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CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE

Jamaalyg and Altan els

Plan this ride

Recorded distance
839 km
Riding-time estimate
14 h 29
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis

Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: planning record, not independently verified geometry.

Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.

Distances and riding times are planning figures. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.

Open this ride in CurveScout

Why this ride

It goes by way of Tsugeer els, Altan els and back through Tsugeer els. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,600 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Russia into Mongolia - carry ID and check the toll rules.

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

  1. 1. Jamaalyg

    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.

    Read the complete Jamaalyg write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Jamaalyg is where the day begins. Next is Tsugeer els.

  2. 2. Tsugeer els

    In the far south of Tuva, a Russian republic on the border with Mongolia, sand dunes appear among the steppe and the mountains as if they had wandered north out of the Gobi. Tsugeer Els is one of these dune fields, near the village of Erzin, and it belongs to the Uvs Nuur Basin, a UNESCO site shared by Russia and Mongolia since 2003. The basin is a closed depression around the salt lake of Uvs Nuur, and within it you can find almost every landscape of Central Asia: glaciers, alpine meadows, taiga, steppe, semi-desert and sand dunes, all in a relatively small area.

    Read the complete Tsugeer els write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Tsugeer els comes up about 229 km into the recorded legs. Next is Altan els.

  3. 3. Altan els

    Sand dunes are the last thing you expect to find at the edge of a great freshwater-looking lake in the mountains of Mongolia, but the Uvs Nuur basin is a place of surprises. Altan Els, the Golden Sands, is a belt of dunes and sandy steppe on the shore of Uvs Nuur, the largest lake in Mongolia by area, a shallow, salty inland sea that sits in a closed basin between the Altai and the Tannu-Ola ranges, and shares its watershed with the Russian republic of Tuva. The whole basin, in two countries, was inscribed on the World Heritage list in 2003 as one of the best examples of Central Asian steppe, desert and mountain ecosystems.

    Read the complete Altan els write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    about 419 km into the recorded legs you reach Altan els. Next is back through Tsugeer els.

  4. 4. back through Tsugeer els

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Tsugeer els write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    back through Tsugeer els, late in the day. Next is Jamaalyg.

  5. 5. Jamaalyg

    Return visit. Read the place description above.

    Read the complete Jamaalyg write-up.

    Recorded stop-planning note

    May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

    Planning note

    Back at Jamaalyg. That is the ride.

Leg by leg

Jamaalyg to Tsugeer els

Jamaalyg → Tsugeer els is 229 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Tsugeer els to Altan els

Tsugeer els → Altan els is 191 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

Altan els to back through Tsugeer els

Altan els → back through Tsugeer els is 191 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

back through Tsugeer els to Jamaalyg

back through Tsugeer els → Jamaalyg is 229 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.

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