Tuesday 21 July 09

I sit here in the comfort of the Stupa Café while a thunderstorm, hopefully blows itself out.UB is the wifi 'capital of the world' or so I am told.The cafes havefree internet available but it means I always seem to be eating or drinking tea.

While we were away in the countryside there was a huge storm in UB.It lasted about 2 hours and resulted in flooding and about 20 deaths.We saw some of the backed up water and partially submerged vehicles on our way back into UB.There is no adequate drainage because heavy rain is not common.Where we were to the west, we experienced none of it, although we did see dark clouds and the odd lightening bolt in the distance.

Generally the weather had been fairly warm here in UB, cooling off at night with crisp mornings.It hasn't been as lacking in humidity as I expected so has been a bit more comfortable than anticipated.The days are a bit warmer than Brisbane winter days and generally more like our warmer winter days and nights.

We have been making our way through the list of 'Things to See and Do' in UB.This mostly consists of Museums and Galleries - there seems to be a museum for everything!We are learning lots about Mongolia and its history.I now know where the inspiration for Star Wars costuming came from - Mongolia has such a varied array of clothing and about 100 different traditional hats.You will be spared photo after photo from a lot of the temples and museums because they have a photography fee of $10 to $15 on top of the entrance fee.

I'm not certain if I have commented on roads and driving in UB yet so if I have please excuse repetition.The main thoroughfares are wide, 2 - 3 lanes wide but not marked.Some bits have faded markings but it doesn't seem to mean much.Cars squeeze through wherever they can as traffic congestion is common and horrific at peakhour.Drivers do not respect pedestrian crossings or red lights for that matter.If they think they can get away with it without being hit they will go for it.