Ulaanbaatar a City of Contrasts

Arrived in Mongolia after 32 hours of travel (yawn) sometime around midnight last night.  Arose this morning feeling surprisingly good and excited to face that day.  Our hosts graciously allowed us a bit of a lay a bed and we don’t start the formal agenda until 10am…time for a shower!

The morning starts with a formal opening meeting.  At the table is our host organization MCTIC – The Mongolian Co-operative Training and Information Centre, MOCCU – The Mongolian Confederation of Credit Unions, and from the government B. Purev of the Savings and Credit Union Department of FRC.

Mr. Purev starts by reviewing the history of CU in Mongolia and the current legislation that the CU system is governed by.  I am surprised to learn that it was only in 2011 that the first separate independent act for CU was passed.  I wonder what impact is this having on the Credit Union system today.  In contrast to the banks in Mongolia, CU in Mongolia are not allowed to advertise, they don’t have access to a Central or Apex and there is no deposit guarantee system.  How do they compete?

After the formal presentations we are handed out our work and travel schedules.  I am disappointed to discover that Trudy and I will not be traveling out of Ulaanbaatar as originally planned.  It turns out that the sacu, as credit unions are called here, has recently moved from the outlying district into Ulaanbaatar.  This means that both of our credit unions are in the city so we will remain at the hotel for the duration of our visit.   Tomorrow half of the crew heads out to rural postings so the rest of the day is given over to a quick tour of Ulaanbaatar.

My first impression of Ulaanbaatar is a city of contrasts.  Our hotel is quite grand in appearance, to the left is a partially completed new construction…it isn’t clear if construction is continuing on this project or if it waits for fates unknown.    Not far away a ger (not a yert) is nestled between two high rises. 

We venture out onto the roads and I know why CCA has forbidden us to drive.  Its absolutely nuts out there.  The reasons are many, UB is home to almost half the population of Mongolia, and more arrive daily.  Add to that the Mongol Rally a 10,000km road race from London to UB…why you ask is that a factor, while after the race all the vehicles are just left behind, so there has been a massive increase in the number of vehicles on the road.  So much so that they have road restrictions here much like we have watering restrictions at home.  If your license plate ends in xxx then you aren’t allowed on the roads on Mondays etc.  It’s crazy.   But back to contrasts while the roads are abysmal (see the picture of the guy who literally lost his wheel in a pot hole) I didn’t see a single accident.  And that is saying something.  At one point in the day, we found ourselves headed the wrong way in a traffic jam, the solution, 9 people jumping into 3 lanes of traffic and then crossing another 3 lanes to get to the other side of the road, and there wasn’t so much as a single horn honked.

Zaisan Memorial View Point