Shopping in Mongolia
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Computerland
Techie travellers will find joy at Computerland a three-storey building crammed with dozens of private dealers selling everything from flash drives to the latest laptops. It is located behind the Canon Showroom, which also has a computer shop.
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Gobi Cashmere Shop
The major cashmere and wool factories are Goyo (Mongolian-American joint venture), Gobi Cashmere (government-owned) and Buyan (owned by the prominent politician Jargalsaikhan). Excellent products can be purchased at the Gobi Cashmere Shop opposite the Russian Embassy.
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Librairie Papillon
Ulaanbaatar's finest bookshop, although almost everything is in French.
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State Department Store
Known as ikh delguur or 'big shop', the State Department Store is virtually a tourist attraction in itself, with the best products from around the city squeezed into one building.
The 1st floor has a supermarket in the back. The 2nd floor has outlets for clothing, cashmere and leather goods. The 3rd floor has electronics, a Mobicom shop, CDs, books, sports equipment, camping and fishing gear. The 5th floor has a great collection of souvenirs, traditional clothing, maps and books about Mongolia.
Foreign-exchange counters are found on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th floors, with cash only changed. The store also sells phone and internet cards.
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Naran Tuul Market
Naran Tuul Market, east of the centre, is also known as the Black Market (Khar Zakh), but it's not the sort of place where you go to change money illegally and smuggle goods - though this certainly happens.
The market is huge, one of the biggest in Asia and in summer up to 60,000 people a day squeeze inside. There's an around Tug50 entrance fee. You can buy cheap gear for a camping trip, among other things, but the real reason to visit is to marvel at this enormous emporium.
An undercover area has a decent selection of clothes, such as bags, leather boots and fake North Face jackets. This is also one of the cheapest places to get traditional Mongolian clothes such as a del
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Carpet Factory
If a couple of tonnes of copper is a bit inconvenient to carry around, a carpet would make a fine souvenir. The city's carpet factory produces over more than million square metres every year using machinery from the former East Germany. The carpet factory is open year-round but production is low in summer (June to August) when supplies of wool are scarce. If you ask the guard it may be possible to take a tour of the entire operation. The factory is just off the main road to the train station, about 2km from the Friendship Monument.
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Gazaryn Zurag Map Shop
There are several maps available of Ulaanbaatar; the best is the 1:10,000 Ulaanbaatar City Map, updated annually. On the back is a 1:200,000 map of the area around Ulaanbaatar. Maps can be found in bookshops and hotels. A central map shop is the Gazaryn Zurag Map Shop . It produces its own maps, some of which are cheaper than those of Cartography Co, but the selection is much smaller and it doesn't have topo maps.
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Altai Craft
This project employs 40 women to create traditional Kazakh handicrafts. You can visit the workshop, watch how the products are made and even take a free one-hour lesson in chain-stitch embroidery. Items available include chalk bags, yoga mats, bike bags, cushion covers and wall hangings. A book exchange is also available. The workshop is behind the market and a little hard to find so you may want to call ahead.
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Cartography Co Map Shop
There are several maps available of Ulaanbaatar; the best is the 1:10,000 Ulaanbaatar City Map, updated annually. On the back is a 1:200,000 map of the area around Ulaanbaatar. Maps can be found in bookshops and hotels but the best place to buy them is the Cartography Co Map Shop on Ikh Toiruu, near the Elba Electronics shop. You can also buy good topographic maps of Mongolia here.
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Argasun
Traditional musical instruments make perfect gifts for friends who are musically inclined. The morin khuur (horse-head fiddle) is particularly nice as a piece of decorative art (and Mongolians consider it good luck to have one in the home). Argasun, is a morin khuur workshop near Aeroflot. Morin khuur range from around Tug100,000 to T450,000.
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Market
Choibalsan's proximity to China means that its Market is better stocked compared with other aimag capitals. It has lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as an interesting shop selling ger furniture, saddles, Mongolian hats and boots. The back of the market plays host to gambling stalls where locals play cards, dominoes and shagai (a dice game using anklebones).
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Market
The Market has a decent selection of food supplies imported from Russia and China. Traditional Kazakh skullcaps and jackets can also be found amid the chaos. How and why the shopkeepers have 'Boots' plastic bags is a mystery to us. There's a small charge to get into the enclosed part of the market where all the food is.
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Art Shop Burkit
Local craftsman Narbek Khasim is a silversmith by trade but has recently entered the eagle-hunting accessory market, producing gauntlets, eagle hoods, belts and leather goods. He speaks English and is also a two-time tae kwon do national champion (of Kazakhstan) - one of Ölgii's more interesting characters.
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Market
Vegetarians could put together salad from the fresh veggies on sale in the Market (Gobi vegetables are renowned in Mongolia for their sweet taste). Nearby, you'll also see women selling jars of lovely tarag (yogurt; around Tug500) and packets of sugar.
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Shonkhor Saddles
Produces and sells saddles and other horse paraphernalia. The workshop is behind School No 5 on Baga Toiruu but is difficult to find on your own - contact the owners at the internet centre opposite the German Embassy. Ask for Tomor or Nara.
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Tsagaan Alt Wool Shop
This nonprofit store, which sends money directly back to the craftspeople, has all manner of wool products, including toys, clothes and artwork. It's Christian-run, in case you were wondering about those Jesus Christ felt tapestries.
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Pro Shack
If you need tools for a self-organised jeep/motorcycle trip or a generator big enough to power a Mongolian village, drop by this German-owned hardware outlet. The shop will move in 2009 so call for its new location.
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Aimag Museum Gift Shop
If you are on the hunt for Kazakh wall hangings and felt rugs, check out the gift shop in the Aimag Museum. It has antiques and new items including fox fur hats (US$70), wall hangings (US$70) and felt mats (US$40).
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Egshiglen Magnai National Musical Instrument Shop
Musical instruments including yattag (zithers) and two-stringed Chinese fiddles are available at the Egshiglen Magnai National Musical Instrument Shop, on the east side of the Museum of Natural History.
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Merkuri Market
Merkuri Market is sort of a flea market for food where you can bargain with individual vendors for all manner of imported goods, meat, cheese and vegetables, as well as luxuries such as caviar and crab sticks.
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Otau Cooperative
Sells Kazakh handbags (around Tug6000 to around Tug100), felt mats (around Tug100 to around Tug150) hats (around Tug7000) and other handicrafts made by around 30 local women. It's next to the Bastau Hotel.
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Art Shop
The Art Shop sells Mongolian dels (traditional coats) and jackets, plus locally produced art and artefacts. It's next to the Fairfield Guesthouse. The Fairfield also has a fair-trade gift shop.
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Nomin Shop
You can also buy carpets and rugs here, about 500m west of the Sports Palace. A huge Chinggis Khaan wall carpet costs from around Tug900 and smaller, towel-sized carpets are around T5000 to T20,000.
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Sky Shopping Centre
If you are based on the east side of town, the Sky Shopping Centre may be more convenient than the State Department Store and offers similar goods and services. It's behind the Chinggis Khaan Hotel.
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Minii Delguur Market
A standard supermarket. At the back of this market is Merkuri Market, a sort of a flea market for food where you can bargain with individual vendors for all manner of imported goods and luxuries.
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