Night out at the OPERA

This pink Romanesque building was built by the Russians in 1932.  It's centrally located on the east side of Sukhbaatar Square and is fondly referred to as the Ulaanbaatar Opera House and is the domicile of the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Mongolia.  

By all accounts it hosts the most prolific schedule of ballet, opera and theatre performances in the world!  Well maybe not,  but I think you'd be hard pressed to find a more fecund theatre group!!  You could attend twice a week for a month and never see a repeat show!!!

We have seen two productions this week, Carmen and an Anthology of Classical Musicals such as Phantom of the Opera, Romeo and Juliet, Cats, Don Juan and Chicago. I am staggered that such multifarious productions can run for 2 nights only, (sometimes even one as in the case of Carmen!!).

"CARMEN"

Backstage 

CATS

Right next door  to the Opera house is the Central Tower building which locals call the Shangri La as it was originally built to house the Shangri La Hotel. However there's no  hotel, only offices and a shopping mall with luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Zegna. Its glass walls and clean lines are in sharp contrast to the  Opera house which clearly belongs to another time! 

There is a bar and restaurant on the 17th floor which offers great views of the city and surrounding hills.  On the 3rd floor they have a pub called the Square Grill which we like to frequent for late-night drinks.  It has a lovely view of Sukhbaatar Square.

Taken from the 17th floor

Yakety YAK

There are five traditional herd animals in Mongolia: horses, sheep, goats, camels, cows/yaks. 

Today I'm posting my pictures of the yak as both Sim and I mistook this creature for a long haired cow!!  So if you are in doubt yourself, here's how they look!  They are quite timid creatures.

There's always a black "yak" of the family it seems.....Ignore the horse!

Close encounter of the yak kind

Walking on Water

We finally enjoyed the experience of walking on the Tuul river today after contemplating the thought for the past month-then it was a beautiful sight as it was covered in snow.  I think this weekend was our last opportunity as the river is rapidly melting and the surface is more like a slushie!  Although I'm not quite as heavy as a car, I still had fears of breaking through the ice so was not as brave as the locals who are still happily driving onto it!! and sliding their young children along it.

The Tuul river originates from the Khentii Mountains in northern Mongolia and runs through the southern part of UB and is approximately 704km long. It's a major tributary of the Orkhon river, the largest river in Mongolia. It's typically frozen over for nearly 5 months of the year! 
It's also home to an endangered species of Sturgeon.