In late morning the open-air markets come to life and beggars begin to ply their trade. A small girl with a silent, waxen sibling tossed strategically over her outstretched legs sings at the entrance of the State Department Store. The legless boy is propped up on the icy concrete floor of Mercury Market's unheated foyer, his wheelchair hidden out of site. It's a slow day for pickpockets at the Black Market. Theirs' is a volume business and the crowds are thin today.
Lunch time finds restaurants bursting at the seams.
Locals and foreigners arrange meetings, devise strategies and seal deals. Conversations are often interrupted by cell phones. Mindful of the expense, cell conversations are brief and to the point. With the sun past its zenith, photographers offer their services in Sukhbaatar square. The Opera House and Parliament House provide backdrops for family pictures.