Salt water in a landlocked basin, with snow mountains behind it and a horizon that goes on and on: Uvs Lake is a strange, quiet sight. It sits low, at around seven hundred metres above sea level, in a basin on the Mongolia and Tuva border, and it has no outlet. Water arrives from the rivers, mainly the Tes, and leaves only by evaporation, which is why the lake is salty and why its shape changes from year to year.
The shoreline is a mixed mess of reeds, mudflats, sandbars and wet meadow, and that is where the interest lies. In May and June and again in September, the shallows are filled with migrating birds, including pelicans, swans, bar-headed geese and many waders. The surrounding steppe has a light smell of sage and dry grass, and when the wind drops you can hear birds from a long way off. Across the water the Altai and Tannu-Ola ranges stand blue in the distance.
The lake has a long record of local use. Herders bring their animals to the shore pastures in summer, and nomadic families still follow the old pattern of moving between seasonal camps. Burial mounds and standing stones scattered around the basin show that people have lived and travelled here since the Bronze Age, and the Scythian-era tombs of Tuva, not far north, are among the richest ever found.
Riding to the shore means tracks across steppe, with soft patches near the water that can bog a loaded bike. Stop well back from the mud, and do not try to ride on the salt crust after rain. Wind is a feature of every day. Go in late spring or early autumn for birds, summer for warmth, and always leave with a full tank.