Safety in Mongolia

In the city. Watch for pickpockets in Ulaanbaatar markets and on buses. Keep your wallet deep and do not flash a thick roll of notes in a crowd.
In the steppe. The dangers are climate and the absence of any signal. Always carry offline maps and a water reserve, because in the desert you can go a full day without meeting anyone.
Dogs. Mastiffs guard the herds around every ger. Never approach one without shouting to the owners first, or the meeting with the guard ends badly.
Confrontation. Villages have their drunken groups. Do not argue, and avoid unlit outskirts of the capital at night.
Roads. Steppe tracks shift constantly. Do not attempt to drive yourself; the risk of getting lost or bogged in sand with no phone signal is too high.
Medical care. Good clinics exist only in the capital. Take insurance covering active travel and assemble a medical kit with anything you personally need.
Advisories. Check your own government's travel advice before booking, and make sure the policy covers horse riding, which is how most visitors get hurt here.

Mongolia has very low crime outside the capital and noticeable street crime within Ulaanbaatar.

Pickpockets in Ulaanbaatar. Sükhbaatar Square, the State Department Store, buses and above all the Naran Tuul market (the "black market"). The last has a deserved reputation: organised groups work it, and a tourist is better off not going at all, or going light and accompanied.

Taxis. In Mongolia any car is a taxi: a driver stops and takes you for a per-kilometre fee. That is the norm rather than a risk, but a foreigner will be quoted more. Apps such as UBCab operate in the city.

Fake tour agencies. They sell trips to the Gobi and Khövsgöl, take a deposit and deliver something else. Check reviews away from the agency's own site and pay in stages.

"Guides" at monasteries. Gandan and Erdene Zuu: a walk is offered at a verbally quoted price.

Currency exchange. Change at banks, where rates are fine. Street changers by the department store short-change.

Border zones require permits. The strips along the Russian and Chinese frontiers are controlled territory and require a permit obtained in advance. This affects parts of routes in Altai Tavan Bogd and in the east.

Drones. Permission is required, and they are prohibited over Ulaanbaatar and border areas.

Photography. Military installations and government buildings must not be photographed.

Drugs. The law is strict.

Hunting and exports. Exporting hides, horns, bones and archaeological finds without a permit is prohibited. Dinosaur remains are treated especially strictly: Mongolia runs a campaign to recover palaeontological finds and cases reach international courts.

Ger etiquette. Do not step on the threshold, do not turn your back on the altar, do not point the soles of your feet at the fire, and accept food with your right hand. These are not superstitions but basic courtesy, and they are expected.

Dogs at camps. Herding dogs guard the ger and go for an approaching stranger in earnest. You drive up to a camp and wait for the owner to come out.

Ulaanbaatar's winter air is a serious threat. From November to March the ger districts heat with coal, and in still weather fine particle concentrations run tens of times above WHO limits. Ulaanbaatar regularly tops global pollution rankings. People with asthma and heart conditions are better off not coming in winter; everyone else needs a proper mask.

Cold. Down to −40°C in winter. This is not an exaggeration: Ulaanbaatar is the world's coldest capital. Frostbite at that temperature takes minutes.

Plague. A Mongolian feature worth knowing: bubonic plague is endemic and transmitted by tarbagan marmots. Cases are recorded every year, some fatal, and they are associated with hunting marmots and eating their meat. Do not buy or eat marmot, and do not touch sick or dead animals.

Rabies and brucellosis. Stray dogs in the city and raw milk on the steppe. The rabies vaccine is worth discussing for a long trip.

Water. Bottled only.

Healthcare. Ulaanbaatar has the international-standard SOS Medica clinic; everything else is weak. On the steppe there is none at all, with hundreds of kilometres and no roads. Insurance with evacuation cover is essential — serious cases go to Seoul or Beijing.

Emergency numbers: 102 police, 103 ambulance.

Mongolia sits mid-table globally on corruption. Police are generally correct with tourists.

Tourist police. Operating in Ulaanbaatar, with some English-speaking officers.

Reporting theft. Reports are taken and certificates for insurers issued. The process is slow and English is not universal — bring an interpreter from your hotel.

Traffic police. The city has cameras and fines; outside it there are often no roads as such, and no police either.

The real problem is distance, not crime. On the steppe you can drive half a day without meeting a car or finding coverage. The rules: do not go into the Gobi with a single vehicle, take a satellite tracker, carry fuel, water and food, and tell someone your route. A breakdown a hundred kilometres from the nearest sum is a serious situation, not an adventure.

Hospitality. On the steppe you will be invited into a ger, fed and offered a bed, and this is the norm rather than a calculation. Refusing tea is impolite and payment is not the custom — a small gift is appropriate.

Emergency number is 102.