Creative ways to get across

Two creative ways to cross the street in Ulaanbaatar I call the camel walk and the dragon walk respectively. I created these two walks to navigate the often crazy streets of UB. The camel walk is useful to employ at night or when walking on uneven or frozen over streets. It is especially useful for detecting whether or not the manhole cover is not sturdy or if the manhole is a mere hole. This problem is quite common in UB. The camel walk enables you to determine how sturdy the manhole is. If anyone has seen how a camel walks, you know how to do the camel walk. You just raise your leg a good foot off the ground and put it down slowly and methodically. It looks a little goofy but it beats falling in any manholes. That happened to a good friend of mine and he got a rather nasty gash on his chin as a result. I demonstrated the camel walk to some secret laughers (Mongolian women) and they found it to be quite funny.

The dragon walk is a useful method one can employ to cross one of the crazy streets in UB. What it amounts to is making yourself visible to Mongolian drivers. The majority of them will not stop for people wanting to cross the street. At the same time one should be able to leap out of the way and/ or jog out of the way. Sometimes it is best to just wait for the light. Unfortunately some streets lacks lights. Some crosswalks lack crosswalks. Some lack both so the dragon can get you across. I am usually able to get drivers to stop, slow down, or at least alter their course. It is always a good thing to be mindful of where you're walking. Being aware of your surroundings can help you get across the street and you may not even need the dragon. For example, if you see a sudden lull in the traffic and know that you need to cross the street, you should quickly walk across. 20-40 cars may be coming all of whom will probably not slow down for you. I don't know what the Mongolian law is on this matter or if there is a statute but culturally Mongolian drivers have the right of way.