Full shownotes at www.80dayspodcast.com/ulaanbataar | Support: www.patreon.com/80dayspodcast Merch store: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/eightydayspodcast?ref_id=25321 In this episode of 80 Days: An Exploration Podcast, we’ll be talking about Ulaanbaatar, meaning Red Hero, was originally founded in 1639 as a nomadic Bhuddist monastery, essentially a moveable city,  and was not permanently settled at its current location in 1778, where it became a crucial trading hub between Russia and China. The city is located in present-day north central Mongolia, around 1000km or 700 miles northwest of Beijing and about 500km or 300 miles south of Irkutsk, Russia. Its current population is around 1.5 million, meaning it contains around 50% of Mongolia’s residents, and is comparable in population to San Diego or Munich. Your hosts, as always, are Luke Kelly @thelukejkelly in Ireland, Mark Boyle @markboyle86 in the UK, and Joe Byrne @anbeirneach in Ireland . (Theme music by Thomas O'Boyle @thatthomasfella)