Mongolia's 'Gateway To The Gobi Desert' Is A Crowd-Free Tourist-Friendly Destination With Surreal Views

While Earth is full of countless beautiful beaches and awe-inspiring mountainous landscapes, dense forest treks, and snowy expanses, few places truly feel otherworldly. The Gobi Desert is one place that does — an enormous expanse of sandy dunes, rocky outcrops, and flat plains 1,000 miles long and 600 miles wide that stretches across southern Mongolia and northern China. It's easy to envision Mongolia's nomadic, horse-riding roots when gazing out across the desert, just as it's easy to sense the region's deep shamanic and Buddhist heritage. And in all of Mongolia, there's one town within close striking distance of the desert: Sainshand.

Sainshand isn't a ritzy, glitzy cityscape full of lush amenities, and that's precisely the point. It's as sparse as the desert is stark. It also provides the perfect access point to key Gobi spots like Khamariin Khiid Monastery and Shambala, reachable with a few days of itinerary. With a sparse population of 21,000 and nothing surrounding the town but hard sand, standing in Sainshand still feels like standing in the desert.

That's not to say that Sainshand is a miserable place to visit. It's a chance to get to know local people and local dishes in a genuine, down-to-earth way, stripped of chain hotels and big-name brands — you won't spot a single hint of overtourism anywhere. There are some recognizable pub, cafe, and fast food kinds of places, but if travelers go so far as to reach Sainshand, they'd be missing out if they didn't try local foods like buuz (steamed dumplings) or give Mongolian vodka or suutei tsai (milk tea) a shot.

Any trip to Sainshand has to include visits to Khamariin Khiid Monastery and Shambala, the two highlights of the greater Sainshand area and active Buddhist pilgrimage sites. The spiritual nature of these sites comes not only from the history and heritage of Mongolia, but from their placement in the Gobi Desert. It's the emptiness of the desert that does it — the vacant space that allows for inner focus. Both sites were built in the 1830s by Danzan Ravjaa, a revered Tibetan Buddhist monk who designated Shambala, sometimes called the "World Energy Center," and its ovoo (a burial cairn) as a place where his spirit would linger. There's also hiking in the wide-open desert near Shambala, if you want to feel blissfully lost. 

Before or after these essential stops you can soak up the tourist-friendly, but largely tourist-free sites of Sainshand. The small Danzan Ravjaa Museum, near what qualifies as Sainshand's downtown, makes a good pit stop, as does Pearl, a well-rated restaurant that has local dishes like buuz. Beyond this, we'd recommend roaming freely and soaking up the energy of the place. Even though Sainshand seems in little danger of being ruined by rampant tourism, like many of the world's most beautiful locations, you never know. Appreciate it while it's here. Also, you might want to learn a little Cyrillic before going, as Mongolia adopted the alphabet in the 1940s while under Soviet influence. Some signs and menus are written using Roman letters, but most aren't.  

Make no mistake: Even though Sainshand welcomes tourists, and Mongolia is getting more and more tourists every year (it received over 800,000 in 2024), Sainshand is a destination for the intrepid and adventurous. For those used to traveling in widely touristed areas, like those in Europe, getting around Mongolia provides quite the contrast. 

First, you'll have to fly into Chinggis Khaan International Airport (UBN) in Mongolia's capital, Ulaanbaatar. From there you can drive to Sainshand if you have an international driver's license and it'll take a little over 6 hours. The drive is as terrifying as it is beautiful, and takes you along one, nigh-unending road straight through endless dusty brown flatlands. Then there's the train along the Trans-Mongolian Railroad, which takes 10 hours and goes right to Sainshand station inside the city. As the story goes, the train is an adventure in and of itself.

As soon as you're in Sainshand, the town makes a perfect hub while exploring the surrounding region. Khamariin Khiid Monastery and Shambala are reachable via car in only 40 minutes, although you'll want to reserve plenty of time to linger in both places. To get there you'll have to grab a taxi or get into contact with a local driver through your hotel. All-inclusive guided tours are available. You can even stay overnight near Shambala in a Mongolian ger, a kind of traditional family tent with heating used by Mongolian nomads. In between it all you can see the sights in Sainshand and dig into local food and drink.