Tuva sits at the geographic heart of Asia, a Russian republic wedged between Siberia and Mongolia, and its south-west corner is a country of salt lakes, steppe and drifting sand. The village of Erzin lies near the Mongolian border in the Ubsunur hollow, a vast basin ringed by mountains, and the dunes of Tsugeer Els are part of a shared World Heritage site with Mongolia, listed in 2003. Jamaalyg is a spot on this wide plain, in the emptiest part of a thinly populated republic.
The Ubsunur basin is a place of extremes. Temperatures swing from forty below in winter to above thirty in summer, with winds that rearrange the dunes and a dry climate that supports a specialised flora and fauna. Saker falcons, steppe eagles and Pallas's cats live in the steppe, and the region is a crossing point for migrating birds. Tuvan herders move their sheep, goats, horses and yaks between pastures in a pattern that has changed little for centuries, living in felt tents, yurts, in summer. Tuva is also the home of khoomei, the throat singing that produces two notes at once, and the music seems to belong to this landscape of wind and space.
For a rider, this is serious country. Tuva has few paved roads, the main ones being the Yenisei highway, which connects Kyzyl, the capital, to the north and to Mongolia, and the roads near the border are rough, and often unmade. The border area is a restricted zone, and foreigners need permits to travel in it, which should be arranged well in advance. Summer is the only comfortable season, though even then nights can be cold.
Erzin is a small village, and fuel and supplies are limited, with the nearest large town being Kyzyl, a long way to the north. Carry spare fuel, food, water and tools, tell someone where you are going, and expect no phone signal. In Kyzyl, a monument marks the centre of Asia, a favourite place for photographs, and the national museum has a good collection of Scythian gold from the nearby Valley of the Kings, which is worth seeing.