Sunrise in Ulaanbaatar

The morning was -34C with no wind. The sun rose over the mountains.

Surrounding the capital are four mountain peaks; the four holy peaks. They are the Bogdkhan, the Chingeltei, the Songino Khairkhan and the largest, Bayanzurkh Uuls. They are located at roughly the four points of a compass: south, north, west and east. So in this photograph, from my apartment on the eastern side of the city, the morning sun is rising over Bayanzurkh Uuls. And it glowed a brilliant red.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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