Standing in the centre of the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar you will see Mongol herders riding in from the steppe on their horses doing their daily shopping. Ulaanbaatar is a wonderful mix of Stalinist architecture, nomadic herding culture and German, Korean and Chinese bakeries, restaurants and cafes. It is a tiny capital in size and population, but with buildings so grandiose it could easily be mistaken for city populated by millions.

The central Sükhbaatar Square features a statue of Damdin Sükhbaatar, who lead Mongolia's revolution in1921. There are a number of notable old Buddhist monasteries in the city, among them the Choijin Lama and the Gandan monasteries, which are well worth a visit.

Once a year, between the 11th and 13th July, Ulaanbaatar hosts the national Naadam Festival, which attracts herding families and horse racers from far and wide. The plains outside the city come to life with hundreds of nomadic tens, thousands of horses and tens of thousands of people. Mongolian tourism peaks around Naadam, which is also the climatically best time to travel. Smaller local Naadam festivals are also held all around the country, and provide unique experience for the more flexible adventure traveller. The annual dates for these vary from year to hear, and they are therefore more difficult to schedule into a tight travel program. However, if you do have the luxury of this flexibility we strongly urge you to visit a local Naadam, as this will be an experience of a lifetime.