Gobi Desert, China and Mongolia

Only about 5% of the Gobi is sand dunes – the rest is gravel plain, rocky steppe, and mountain ranges, and winter temperatures drop to minus 40 degrees Celsius

The Gobi is the fifth largest desert in the world, covering approximately 1.3 million square kilometres across southern Mongolia and northern China, and it is not what most people imagine when they think of desert. The photographs of the Khongor Sand Dunes – reaching 800 metres – are real. They are also not representative of most of what the desert looks like. The majority is flat gravel and scrub, cold enough in winter to kill unprepared travellers and hot enough in summer to boil water on rock surfaces. This is not a comfortable landscape. That is exactly why it rewards the effort.

The Mongolian Gobi

The practical entry point is Ulaanbaatar, from which most visitors arrange transport south into the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park. The roads are poor or absent; distances that look manageable on a map take many hours. Book a tour with a reputable Mongolian operator before arriving, or arrive with a genuinely flexible schedule. Improvising in the Mongolian Gobi is not a strategy.

Khongoryn Els, the main dune system, reaches 800 metres and extends 180 kilometres. Camel riding here is obvious. Less obvious: the dunes make a low rumbling sound in strong afternoon winds – vibration in the sand columns produces what Mongolians call the “singing sands,” audible several hundred metres away. The sound is better experienced in the late afternoon when wind picks up.

Bayanzag, called the Flaming Cliffs for the colour at sunset, is where American palaeontologist Roy Chapman Andrews found the first scientifically confirmed dinosaur eggs in 1922. The red sandstone formation is still producing fossil material. You cannot collect anything, but walking slowly along the cliff edge exposes small bone fragments from time to time. The colour between 5pm and sunset is extraordinary.

Yolyn Am (Vulture Valley) is a narrow canyon in the Gurvan Saikhan mountains that holds permanent ice well into summer. The walk through the canyon takes about an hour on easy terrain. Ibex are frequently visible on the canyon walls.

Three Camel Lodge near Bayanzag is the comfortable option – well-managed, good for birdwatching, more expensive than local ger camps. Food in the Mongolian Gobi is primarily mutton. Tsuivan (noodles with meat) is the staple. Airag (fermented mare’s milk) is an acquired taste; try a small amount first.

The Chinese Gobi

Access from China is significantly easier logistically. Dunhuang in Gansu province has flights from major Chinese cities.

The Mogao Caves outside Dunhuang are the main reason for this side of the Gobi: 492 Buddhist cave temples cut into a cliff face, decorated with murals and sculptures spanning ten centuries from the 4th to the 14th. A UNESCO site since 1987, the caves contain some of the most significant Buddhist art in existence. Entry is timed; certain caves with particularly important paintings require advance booking. The associated museum interprets the historical context well.

Crescent Lake (Yueyaquan) near Dunhuang is a crescent-shaped spring that has persisted in the middle of dunes for centuries – visible from the dunes above rather than from the crowded ground-level approach. Jiayuguan at the western terminus of the Great Wall is a well-preserved fortress at the junction of two mountain ranges, significantly less visited than the Beijing-area sections and considerably more atmospheric in the desert setting.

When to Go

May through June and September through October are the practical windows. Summer heat is manageable in China with preparation; in Mongolia the days are hot but nights cold. Avoid winter in both countries unless you have specific expedition experience.