Ölgii

Altai Mountains

It's worth going on hikes up into the nearby mountains; find someone familiar who can guide you there, or just walk in any directions. Bugan Tou Mountain to the southwest can be hiked at 2775 m.

Green Garden

It is a nice place to hang out in the evenings; has cheap beer and soft drinks, and is one of the greener spots in town. Most tourists come in the summer when it is quite brown and dusty (in the winter it's snowy!), so green is a rare thing.

Open during summer, 10:00-22:00·Free for foreigners

Kazakh National Theater

This giant red building was constructed to promote Kazakh culture and host events in the city and now has concerts and plays from locals and groups traveling from Kazakhstan or elsewhere in Mongolia. Though it is not especially nice or well maintained, it does hold regular concerts and plays throughout the year.

Prices vary

Museum

Myзeй

You should take time to visit it before heading out to the countryside to see the displays of Kazakh culture, local history, and wildlife. The 3-story museum has an entire floor dedicated to various tribes living in Bayan-Ölgii including the majority Kazakhs, Uriankhai, Dörvöd, Tuva, and Khoshuud, including a complete Kazakh ger (much larger and more colorful than Mongolian gers). There are also costumes and ancient artifacts from each tribe. The second floor has local history from the Communist era, and the ground level covers local wildlife, with many stuffed animals, and has a gift store full of Kazakh handicrafts. Outside is a small display of ancient small Turkic Stone Men (ones in countryside are much bigger).

8AM-noon, 2PM-4PM·Admission 5000 ₮, Photos 5000 ₮

Mosques

There are at least a half dozen mosques in the city that have all been built in the last 25 years. The call to prayer can be heard around town several times a day. The old mosque was destroyed in the 1930s during religious purges throughout Mongolia. You are free to go inside and take pictures, though you should follow Muslim customs inside the mosque. Another large mosque and minaret is at Bilge Tegin School just north of the shower house next to several large communist-era apartments.

All day

Petroglyphs

There are an estimated 1 million images throughout the region dating back 12,000 years. Petroglyphs are images that have been carved into rocks. The images trace the history of early cavemen to more recent groups like the Blue Turks (ancestors of modern Turkic language groups) as transition from hunter gather to pastoralism to 'modern' horse-based nomadism seen today in Mongolia. Several sites with large concentrations make up the Petroglyphic Complexes of the Mongolian Altai UNESCO World Heritage Site inside Altai Tavan Bogd National Park, though other sites are only a short drive outside of the city.

Statues

Ölgii has many modern statues besides its ancient stone men. The central square is dominated by the Soviet-Mongolian War Memorial commemorating Mongolia's contribution to the Great Patriotic War (World War II). Facing the square is statues of Lenin and Sukhbaatar ('Ax Hero,' hero of the war of independence) in front of the government building. Inside the beer garden is a full size statue of a man playing a dombra (traditional Kazakh instrument). The most unusual statue is a full size statue of a local war hero, Akie, that died in 1929 during the war between White and Red Russians in Mongolia. Akie is firing a pistol backwards while running.

Turkic Standing Stones

are unique stone artifacts made by the ancient Blue Turks and others made between 2000BC to right before the Mongolian Empire. These standing stones are carved to look like a man and can be over 6 ft tall. Other standing stones have images of deer that appear to be flying, made by Turks or possibly Tuvans. There are around 1000 standing stones in the province, with a small number of deer stones.

Bayan-Ulgii Central Square

Neremjit Central Stadium