Who should and should not drive to the Gobi

Will you get lost in the Gobi?

If you ask the internet all sorts of often very old and also sometimes new content will tell you it is a bad idea to travel in the Gobi alone. It is wrong and we will tell you why. It is questionable wether the respondents have actually tried it before and do know the experience of self driving in the Gobi or if they have never done so and are either answering based on assumptions or if they want to sell a guided tour.

Google AI says: A solo trip to the Gobi Desert is highly recommended, but you should join a tour rather than attempting to self-drive, as it’s difficult to get around and you’ll lack necessary support.

On reddit you will mostly find responses saying that you should hire a driver.

Before going into this topic, let’s put a few things out there:

Around 800 hikers die just in Italy and Austria per year.

Less than 1% of Mount Everest climbers die when attempting to reach the highest peak in the world.

28 people died from ski touring in Switzerland in winter of 2024/25 and close to a thousand people died from skiing accidents in the Alps in the same winter season.

200 to 300 tourists die in Australia per year. Mostly from driving accidents and drowning.

Around 4 tourists drown on the beaches and in the pools in Phuket per week!

How many tourists have died in the last 10 years during a self drive tour around Mongolia or the Gobi? – Zero. (Statistics only include tourists who rented from car rental companies that are part of the Car Rental Association).

Most serious or fatal tourist accidents in Mongolia happen from horseback riding.

Have a look at these videos from Eva, who drove in a “city SUV” (no, we do not recommend to drive such a car. Rent a well equipped reliable 4×4 rental car instead) to the Gobi and went on a horse riding trip. Guess where the accident happened?

Here is our take on it – why traveling around the Gobi is actually a safe adventure and why you can travel solo to the Gobi without a (major) problem:

Is it possible to drive to the Gobi solo or self drive to the Gobi with a rental car and friends?

Here are the usual worst case scenarios you could potentially face and what we recommend to be on the safe side:

Yes, it 100% is possible and is done by hundreds of tourists every year. To our knowledge from our customers and speaking to other rental car companies in Mongolia, there is no tourist who has rented from a proper car rental company a vehicle and has not come back.

Car accident:

Car accidents happen (like on any road/unpaved road/travelled distance) just like anywhere else and in the case of Gobi 95% of accidents of self drive rental car tourists are related to speeding on unpaved roads (especially during sharp corners) and related to animals (speeding and than hitting animals). These risks are very avoidable by driving a safe speed and not driving at night.

Is hiring a local driver in the Gobi safer?

Local drivers have accidents just like anyone else, if not more. In fact Mongolians speed all the time in the countryside. The chances of spotting a snow leopard are just as high as spotting a Toyota Landcruiser driving within speed limit (it is 80km/h) on paved roads. Dead animals next to the street confirm this as well. In case you want to talk to your Mongolian driver to change his driving style: Good luck!:) The only Mongolian drivers for tourists who are not speeding are the ones driving the very simple old Russian Buhanka vans, solely for the reason that these cars are not able to drive that fast but at the same time no car breaks down as often as these Buhankas causing you all sorts of other accidents and trip delays (catching a flight after a group tour in a Buhanka “Offroad minivan” across the Gobi is a bit of a gamble with odds of 70 to 30). Tourist companies usually advertise in their tour description this car as “4×4 van” or “4×4 Minibus”. What you also should know is that these vans have no A/C, windows that can be properly opened and one of the hardest seats (hence the carpets on the seats) and the hardest suspension. Not to mention that you can only choose the music in a rental car, enjoy a smell less car and pause whenever you like to or camp on the spots you and not the driver likes.

Yes, we are a car rental company but this paragraph is not intended to be a rental car promotion and should just give you a 100% correct description of realities in the Gobi.

Worst case scenario of having a major accident in the Gobi Desert:

Calling for help: You will need a local SIM card mobile phone or ideally a satellite internet to call for help. Renting a vehicle from a proper rental car company will help you a lot in this situation. We at Gobi.Rent or our friends from SIXT, AVIS will speak in English to you and assist you very well and very fast. This service is non existent when you rent a car from a private person. Book satellite internet and carry a phone with a good Mongolian SIM card (like Mobicom).

