The capital of Mongolia is a strange mix of Mongolian and other influences. Soviet, as Mongolia was Communist from the 1920′s to the fall, modern, as the country is rich with natural resources that the outside world is anxious to check out, nomadic, as many urban homes and businesses also have a ger on the premises, Asian, despite the Cyrilic script, ancient temples, despite the religious purges of the 1930′s some important Buddhist relics are helping to restore the lamaseries here. An important jumping off point for the many activities the rest of the country offers to travelers anxious to explore the largest untouched grassland in the world, the Gobi desert and Mongolian steppes. Oh yes, and it gets pretty cold here in the winter so most travelers descend on the place in the summer, some concentrating around the Naadam Games But that is another story.