How To Visit Shambala, Mongolia’s Most Sacred And Spiritual Place

“You’re going back to Mongolia in winter? Aren’t temperatures -35 F and isn’t Ulaanbaatar the coldest capital in the world?” They were sentences I heard not just from one friend, but several.

I was planning to head back to the country I’ve called home for the last several summers, but this time in the heart of winter. Even with temperatures as intimidating as -35 F, I was determined to experience Mongolian Lunar New Year, Tsagaan Sar, and make a pilgrimage to one of Mongolia’s most spiritual places, Shambala.

With little to no information available on how to get there, where to go, and how to plan this sort of trip, I was lucky enough to find Monastery Stay, a tour company that specializes in just this kind of spiritual tourism. Their goal is to highlight Mongolian Buddhism and give foreigners the chance to learn about this practice first-hand. Something I was excited and ready to do.

I opted to book a shortened four day itinerary to Shambala and Khamariin Monastery that included taking the overnight train from Ulaanbaatar to a small town called Sainshand.

I had heard the train in Mongolia was itself an adventure, but I’ve come to realize that’s part of the charm of this place. The train’s age certainly showed, but it didn’t take anything away from the 10 hours I spent onboard. Hard lay-down bed, and all.

Arriving early in the morning in Sainshand, it was an impromptu breakfast at our driver’s house due to everything being closed because of Lunar New Year, that set the tone for the trip. Fueled on coffee, suutei tsai (milk tea), and warmed up buuz (Mongolian dumplings), from there it was straight to the places I had been dreaming of visiting over the last several weeks.

First stopping at Khamariin Hiid (hiid just means monastery in Mongolian language), the monks were performing special chants for the new year as well as for the locals who came to have prayers said for the loved ones. Feeling tattered having just come from the train, I was taken back by the locals all dressed in their finest winter deels, the traditional long jackets that are customary here.

At the monastery my kind and gentle guide Khaliun began to explain who Dulduityn Danzanravjaa was, a name I heard many times but didn’t know much about. It was because of him the Nyingma red hat school of Buddhism was brough to Mongolia in the early 1800s, and why each of these monasteries and monuments exist today. While most of them were destroyed under the communist rule, many of them were rebuilt in the 1990s once Mongolia regained its independence.

From the monastery it was off to a “breast monument” where women say prayers for women around the world while making an offering and walking clockwise around the two ovoos (sacred structures).

Getting back into our driver’s Prius, the car of choice in Mongolia, it was time to finally make our way to Shambala and walk through the golden gates.

Originally built by Danzanravjaa, he believed this site had special spiritual energy and could often be found in the series of nearby caves meditating for extended periods. Some say it was in these caves where he was able to channel the energy and perform divine acts, such as the ability to levitate and heal the sick.

Walking through Shambala, it might have been the energy of the place or the dozens of locals who had finally made this sacred pilgrimage, but there was certainly a vibration in the air. Or maybe it was just the attention from the locals pointed in my direction and their curiosity to see a gadaad (foreigner) at their sacred site. Either way, there was something in the crisp, cold winter air.

Following the lead of our Shambala guide Baatar, a local celebrity at the center, we went through the rituals one by one, offering everything from rice and vodka to whispering wishes and singing poems. We were even encouraged to lie on the ground where the energy was said to be at its strongest, so we could absorb some of the energy ourselves.

They say that when you leave Shambala, walking out through the silver gates, you’re purified of all your bad deeds. While that’s hard to say for sure, making the effort to do so certainly doesn’t hurt.

The rest of our two days in the eastern Gobi were spent meeting local families, eating our weight in buuz, walking through the 8^th generation curated Danzanravjaa Museum, and browsing precious local stones made into beautiful jewelry at Chuluun Goyol before finally taking the overnight train back to Ulaanbaatar.

Fully recharged with the spiritual energy to take on the rest of winter in Mongolia, my pilgrimage to Shambala reminded me of the untouched beauty and spirituality that awaits in Mongolia, just waiting to be discovered by travelers.