MONGOLIA

Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings

We went to Mongolia on the 36 hour international train from Beijing. Our travel agent in Tel Aviv told us that we didnÆt need a visa for Mongolia, that they were issued at the border. Sounded reasonable to us because thatÆs how it works in Israel. After changing the bogies of the train on the border, which took about five hours, we arrived in the small Mongolian border town at about 2 am and upon the presentation of our passports were told to get off the train because we didnÆt have visas! All our arguing was to no avail and we found ourselves on the train platform in a tiny town in the Gobi Desert in the middle of the night. There are three very small hotels in that town but they either didnÆt have free rooms or wouldnÆt open for us. The chief border policeman had sort of taken responsibility for us and ended up taking us home to his house to sleep!

Everything was very vague, but to make a long story short, the next day we were taken in a police jeep back to China where we were handed over to the Chinese border police and were able to get a Mongolian visa there. We had to buy new train tickets to Ulaan Baatar and arrived there about two and a half days late. Later we found out that there were people who received visas at the border and that apparently Israelis donÆt need visas at all! So in other words, things are very unclear there, but you would be wise to get your visa ahead of time in any case.
Judy Pex, Israel (Feb 99)

It is much easier to get a visa for Mongolia now than it was previously. I got a visa in one day in Beijing for $60 and could have paid $40 if I had waited three days. You no longer need an invitation from a hotel or someone in Mongolia to get a visa.
Concetta Tuori, USA (Aug 98)

A single entry tourist visa is $45 and is valid for 21 days from the date of entry in Mongolia. One is not required to have an invitation. I simply phoned the Embassy in Washington, completed the application and sent my passport along with a money order and received the visa in about two weeks.
Kurt Piemonte - USA (Mar 98)

Regulations have been hanged as Mongolians realise that they need to be INVITING to tourists. So officially tourist visas are obtainable at the point of entry, though maybe it would be unwise to try to do so unless in an emergency; border guards are not always well up with new rules. But for a tourist visa, no "invitation" should now be necessary.
David O'Connor - Australia/Mongolia (Dec 97)

It's as easy as pie obtaining a visa for Mongolia from the embassy in Beijing, as long as you fork out the US$40.
Tina - New Zealand (Nov 97)

Beginning July 1st 1997, there are new visa regulations. Entry visas of up to 30 days can be obtained at the international border points of Buyant Ukhaa Airport, Altanbulag in the north and Zamyn-Uud in the south. Foreigners are permitted to enter Mongolia by transport other than rail or air (e.g., car or foot). Invitations are no longer required for short term visitors (less than 30 days). Visa extensions over 30 days cost US$15 plus US$2 for each extra day. Single entry-exit visa costs US$25, single transit visa (2 weeks) costs US$15 and multiple entry-exit visa (6 months) costs US$65. Foreigners visiting Mongolia for less than 30 days will not need to register at the Police Station Registration and Information Centre.
Manuel Guillen - Spain (Jul 97)

Inner Mongolia: China Youth Travel Service has emerged as a serious competitor to good old CITS when it comes to grasslands tours. The prices are competitive, and the staff generally speak English relatively well. CYTS had a stand at the foreigners' ticket office at the Beijing Railway Station, and we ordered a two-day grasslands tour to Huitengxile there for Y350 a person (student discount). The good thing about the CYTS tour to Huitengxile was that we got one day off to do whatever we wanted. It's great to go hiking in the grasslands. We reached a small, remote village after some hours of walking, and also had the chance to see the wind farm in the area (some US researchers have shown how building large wind farms in Huitengxile could provide more electricity than China's total production today. Don't try to squeeze in a trip to the desert if you only have two to three days to do a grasslands tour. You will only have time to see it from the minibus.
Joerund Buen, Norway (Sep 98)

Vegetarians will have no trouble surviving in Ulaan Baatar. There's lots of choice now, especially if you eat fish.
Julie Brittain (Aug 98)

The Trade & Development Bank in Ulaan Baatar now gives same day (instant) cash advances on credit cards and has one of the best T/$ exchange rates in the city.
Stephen Bodio - USA (Mar 98)

It is now easy to change yen and marks in Ulaan Baatar. Changers may be uneasy about trading "old" $100 or $50 bills. A T1000 banknote certainly isn't rare. There are T5,000 and T10,000 denominations also.
Adam Zenko - USA (Jan 98)

The so called "Dollar Market" (also called the "Black Market", even though it is not), is legal and licensed, but offers rates no better (and often worse) than the Currency Exchange Points (CEPs). Also, you'll find offices set up in more convenient places for the CEPs, like upstairs at the Ard Cinema, opposite the MIAT town office. The Exchange Point rates vary hour to hour and may be negotiated a little. Check the week's bank rate before going to an Exchange Point - the bank sometimes has a better rate, and you get a piece of paper which allows you to change any left over money back again on the way out. The Dollar Market and the Exchange Points give a better rate for US$50 and US$100 bills. The rate they give for notes below these denominations is usually below the official bank rate, so take them to a bank.
David O'Connor - Australia/Mongolia (Dec 97)

There is a book called something like 50 Routes in Mongolia. It was published in 1997, is blue and is available in the Ulaan Baatar Hotel. The routes are for jeep rides but are also useful for other travellers.
There is a cheap and convenient place to send email and use the internet. It's on the 2nd floor of the Natsagdorj Library (I think that's the one), just by the State Circus. You don't need an email address as you can use theirs and it costs about T520 to send a message and maybe nothing to receive one, but it depends on who is staffing the place at the time.
Tina - New Zealand (Nov 97)

The Beijing - Ulaan Baatar #23 train leaves on Tuesdays, not Saturdays (or at least it did in October).
Kurt Piemonte - USA (Mar 98)

Train tickets for onward travel (e.g., to Moscow, Beijing, etc): you can use your current, and even Bangkok purchased, ISIC card for a discount. The ticket says you get 25% off but it's more like 15%. Also, I bought a UB-Beijing train ticket on the #4 Trans-Mongolian 10 days before departure no problemo, i.e., I didn't have to queue the day before the train left like the LP advised, although some others did.
Tina - New Zealand (Nov 97)

It's now possible to cross the border from Mongolia to China by local transport rather than the Trans-Mongolian train. We took a daily local train from Ulaan Baatar to Zamyn Ude, hopped in a jeep to cross the border, then took another Chinese local train from Erlian (Erenhot) to Jining the next morning. Unfortunately, the timing of the train-jeep-train combo doesn't work out very well and people are often stuck in Erlian overnight (but this isn't so bad because the people are fantastic and very curious - we learned lots of basic Chinese).
Gerry Timmermans & Eric D'Souza - Canada (Sep 97)