Peace-ful Avenue

Peace Avenue and a parallel main road whose name I forget were for much of yesterday free of traffic in the centre. This was No Car Day promoted by the World Health Organisation. It allowed people to walk in the roads without fear of being run down. There was the odd ambulance or trundling police car and in mid-afternoon a small bike rally was held, but for much of the time the thoroughfares were calm.
Initially, as I left my apartment, I thought they had picked an unfortunate day with a dust storm so powerful it half-obscured the mountains that ring Ulaanbaatar. Once I reached the traffic-free zone though, the weather had eased off.
The traffic police had erected barriers to keep out vehicles and those cops patrolling inside the zone were breathing cleaner air than they would on any other day of the year. Plenty of children took advantage by playing football, bicycling, rollerblading, taking group photos in the middle of the road or drawing murals on the tarmac. It was an experience to be savoured when on all other days, it's a mad dash across the roads. I walked the entire 5km stretch of Peace Avenue that was free for pedestrians and then walked back, taking a detour after a little while to walk along the other main road. It was so pleasant that I think they should do this every Sunday.
12.14pm