Mongolian Money Matters

So let’s talk about money! Having just left Mongolia we thought it would be good to reflect on costs and where the money went. In total we spent 23 days travelling around the country.

Accommodation

Comfort Hotel in Darhkan – it was wet outside and I was being a bit grumpy and wanted a shower. Turns out it was a big mistake. Shower was ice cold, room was gross, car got broken into and laundry stolen and a party at 3am in the room next door kept us both awake. On the plus side I had my first gin and tonic for a while.

1 night: 70,000 Tughrik (£23.71)

Oasis Guesthouse in Ulaanbaatar – we had to stay in the capital for three nights while waiting for our Kazakhstan visa. The hostel is well known in the over lander community and comes highly recommended. We slept in the car rather than the gers or dorms.

3 nights: 90,000 Tughrik (£30.49)

Travellers Guesthouse in Olgii – on the penultimate night in Mongolia we stayed near the border in a town well known as a stopover for travellers. We slept in the car.

1 night: 20,000 Tughrik (£6.78)

Total for 5 nights accommodation: 180,000 Tughrik (£60.98)

Petrol

No doubt about it Totty loves petrol and guzzles it willingly. This was by far the biggest expense. We travelled a total of 3,222km (2002 miles) on mostly unpaved roads.

3,222km: 1,022,000 Tughrik (£346.22)

Eating out

We ate out at a Korean restaurant, a Turkish restaurant, an Australian owned guesthouse and a Mongolian restaurant (where I was food poisoned!) However, most of this budget was spent at the guesthouse in Ulaanbaatar over the three days we stayed there – and most of it on Captain’s beer intake 😉

280,000 Tughrik (£94.86)

Groceries

We mostly cooked ourselves so again this is a big part of the budget. We cut right back on alcohol during our time in Mongolia; just having the odd beer and bottle of wine. This also includes all the water that we needed to bathe in, drink, wash-up in and cook with….which doesn’t come cheap. Included also is loo roll, wet wipes and that sort of stuff.

555,000 Tughrik (£188.02)

Cleaning

Every now and then we were able to have a shower at a cafe or guesthouse that we weren’t staying in and also were able to have a few bags of laundry washed.

Laundry: 46,000 Tughrik (£15.58)

Showers: 23,000 Tughrik (£7.79)

Car/road things

A few road tolls, road tax and National Park entrance fees had to be paid. We bought 3rd party car insurance to cover us both too.

Third party car insurance: 125,000 Tughrik (£42.34)

Road tolls: 3,000 Tughrik (£1.02)

Park entrances: 12,000 Tughrik (£4.06)

Road tax: 12,000 Tughrik (£4.06)

Total road costs: 152,000 Tughrik (£51.48)

Misc

A taxi to the embassy to avoid driving in Ulaanbaatar and new socks and pants to replace the stolen ones…cheers for that!

Taxi: 10,000 Tughrik (£3.39)

Clothes: 45,000 Tughrik (£15.24)

Grand Total

So the grand total for all of that comes to…..

Total: 2,313,000 Tughrik (£783.27)

or £34.05 per day

And as pictures speak 1000 words….