We arrive in Mongolia

 July 9, 2024

Ulaanbaatar

We’re in Mongolia!  The trip was long but uneventful, and Turkish Air was wonderful.  We drove to Toronto, flew Toronto-Istanbul-Ulaanbaatar.  The Istanbul airport is enormous and beautiful, and there are flights literally to everywhere from Istanbul.  It’s remarkable.

Geopolitics affects air routes!  A direct line from Istanbul to Ulaanbaatar goes northeast over the Black Sea and across southern Russia.  The map on the plane shows the direct route in green as we start out, but we didn’t go that way.  We hugged the north coast of Turkey, and after an hour or so, the green line followed us, but still showed the direct route from where we were, which crossed southern Russia: 

We never entered Russian airspace.  We flew across northern Turkey to Armenia and Azerbaijan, across the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, and into China, flying over Urumqi and then  north to Mongolia: 

The landscape from 39,000 feet was intriguing as the sun rose: 

And as we came down to land, the vast steppe with a rare patch of farmland came into view:

We had a car waiting to take us to the city and ran into rush hour traffic.  Our hotel is adequate, and now it’s time for a nap.  More when I can.

Comments

  1. Ralph P. LockeJuly 9, 2024 at 5:00 AM

    Wonderful that you got there safely and without annoying delays. I remember your previous photos of the Istanbul airport--wow! But that's nothing compared to the landscapes you show today--I never had much sense of what a steppe was. But now I'll see these images in my mind's eye when I listen to Borodin's "In the Steppes of Central Asia." Such diversity of contour, actually--not just flat flat flat. The curvy rivers were amazing. But of course, on a large scale, the areas are flat-ish. One can see nearly forever. Glad the hotel for the first night was at least acceptable. Onward!

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  2. xctravelerJuly 9, 2024 at 5:53 AM

    In those parts of the world an "adequate" hotel is much to be hoped for, as I'm sure you know. Istanbul is the only realistic access to much of that part of the world. Once we flew Aeroflot out of Moscow, I would rather walk or spend a week on a train with no sleeping compartment. We are very jealous of your trip and look forward to your posts.

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  3. Rwa442July 9, 2024 at 6:06 AM

    Rush hour in Ulaanbaatar! That's interesting! It's amazing that such a trip was uneventful. Those landscapes could almost pass for Mars. Hope to see more of this far away country.
    Bob

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