Darkhan

Darkhan old and new with a Buddha sitting between the two. A tidy place with a population of 100,000. Mongolia’s second city.

A symbol of friendship in the centre of a round about. The first impression of Darkhan after the chaos of UB is made by the road system. Everything road seems to be an extra wide dual carriageway with no pot holes and few vehicles,

or the tree lined avenues. The 16 storey tower block is by far the tallest building in the “city” and it’s claim to fame? It has no lift. The most sparsely populated country on the planet, so why build high? To keep warm, silly!

Poole, the major outdoor pursuit. Well it is semi desert all a round. Darkhan is lower than UB sea level wise. Which accounts for the rivers running north into Russia. For some reason, I find that counter intuitive.

No prizes for guessing the inspiration for this little chap. Nice boots!