The Mongolian Altai does not look like the landscape of a rock-art gallery. It looks like open ground, grey and gold in the light, with snow mountains standing far off along the border of China and Russia. And yet near here, in the far west of Bayan-Ulgii province, the rocks hold thousands of petroglyphs, some of them thought to be many thousands of years old. Tsagaan Salaa and Baga Oigor are the best known. Aral Tolgoi is a neighbouring part of the same inscribed group.
The pictures are pecked into dark stone: hunters with bows, ibex, mammoth-like beasts in the oldest layers, later horses and chariots, and Turkic-era riders. They span the end of the Ice Age through the Bronze Age to the medieval period. No one is sure why people kept returning to carve here, but the valley clearly mattered, and the sense of continuity is hard to shake. Standing in front of an animal drawn long before anyone wrote anything down is a quiet thing.
The people of this province are mostly Kazakhs, and the region is known for its eagle hunters. In winter, hunters on horseback go out with golden eagles, and families live in felt gers in the summer pastures. You may meet shepherds who are curious about a motorcycle, and if invited for tea or salty milk tea, accept.
The riding is expedition-level. Tracks are rough and often just parallel scars across the steppe, rivers have to be crossed, and weather in the Altai can turn from sun to snow in one afternoon even in summer. Fuel and supplies are in Olgii, the provincial capital, which is a long way from here, so carry spare fuel and enough water, and tell someone your route. Best time is June to September. Come with a bike you trust and a day to spare, because the place rewards a slow pace and bad ground punishes a fast one.