Khamriin Khiid

Khamriin Khiid was founded in 1820 by Danzanravjaa, the fifth Noyon Khutagt, a monk, poet, playwright and rather unconventional figure who ran a theatre, a school open to girls as well as boys, and a library here in the middle of the Gobi. The monastery was destroyed in the 1930s and has been partly rebuilt, and a museum in Sainshand holds his writings and effects, saved by a caretaker who buried them in the desert. Nearby is Shambhala, an area marked out as an energy centre, where visitors circle stupas, lie on the ground to absorb energy, and leave offerings; it draws large numbers of Mongolian pilgrims and has become the main reason people come. Around it the Gobi stretches flat and empty in every direction, with the meditation caves Danzanravjaa used in the low hills.

What you actually see

• The rebuilt monastery - temples restored after the 1930s destruction.
• The Shambhala site - the energy centre with its stupas and rituals.
• Meditation caves - the hillside caves used by the founder and later monks.
• Danzanravjaa's legacy - the poet's story, told at the site and the Sainshand museum.

When to go

May to September; the Gobi is severely hot in midsummer and bitter in winter. Pilgrim numbers peak in the warm months and on auspicious days. Early morning is coolest and quietest.

Honest expectations

Much of what draws visitors is the modern spiritual site rather than the historic monastery, and sceptics may find the energy-centre rituals odd. There is no shade and the sun is intense. Facilities are limited to a ger camp and stalls. Sainshand, the base town, is plain.

Nearby

Sainshand is southwest; Ikh Nartiin Chuluu reserve lies north.