Check prices in Mongolia — from beer to a horse
Mongolia is not Manhattan. You don’t need a thick wallet full of dollars to have a decent stay here. Mongolia is cheap. How cheap? Check out some sample prices we gathered for you.
Disclaimer: all prices are related to Ulaanbaatar. In rural areas they are even lower.
Room in Ulaanbaatar
You need to pay around 25000 MNT (tughriks) for a standard double room in hostel. The bed in shared dorm rooms goes for 8000 MNT.
Meals in Mongolia
If you are going to try local food in cheap restaurants, you will eat well for pennies. There is no McDonald in Ulaanbaatar, so you should have even more motivation to get a plate of real meat. You can have a fine dinner dish for 2500 MNT–5000 MNT. Starters, salads and snacks costs 1000 MNT–1700 MNT. A beer in a bar costs around 1500 MNT.
Buses and taxies
Public bus tickets are extremely cheap. You pay per route, no matter how many stops are you going. However the price varies depending on a route. Most expensive one is for 400 MNT.
If you want to avoid fainting in overcrowded buses or simply get back to your room at night, you need to take a taxi. They are relatively pricy, especially „official„ ones. It’s also hard to find these, so most likely you will just try to catch any driver willing to pick you up. Obviously the price is as low as good are your haggling skills in Mongolian. You can ask young locals, that usually speak English negotiate price for you. On our route, 5 bus stops from city center, we paid usually between 15000 MNT–20000 MNT.
Train tickets
Ticket for a night train from Ulaanbaatar to Chinese border (place called Zamiin-Uud) costs 17000 MNT. That’s for so called platzkart, carriage with no private compartments. Not bad, taking under account the length of the route, which is 800 km. for hardcore travelers there is even sitting ticket, that costs round 10000 MNT. Take it or leave it.
Sightseeing
Everybody wants to squeeze some extra cents from tourists, so Mongolian does. Comparing to other costs, tickets to museums, theaters, historical spots etc. are quite expensive. A few examples below:
- Natural History Museum in Ulaanbaatar (think twice before visiting) — 2000 MNT for regular ticket and 5000 MNT for photographs. If you are ISIC cardholder, you can get 50% discount,
- Show at the theatre with mongolian folk music, dances and throat singing — 15000 MNT,
- Gandan Monastery — entrance ticket for 3500 MNT. You can skip that fee going after 6pm when cashiers are already close.
Internet access in Mongolia
In center of Ulaanbaatar there are a few internet cafes. Don’t expect hi-speed fiber connection though. The bandwidth is terrible. That means you can spend a lot of time simply to check the mail. Price for an hour ranges from 500 MNT to 1000 MNT.
Horse
Get yourself a Mongolian stallon for as little as 600000 MNT :-)
How to pay for all of that?
Check out our special post about Mongolian currency exchange tips and tricks. You will learn what’s the best way to change your money and not get your credit card lost or blocked in Mongolia.
How about you?
Have you already been to Mongolia? Are the prices we show still relevant? Be sure to leave a comment to help other guys discovering Mongolian steppes.
Comments
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