Excellent programs in a beautiful country/

Orphanage placement: Caring for several disabled children in a very clean, well-run centre alongside 2-3 nurses. The children were adorable, the work was physically hard (lifting 8-year-olds), but the days went quickly. Only minor issue was that most of the nurses spoke no English, but most things could be done by mime.

Human Rights placement: Small temporary team at the National Legal Institute. Good project, and certainly helped some people. Burocracy however, meant that we couldn't provide as much aid as we would have liked.

Staff: Great! Lovely people, you're welcome to pop in and ask questions, or call them in an emergency at any time of day or night.

Social scene was busy and varied, with organised activities as well as the volunteers doing things by themselves.

Food is very Mongolian - plain, lots of mutton. In UB you can find vegetarian and even vegan food, but not easy outside the city.

Overall I would recommend this to anyone, even if you don't feel terribly adventurous. The place and people are lovely, and the placements are really worthwhile.