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The chaos theory of Mongolia

I returned to Mongolia 15 years ago after an absence of 13 years, save for the occasional 2-week leave from work, and that time I spent a semester and a half at a local university drinking endless cups of brown, watery 150 Tugrik instant MaCcoffee at the cafĂ© strangely, or perhaps egotistically, named "In my memory", writing the first and so far the only book that got us into trouble with the local intelligence who apparently had little else to do than to pore through the ramblings of teenagers to catch the tell-tale signs of drug dealery. But I digress. When you visit a country for a short period, be it home or not, you hardly have time to immerse yourself in the spirit of the country and the city and feel the nitty gritty and dirty shiny of it all. So after 13 years, it took me a while to readjust and finally understand what the hometown of my childhood had become.  The most striking, ubiquitous, and inescapable feature was and still, unfortunately, is the traffic. In 2008,...

Coffee in Ulaanbaatar

If you're a fan of well-made coffee as I am and wanna find a decent coffee place, I recommend the following places. Do let me know if you know of any other decent cafes.
  •  Nayra Cafe - Good coffee and a smoke-free environment. It's located in a 2-story red building to the west of Barilgachdiin Talbai (Construction Worker's Square - best I can translate), or the former Tuul restaurant. About 10 mins walk north from the State Department Store.They got free wi-fi as well.
  • Cafe Amsterdam - a stone's throw to the east from the State Department store, it's on Peace avenue. Can't miss it if you're walking along Peace avenue.
  • Best'Xpresso (or Best'presso, can't remember which) - Decent place as well, cozy and quiet environment. Free wi-fi. Faces the Circus. When you're walking towards the circus from the State Department store, turn right at the very end of the housing blocks. And it's right next to the Dublin pub (the self-proclaimed first Irish pub in Mongolia)
  • Grandkhaan Irish pub - I'm sure everyone knows where it is. They have a Coffee Corner. Not a lot of seats available most times though.
That's my crash course in UB coffee places. There's another cafe on the ground floor of the Gandirs building right next to the State Department Store (THE landmark of this post), but I haven't tried it yet.

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