; explosive items; radioactive substances; narcotics; pornographic publications; any publications, records, films and drawings critical of Mongolia; palaeontological and archaeological findings without special permission; collections of various plants and their seeds; birds and wild or domestic animals; wool, raw skins, hides and furs without permission from the appropriate authorities.

(a) Every tourist must fill in a customs declaration, which should be retained until departure. This allows for the free import and re-export of articles intended for personal use for the duration of stay. (b) Visitors intending to export antiques and fossils must have official permission. Some shops will supply the necessary documents upon purchase; otherwise, permission should be obtained from the Ministry of Enlightenment. (c) Goods to the value of MNT20,000 are allowed to be exported from Mongolia.

Internal Travel:

Getting Around By Air
Internal flights are operated by MIAT – Mongolian International Air Transport (OM). This is the recommended means of traveling to remote areas.

Getting Around by Rail
There are 1815km (1127 miles) of track. The main line runs from north to south: Sukhbaatar–Darkhan–Ulaanbaatar–Sainshand. Branch lines serve the principal industrial regions.

Getting Around by Road
Paved roads are to be found only in or near major cities. Bus: There are frequent bus services between major towns, but the roads are mostly unpaved. Car hire: Available through tourism companies (although self drive is not available since most roads are unpaved, maps are poor and there are no road signs). Jeeps, camels or horses are available for hunters, trekkers and special-interest travelers.

Getting Around Towns and Cities
There are frequent bus and trolleybus services in the city.

Journey Times
The following chart gives approximate travel times (in hours and minutes) from Ulaanbaatar to other major cities/towns in Mongolia.

	Air	Road
Erdenet	0.45	9.00
Dalanzadgad	1.20	14.00
Darkhan	-	5.00
Khovd	4.00	4/5 days

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