Baga Gazriin Chulu.
A majestic and sacred rock formation that captivates the imagination of all who visit. This sprawling granite rock formation, set against the vast expanse of the Mongolian steppe in the Gobi Desert, was revered for centuries.
Baga Gazriin Chuluu is not just a geological wonder but it’s also imbued with history, spirituality, and culture.
The area is characterized by its towering granite rocks, some reaching up to 15 m (50 ft) in height!
Situated approximately 250 km (155 mi) from the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, Baga Gazriin Chuluu remains a cherished national treasure, offering a profound experience to those who wander among its ancient rocks, under the vast dome of the sky.
What is Baga Gazriin Chuluu?
Baga Gazriin Chuluu, a remarkable ensemble of rock formations, emerges from the Mongolian steppe, offering a spectacle that dates back millions of years!
These formations, predominantly composed of granite, have been sculpted by the relentless forces of nature—wind, water, and temperature fluctuations—over vast expanses of time, creating a landscape that is both rugged and majestic.
The granite that forms the backbone of Baga Gazriin Chuluu is ancient, with its origins tracing back to the Precambrian era, making it one of the oldest rock types on the planet.
These rocks have undergone significant changes through the ages, with the forces of erosion rounding their edges and creating intriguing shapes.
The area’s natural beauty is enhanced by the contrast between the stark, imposing rocks and the softer, more verdant valleys that nestle between them. These valleys, often hidden oases in the arid steppe, host a variety of plant species and provide a vital water source for the region’s wildlife.
In addition to its towering granite formations, Baga Gazriin Chuluu is known for its caves, some of which bear inscriptions that date back to the Bronze Age. The area also features ancient burial sites and petroglyphs, offering tangible connections to the people who once inhabited this land.
History of Baga Gazriin Chuluu
Before the 20th century, Baga Gazriin Chuluu served as a spiritual haven, housing several Buddhist monasteries. Nestled among the granite formations, these sacred sites were centers of prayer, drawing monks and pilgrims seeking spiritual enlightenment.
However, the advent of communist rule in Mongolia in the early 20th century marked the beginning of a dark period for the country’s religious heritage, including the sanctuaries within Baga Gazriin Chuluu. In the 1930s, during a wave of anti-religious campaigns, the communist regime targeted Buddhist institutions across Mongolia for destruction.
These purges aimed to eradicate the influence of Buddhism and enforce the state’s atheistic ideology. Many of the monasteries at Baga Gazriin Chuluu were destroyed, their monks persecuted, and their relics desecrated.
The exact dates of these events vary, but the most intense period of destruction occurred between 1937 to 1939, aligning with Stalin’s purges in the Soviet Union.
Despite this period of devastation, Baga Gazriin Chuluu’s spiritual legacy endures. The ruins of these ancient monasteries remain, standing as silent witnesses to both the fervent devotion of Mongolia’s Buddhist practitioners and the ruthless efforts to suppress their faith.
What to Expect when Visiting Baga Gazriin Chuluu
You can rest assured that the surrounding area will undoubtedly take your breath away. It’s going to feel like you’re on Mars or some other planet. Nowhere else on this Earth can you find such unique geological formations.
There’s a lot to do here including hiking trails and cave-diving. There are also some ancient temples to see but definitely one of the best things to do in Baga Gazriin Chuluu is to either see the sunrise or the sunset. You won’t go wrong either way.
The sun paints the granite towers with shades of red, turning the landscape even more ephemeral. Just be sure to know the way back as the rocky labyrinth can be difficult to navigate, one that I can testify to myself as I had gotten lost here.
The nomads here have plenty of animals grazing around as the valleys around the area cause much more grass to grow, it can be an excellent opportunity for a cultural exchange and of course, plenty of photos.
Best Time to Visit Baga Gazriin Chuluu
Our Journey to Baga Gazriin Chuluu
After finishing Tsagaan Suvarga, Khongoryn Els, and Yolyn Am, today we were going back to Ulaanbataar’s direction with one last sight to see, Baga Gazariin Chuluu.
Really unique natural rock formations.
We freshened up in the morning and had a hearty breakfast, Khulan always made a ton of food and we were kinda sad that we couldn’t finish them. Today, we had even had sushi which was pretty international.
We had lunch again in the middle of nowhere, it was much colder today so except for Ryo and I, the rest ate their share inside the jeep. As usual, it was another 6-7 hour ride but it was always palatable with the amazing scenery. I had one last edible left that I saved until we passed through Mandalgovi, the same place we stopped by to get gas in the first day.
Taking that in, listening to White Tara mantra, the ride became extremely profound and I had really deep insights.
When we stopped over for a break, the sky was looked so beautiful and with the greenery of the grasslands, I knew it was going to be a good day.
We finally got to our camp maybe a couple of hours before sunset, our group separated with Hayata and Changyoon with me, Ryo going off alone and Nanami and Carmen chilling back at camp. Huge props to Bobbi as she really knows how to make a tour, the camp was situated in a huge field between mountains and it was breathtaking to think this is where we were staying tonight, I felt like a king.
I asked Khulan where would be the best spot to view sunset, I had wanted to go to the back mountains but she directed me to the rocky mountains up in the front, of course I trusted her judgement and told Hayata and Changyoon to head that way with me.
Baga Gazariin Chuluu didn’t disappoint, giant rock formations forming these cascading-like structures that stretched towards a rocky mountain towering above the rest. It felt extraterrestrial, I’ve never seen a place like this in my life.
