Kyakhta once made the world's tea trade turn. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries this border town, wedged against Mongolia, was the point where Russian furs and goods were exchanged for Chinese tea carried north by camel caravan, and the merchants who grew rich on it built stone houses, a cathedral and a reputation that reached Moscow. The Treaty of Kyakhta in 1727 fixed the frontier and formalised the trade, which is why the road from Ulan-Ude is still called the Tea Road. Around eighteen thousand people live here now, and the old merchant district retains a faded grandeur beside the newer, plainer streets.
The ride from Ulan-Ude follows the Selenga valley south for a couple of hundred kilometres, and it is a comfortable, honest piece of Siberian road. The highway is mostly good asphalt with long straights, easy bends and occasional patches of rough surface. Traffic is steady, with lorries heading to the border, so overtaking needs patience. The landscape opens into dry steppe and low hills, with herds of sheep and the odd Buddhist stupa beside the road. Summers are hot and dry, winters brutally cold, and May and September give the best balance of light and comfort.
Because it is a frontier town, Kyakhta lies within a border zone, so carry your passport and be ready for checks on the approach. Fuel and food are easy to find, with several stations and cafes, and the town is a sensible place to refill and eat before the return leg. Altanbulag on the Mongolian side is only a few kilometres away, and Sükhbaatar, the larger Mongolian town, a little farther, but you cannot simply wander across without the proper paperwork.
Take an hour to look at the old town. The Resurrection Cathedral, a big merchant church that has survived some hard decades, and the local museum, which tells the story of the trade, are the best ways to understand why a small place in the steppe mattered so much. The wind often carries the dry smell of grass and dust across the streets, and the sky is huge. It is a town that has lost its money but kept its pride.