Khamryn Khiid, The Energy Centre

Sainshand (pronounced as "Sunshine"), is the capital of Dornogovi Province in Mongolia. It's eastern of Gobi Desert and can be reached by train from Ulaanbaatar. The journey on train will take you approximately 10-12hours one way. First class ticket costs 21,500 Tughrik; Third class ticket costs 7,500 Tughrik.

Our destination in Sainshand is Khamryn Khiid. This place is believed to have very high energy. People come all the way here, to absorb the energy, to cure sickness and make wishes in particular.

We took the evening train, departed from Ulaanbaatar at 4.30pm and reached Sainshand at 1.50am. Our guide picked us up at the train station, I was too tired to notice the station at that time. The journey from train station to Khamryn Khiid was about 1hour and we "checked in" to a ger around 3am. We had a 2 hour rest, before the guide woke us up again at 5am to witness the sunrise.

After the sunrise, we went to bell tower. According to my new Mongolian friend, Oyunbold, we strike the bell three times like we ring a door bell when we visit a friend. It's a form of "hello" to the being in this place.

Stupa surrounding the bell tower

Queueing up to strike the bell

After the greeting, we proceeded to Shambhalla. It's surrounded by 108 stupas, and believed to be having the highest energy in the world. People come here not just to pray, but also absorb energy from the ground.

Entrance

Stupa in the sun light

More stupa

Even more stupa

Stupas in the sun light

Buddhism in Mongolia is very similar to what have been practiced by the Tibetans in Yunnan and Sichuan that I've seen. The stupa and the strong beliefs of the beings in nature.

Even the way they tie the colorful cloth after praying

After we prayed and tied the cloth on the rope, we're supposed to sing, to praise the God. However, I didn't know the song at all, so I just tried to hum the rhythm as much as I can. The lyrics of the song was actually carved onto the stone.

Lyrics on the stone

After all the ceremonies, we picked a nice spot to start energy absorption. Basically we have to lay all our personal belongings on the ground surrounding us, and lie down onto the ground. Just imagine yourself photo-synthesizing.

Our spot

I do not know how much energy I've managed to absorb from the ground. But, it surely is a wonderful time to sun bathe in the middle of desert. The cool breeze and soft morning sun light on my face, woke me up softly. I didn't feel tired at all even though I had so little sleep. So perhaps, the energy is true after all. Believe it or not.

An old lady in her traditional clothing

By this time you should have noticed that my pictures are all having a red tint. To clarify this, I did not correct the saturation of the pictures. The rocks and sands in this part of the desert are naturally red in color. That's what made the desert exceptionally beautiful.

Reddish desert

Sitting here, admiring the beauty of this place. It's not hard to understand why the locals have such a strong beliefs in their God.

Peaceful morning

It's simply too beautiful to be true.