As we walked deeper into the the rocky labyrinth, it felt like we could get lost (spoiler alert, I did). I shared that we shouldn’t go to deep and they agreed so we found ourselves some giant formations to climb on. We ran into Ryo as well, Hayata and Changyoon took their tops off and started to do some push ups on top of the rocks for a video while Ryo helped shoot.
I started to meditate on top of my chosen rock, feeling the wind caress my face, embracing the sharp cold, getting grounded by the earth. The energy was mighty here.
Ryo went ahead and told us which way the camp was. Hayata and Changyoon were saying that they were going back to get the girls and said good bye but then Changyoon then asked me if I was meditating, I said yep, they shared a look at each other and Hayata was like “I wanna try meditating too.” so the two of them found their own boulders, Hayata to my left and Changyoon to my right and so the three of us continued meditating in this place.
As the sun set, the wind’s icey touch got even colder.
After half an hour of meditating, I needed to warm up my body, I saw Changyoon was already wandering about so I tried to find an even higher vantage point to watch the sunset. I crossed over to the other side and saw that there was another nomadic family with a farm and animals at the bottom. I found the spot that I wanted and would take refuge time to time behind the rocks to shield myself from the harsh wind but eventually I simply sat and watched the sun go down behind some clouds.
I saw that Hayata and Changyoon went ahead so now I was left alone in this beautiful desolate place.
I had the idea to check out the nearby nomadic family and maybe make my way around the mountains to circle back to my camp. This was a huge mistake on my part as I did go down and did see some cute animals but eventually it didn’t seem like the path was going where I wanted to be.
It was just a huge expanse of nothingness, and the more I went forward, the more my doubt grew that this was the right place. I then decided to cut off and go diagonally to where I thought the camp might be, going through the rocky maze again.
Another stupid mistake, I kept going forward thinking that this could be it, the camp should be here only to end up in a field of nothing again. At this point, the realization set in that I could seriously be lost right now, it was getting darker and colder by the minute with the sun already below the horizon.
I checked my phone, I had no signal, no wi-fi (not that I would be able to find my camp if I had any) and I realized it was at 2% left, I could have used it as a flash light but now it was getting bad.
I tried to remain calm but definitely started to run a bit more, backtracking and chanting the Green Tara mantra. I had a plan to use the biggest mountain as a landmark and to go back to the nomadic family to ask for help but at the same time I also trusted that Green Tara would help, then I heard birds.
This place was devoid of life and I didn’t see or hear any birds the whole time I was meditating and wandering around, suddenly there were the chirping of birds. I don’t know why, but I felt like the birds might show me the way. I wasn’t that stupid to just go for it, of course I had plan B which was to go back to the nomadic family, but it seemed like it was going to the general direction of my camp, back to where we started.
I just followed the bird.
The bird changed from one direction to the next, I have no idea if it was the same bird or not but it changed direction 5 times across large distances, were there a lot of birds or just this one? I could constantly hear the chirping, I kept on chanting the Green Tara mantra all throughout.
There was one opening towards a field, it looked a bit familiar as I could see the back mountains. I was thinking of going left but the bird went right, so I went right and was absolutely dumbfounded to find my camp right there.
I immediately thanked Tara and the spirit bird who helped me find my way back. With a huge sigh of relief, I went to the nearby farm to look at the sheep and back to my tent where everyone was worried about me. I tried to play it cool, “I was just hiking around.” but that was really a life-threatening situation for sure, just like how I almost died in Wadi Rum Desert in Jordan (Why do I keep getting myself in these situations?) but it was a time for gratitude either way.
I ate dinner heartily and was happy to get the DJ priviledges again as Carmen said I had really good tunes. I also opted to join the card games for the night, finally the whole group was playing for the first time. We played GoFish first and then Carmen taught us how to play this Dutch card game that’s similar to Uno.
The next morning was final day out in Mother Mongolia’s great outdoors. After another hefty breakfast, Gana drove us all to the actual site of Baga Gazariin Chuluu where we could do some hiking, Baga Gazariin Chuluu’s peak was considered sacred by the Mongolians.
There were remnants of temples here that were destroyed during the Communist purge.
We passed through several stone stupas on the way until Khulan let us go to explore on our own for an hour or so, telling us to come back to the same place when we’re done. I started to meditate again and Hayata joined me too. I did some exploring on my own as well and ran into Ryo. I invited him to scale the higher peaks with me and we went to one after the next until we decided that it was time to go back.
Funnily enough, we saw the other group going in the wrong direction, it was a good thing we called out to them and that they saw us. They said they would have kept going on if not for us. They’d have ended up lost like me, in the last day to boot!
We all met up with Gana again and said good bye to this majestic place. Gana brought us to this restaurant that only had one item in their menu: buuz, Mongolian dumplings except this one only had sheep meat. I had no choice but to eat, not the first time Gana put me in this position with his love of sheep meat. It was an actual battle finishing these giant buuz, numbering up to 8 per plate. Everyone had a hard time eating all of them but we managed to chow ’em down.
We also stopped by a surreal liminal place that somehow pulled off both a nomadic and soviet vibe, a sand storm was brewing in the horizon. The rest of the trip back to UB was peaceful and uneventful. Everyone was quite tired from such a long journey and slept throughout most of the ride.
