Exercise mission

Today's aim was to find a gym to help work off some of the excellent eating I’ve done over the past week. What a drama. It felt like I went EVERYWHERE. I even went for a run for about an hour in the hope of finding something. But all I came across were strange advertising signs, a communist steam train, derelict amusement park, stray dogs, ger camp, and row after row of featureless apartment blocks.

Soviet train museum

Amusement park

Mongolian Olympic Committee (getting warmer)

I went into strange corporate buildings, up and down flights of stairs following mysterious signs. One place seemed promising with a small (10m) pool, a few treadmills and some dumbells in the basement of a new office block. It felt a little underground Soviet! Another place was closed on Sundays. And another appeared to be targeted towards the body-building market.

Not too bad...

...and complete with a mini-pool

Perhaps not quite my scene

This also looked promising!

I thought I had finally found a suitable place after another 30min walk to the opposite side of town. It was a nice new complex, something you would find in Australia, but they told me I couldn't have a guest pass. They also wouldn't sell me a 3x visit or a 7x visit, despite it being advertised both on the wall of the centre AND on the english pamphlet they gave me. Very frustrating! I almost gave the guy a rant on the benefits of capitalism, and if I was willing to pay $25 for a 1hr gym session, then it was good economics to let me in given the high fixed costs of running a gym. I refrained.

Orchlon Health Club - very unfriendly for a guest user

After 5 hours of searching I went back to the hotel completely deflated. My lonely planet and expat sources were completely exhausted (as was I). In one last attempt I pulled up GoogleMaps and typed in "Swimming Pool near Ulan Baatar". Up cropped the Central State Swimming Pool. I thought, let's have one more go. I called a taxi and went off.

It turned out to be the best part of the day. I was confronted by a large concrete building, in a small side street that branched off the main road. it took me a while to figure out the routine. You take your shoes and jacket off in the entrance and give it to the lady who gives you a metallic tag to operate the lockers. You then buy a pool entry, which is designated a 45min time slot. Next is the change rooms where you shower, get into your costume and wait for the bell to ring for your turn to swim.

I was so incredibly lost, but thankfully met a girl in the change rooms. She was great and explained to me how things worked. She ended up jumping into the same lane as me (there were only 5 people in the pool) and explained she had Australians teach her how to swim at high school. She had just graduated from journalism at uni, and worked for the UB newspaper and taught at the uni. She was really lovely and we had a bit of a chat at the end of each lap. Apparently the 25m x5 lane pool was the largest in Mongolia. It was a bit old and rough around the edges, but seemed very hygienic, with a distinctive chlorinated smell. The guy in the lane next to us proudly told me that he swims 500m each day. Suddenly I was a swimming expert!

At the end of the 45min, I caught up with Khulan in the change rooms again and we traded email addresses and phone numbers. She loves doing cultural things in UB, like going to the opera and theatre and asked if I'd like to join her. Obviously I said yes! Fingers crossed I have made my first friend here. But, phew, what an effort. And still no gym.

So, that's the story of my weekend. Small wins after a long struggle. I also managed to find a huge map of Mongolia to put on my wall and try and plan out some trips for the future. At the same shop they also sold a few crime novels set in Mongolia! A great find! I love trashy crime. So now I have a good book to read too.

Another good find on the weekend