Our introduction to Mongolia started off a bit rocky.

For starters we woke up early again and argued our way to the airport in Beijing. We spent an hour and a half on Air China’s uncomfortable seats and finally had smooth entry into Ulaanbaatar until we reached baggage claim.

We waited about 20 minutes after gathering my luggage until the luggage belt stopped moving. About 20 people, including Christian, broke into a panic wondering… “Where is my luggage?”

Christian circled baggage claim about 3 times until they sent him and the group of confused people to Lost & Found.

Once at the counter a visibly grumpy Mongolia man in broken English asked Christian questions about his bag and scribbled notes on paper than gave us a number to call tomorrow at 10am for a status update.

I protested “We have a tour starting at 9am” and he just stared me down. Waved his arm with the paper. Threw it to Christian and said “Call at 10am tomorrow!”

What to do?

Once checked into the  Kempinski Hotel Khan Palace in Ulaanbaatar  we called the number he gave us. A man answered. We asked him if he spoke English.

“NO ENGLISH. Only Mongolia.” He responded and then quickly hung up. UM….WTF.

Luckily the hotel concierge promised to help us (If flying to Ulaanbaatar I recommend staying at Kempinski Hotel Khan Palace in Ulaanbaatar . It’s a wonderful place with great service) get our luggage. Apparently lost luggage from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar is common and you usually get it the next day, according to the hotel and our tour operator.

Pro Tip: If flying into Ulaanbaatar from Beijing, bring undies in your carry on.

We were left with no choice but to venture out into town in search of underwear, a shirt, an ATM, and a strong drink.

Luckily we found them all.

We had a gluten free meal at Revolution across the way from the State Department Shopping Mall (where the underwear and shirt were purchased). I ate traditional Mongolian Khuushuur which is kinda like a delicious fried hot pocket with just meat and Christian had a pork chop with apple chutney and pumpkin puree.

I took some fun photos along the way. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll get Christian’s luggage and will be on our way to the desert. If not another day in Ulaanbaatar isn’t that bad.