Getting to the hospital: Ulaanbaatar has good hospitals, getting there fast is the key. Book prior to your trip a good accident and health insurance that includes air evacuation by helicopter or plane. Without medical insurance you will have to wire 40.000USD to 100.000USD before any helicopter will depart from Ulaanbaatar to pick you up (and most operators wait until the money is in their account – given you have no account in Mongolia this can take days even if you have the money ready). We at Gobi.Rent can also send you at any time of the day a driver with a car to collect you. Local ambulances are another solution and we at Gobi.Rent can also send you at any time of the day a driver with a car to collect you but given the vast distances this can take time.

Running out of fuel in the Gobi:

Rent cars with large fuel tanks like our Toyota Landcruisers with 130L Diesel Tank, sufficient fro 650km to 1.600km depending on the load (heavy rooftop tent and gear), driving surface, driving style and A/C usage. 650km fuel range will get you from Ulaanbaatar to the capital of the Gobi Dalanzadgad, from the Energy Center in Sainshand to Dalanzadgad, from Dalanzadgad to Bayankhongor and generally far enough to pass many gas stations in the local soums. Diesel is often sold out in smaller gas stations in the Gobi while petrol 92 is available. In any case always top up when you pass a gas station and your fuel tank is less than 2/3 full. Never drive with less than 20% full fuel tank as the cooling and the lubrication of the fuel pump by the circulating fuel will stop and cause eventually cause a brake down.

Worst case scenario of running out of fuel is that you will need to contact your rental car company to arrange fuel delivery to you or that you will need to ask a passing local for help to bring you fuel (Nomads often have fuel in their ger or they will most likely bring you to the nearest gas station and back as nomads always support one another in the harsh environment). Result is that your might get stressed out and loose an hour or two or even three. But it is not the end of the world. 🙂 Keep always more water than you need in your car and stay hydrated in such a situation. To minimize the stress book satellite internet with your rental car and all communication to ask for help will just take a few minutes.

Are there dangerous animals in the Gobi?

No, there are no animals that will attack you. Wolfs, snow leopards, Mazalaii bears are all very very shy. They will not even come anywhere near your camp. Gobi pit viper, venomous snakes whose bites cause pain and swelling but are rarely fatal, and scorpions, which deliver painful stings.

Getting stuck in sand in the Gobi?

This might be a common question. While it is defiantly out of the “very dangerous” scope of scenarios we will cover it as well. The Gobi is mostly gravel and rocks. Sand dunes are rare and there is never the need to drive onto these dunes. You will drive along these dunes. In any case you should be prepared with a shovel, sand boards and air compressor, as well as a proper maintained 4×4 with Offroad tires. A winch is useful if you travel in a convoy with another vehicle and same goes for towing rope. Without a second vehicle it is usually useless as there are no trees to fix the winch cable to. In case you are travelling with a well equipped Toyota Landcruiser like ours, getting stuck is very hard and if you do, getting out is easy. The bigger risk is hitting axels against rocks. Make sure you drive slow over them and avoid hitting them.

Getting lost in the Gobi?

The Gobi is vast open terrain. Navigation is difficult. The only way is to be very well prepared and know which roads are good and know all GPS spots along the way. Book a self drive tour package with us and you will have a perfect navigation set up on an app, very easy to follow. Don’t just drive to the Gobi without a GPS route unless you stick to the paved road to Dalanzadgad.

Who should not drive to the Gobi?

Dust haters

Dust will find its way into the car, the luggage and the engine. Engine warning lights will turn on (due to the dust setting on the air sensors), A/C will be dusty as the cabin filters can not stop all the dust.

Expectation management: New cars have good sealants on the doors but still some dust will find its way inside the car. Some car models are better in keeping the dust out while others even new are not good at it.

Advice: Start your route in less dusty areas and end if in the most dusty area. For example you could first explore Central Mongolia (Kharkhorin, Elsen Taserkhai, Oregon valley) and after head south to the Gobi Desert.

Shower addicts

Showers are sometimes hard to find. Camps might have showers but they might not work. Best solution is to book our camping shower and you will have guaranteed showers whenever you want.