Ulaanbaatar Shopping

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Now this place was something else. Endless stands selling basically everything and anything. Fake everything-watches, handbags, wallets, you name it. The scene was very dirty and muddy from the snow the day before. Puddles all over the place. Wear some water resistant boots if you've got them. Watch out for scandalous pickpocketing pricks-they're everywhere here I've been told.

What to buy: Knock-off watches, clothes, purses, wallets, traditional Mongolian outfits.

What to pay: Depends on how well you can talk them down.

Located in the Bayanzurkh district of Ulaanbaatar, you'll find the Naran Tuul market (also known as the Black market). It's a GIANT market (mostly a flea market), and you can buy all sort of goods there.

We took a taxi from the centre of Ulaanbaatar to the market, and we only paid a few tögrök for the ride. When going back you'll find a long line of taxi's just outside the market.

I have read that foreigners visiting the Naran Tuul market often are the target of theft, but we had no problems at all.

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Naran Tuul Market, east of the city centre, is also known as the Black Market (Khar Zakh), but it's not the sort of place where you go to change money illegally and smuggle goods - though this certainly happens. The market is huge, one of the biggest in Asia and in summer up to 60,000 people a day squeeze inside. An undercover area has a decent selection of clothes, such as bags, leather boots and fake North Face jackets. This is also one of the cheapest places to get traditional Mongolian clothes. Towards the back of the market you'll find saddles, riding tack and all the ingredients needed to build your own ger such as all the orange furniture and cooking stoves that you find in them. Also for purchase are souvenirs, houseware and household items, DIY tools power tools and such like, beds, sofas, and other furniture. There is an inside area where you find toiletries, food and meat butchers. The market is notorious for pickpockets and bag slashers so don't bring anything you don't want to lose. Don't carry anything on your back, and strap your money belt to your body inside your clothes. I don't think the market is open on Monday's. It also costs a whole Tug50 for the entrance fee.

If you're after music then look no further than here. This fairly large place on Seoul Street stocks Mongolian pop and rock, traditional Mongolian music as well as western music CD's and DVD's. There is also a selection of Russian MP3 CD's where you can buy an artist’s entire back catalogue on a single CD.

Known as ikh delguur or 'big shop', the State Department Store is virtually a tourist attraction in itself, with the best products from around the city squeezed into one building. The 1st floor has a good supermarket at the back and the rest of the floor is taken up by perfume counters. The 2nd floor has outlets for clothing, cashmere and leather goods. The 3rd floor has electronics, a Mobicom shop, CDs, books, sports equipment, camping and fishing gear. The 5th floor has a great collection of souvenirs, traditional clothing, maps and books about Mongolia. Souvenir prices are higher than in other shops around the city. This shop is a must visit even if you're not planning on doing any shopping. Simply come in and look around.

All over UB you will see street stalls which sell fresh fruit. You can watch that the locals often buy just one banana or one apple. It all comes from China. I also bought fruit that way. Street kiosks also sell drinks like mineral water, my favourite multivitamin etc.

The State Departement Store is situated on Peace Avenue. You cannot miss it. On the ground floor you find a supermarket in the back which sells even Swiss chocolate. I found the desparately needed body milk there because the air in Mongolia is exremely dry.

On the top floor you find all the locally produced souvenirs and also batteries. Among the wide range of souvenirs you are bound to find something that catches your eye and the prices are fixed.

Somewhere on another floor there is quite a good little music shop where you can find CDs and DVDs from Mongolian artists.

BTW, the State Department Store has nothing to do with the state anymore. It's a left-over from the Soviet time.

The so called black market is located outside the city center. Nowadays it's called: Naran Tuul khudaldaany Tov.

I was driven there because I needed to buy a jacket as the temperature was getting rather fresh. I was amazed to see how big this market is. I've only seen a fraction of it. I bought simply an inbetween season jacket with a zip off hood for an amazing 7 Euro. Everything is imported from nearby China. I was even able to find a money belt there which was a rather tough search and it was made for a slim person. There are no food items here.

I was told that there are many pickpockets in this market and that you shouldn't even take your moneybelt with you. I wasn't actually aware that this market is more dangerous than lots of other markets I visited on my travels. Obviously, it's not recommended to point your camera around therefore I only took a picture of the main entrance. Especially on weekends the market is extremely crowded.

There is a small entrance fee. The market is apparently closed on Tuesdays.