They had bought us a bunch of towels.
And shampoo and soap.
And even loofahs.
There's a huge variety of buildings in Ulaanbaatar. From old and run down...
... to classic and nice...
... to very modern.
Dashka picked up Monica at the airport, and then we met Yundee at Oogii's place.
Oogii is currently in the US, but his wife, Bayanaa, cooked us a great breakfast.
Time for gifts.
A bag.
Some clothes.
For the kids.
Clothes.
And shoes.
And LEGOs.
Monica playing with the cat.
That's a picture I took a cable car in San Francisco; neat they have it in their kitchen.
Cool circular building.
Looking up.
Then we went to Yundee's condo and met his family.
They have a great view of this park at the edge of town.
Looking out.
Cool roof, too.
Neat wall map.
Yundee makes these amazing wooden vehicles.
The kids played...
... while we ate home-made cake...
... and fruit.
Ogii giving some presents to Jamyamyadag, Yundee's wife.
And their kids.
More LEGOs.
Some hoodies for the adults.
Clothes for the kids.
More.
And more clothes for the adults.
Sea turtle necklaces for everyone.
Then Yundee and Jamyamyadag gave us this belt buckle.
And this copper coin.
They then took us to a nearby market.
There are lots of different markets; this one is middle-tier; not cheap, but not expensive.
Lots of watches.
Fabric.
And candy.
One of my coworkers mentioned she really liked some of the Mongolian chocolate I had brought to work one time and asked me to bring some back, so we made sure to get a few bags of that.
Then we bought some traditional Mongolian deels, which are folded tunics, with money given to us by Ogii's uncle Nainaa.
There's a big amusement park in the middle of the city, although we didn't have time to go.
A lot of the trucks have snorkels; I wonder if they ever are necessary?
A tiny plant growing in the side of this vehicle.
Karaoke is popular here; there are signs for it everywhere.
Fun sign for Okok delivery.
Lots of transformers; I would think only governments and power companies would buy those. Why are there so many for sale here?
We dropped off everything we bought, including the chocolates.
Then Nomin (Tsogt's daughter) and her husband Tulgaa picked us up. Nomin's work gave her this Mercedes SUV.
The roads in the city are super-packed; people squeeze in from every side.
And sometimes people get stuck behind slow trucks, so if you don't want to wait too much, you have to drive around everyone and squeeze back in before oncoming traffic gets to you.
Watermelon drink.
Yurts on the edge of town, with taller buildings in the back in the center of town.
The date up on a hill.
Although it looks like it says it's the 29th, and it's the 24th. So maybe there's something special going on on the 29th?
Lots of yurts.
Any preschool will have colorful pictures out front.
The roundabouts often have a cool sculpture in the middle.
This one is three airplanes.
And this one is a dog.
Very big.
A row of buildings on the outskirts of town, and forest farther back.
Neat lights.
Lots of little shops by the side of the road.
That doesn't look very stable.
Selling sheep.
A big shiny sphere at this roundabout.
A military base, with kids going for karate.
These aren't even shops, just stands. The neon orange really catches your eye.
With people selling fruit and such.
More various stands.
You have to slow down and wait for cows on the road.
Beautiful country.
And hills.