the apartment

i live right within the city center. there are commercial shops, cafes and bars, restaurants, markets and mini-groceries, and guesthouses or hostels.

my flat is a building away from the state department store (ihk delguur). the store used to be owned by the government, hence the name, but now is in the hands of a local rich family.

across the store and a block away is the circus. within this area are pubs and restaurants - the ihk mongol and irish pub for example, merkuri market - meat and vegetable stalls and groceries, naran shop which is an expensive store, a korean shop - for beef and pork cuts, a german food shop - for spices, cheese and sausages, and good price - a mini import store with a bakery.

about two blocks behind the state department store is bombuguur plaza. it is a store of stalls for groceries, veggies, meat, houseware, textile and clothes, and electronic equipment. there is also a microbus station around the plaza.

further back is the tinggis cinema where local and foreign films are shown.

four blocks to the north of the state department store is the suhkbaatar square, parliament building, the post office, central library and opera theater.

now here is a typical apartment set-up.

the kitchen

the dining area

the bedroom side

the bath

the living room side

the foyer (sort of)

the heating is centralized in ulaanbaatar. there are schedules for commercial and residential buildings when to commence for the winter, and when to stop during spring.

there are, though not so often, power interruptions - from half an hour to 3 hours or half a day. sometimes, the water goes off too - hot and cold. bad is when you do not have hot water.