Our second year of living in Mongolia, I found out I was expecting our eldest child. I had previously had a miscarriage, so the OB/GYN I was seeing locally for prenatal care was especially cautious in her supervision and advice. When she found out I was working, she asked how we commuted to work. She was relieved to hear that we didn’t drive and only walked or took public transportation. “Very good! Driving is too stressful here.”

This anecdote is now dated (from late 2015), and traffic in general has improved a great deal here in UB. However, there is one thing that must be clear: if you are used to traffic laws being hard and fast rules and not treated like guidelines, you will become frustrated and stressed trying to drive here. In time, you’ll likely get used to it, but a good rule of thumb is to flow with the traffic and not try to move against it–even if you think you’re in the right. I do my best to match the energy of the drivers around me, although I am definitely not as aggressive as most are!

There are marked pedestrian crossings, but that doesn’t mean that jaywalking doesn’t occur. This is partly why most drivers go under the speed limit; it’s simply unsafe to drive quickly through the city due to other drivers and pedestrians (and the occasional livestock). Another issue with driving in the city is the parking situation. UB was built prior to widespread automobile ownership, and the city planning reflects that. The roads are simply not enough to accommodate the volume of personal vehicles in daily use, but even more than that, there is not enough parking available. Trying to find a spot in certain parts of the city is nearly a hopeless endeavor, and double or triple parking is not uncommon. This narrows the already too small roads, contributing to traffic congestion. It is fairly common for drivers to leave their phone numbers on their dashes so that if they need to move their car for someone, they can be reached.

Currently, there are not many vehicles on the roads at all, and we haven’t driven our vehicle since October or early November. There are ongoing fuel shortages–first with diesel, now with gasoline–as a result of the country’s fuel primarily coming from Russia. In addition, the government has instituted an every other day policy for driving your vehicle, depending on if your license plate ends with an even or odd number.

To learn about the process of getting a driver’s license as a foreigner, check out our previous post here.