CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
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.
The stops in between: Tes River, Ubsu-Nur and back through Tes River. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,350 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Russia into Mongolia - carry ID and check the toll rules.
The Uvs Nuur Basin is one of those places on the map that looks like a mistake. A huge salt lake, a ring of mountains, a dry steppe, a patch of desert and a snowfield, all within a few hours of each other. The basin straddles the border between Mongolia and Russia, and the Russian part lies in Tuva, a republic of throat singers, shamans and horse herders in the heart of Siberia. Oroku-Shinaa, in the northern part, is one of the clusters protected as part of the UNESCO site listed in 2003.
Read the complete Oroku-Shinaa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Oroku-Shinaa is where the day begins. Next is Tes River.
Where the Tes river comes down from the Mongolian highlands to the Uvs basin, in the far north-west of the country, the land is open, stony and almost without trees. It flows toward Uvs Nuur, the largest lake in Mongolia, a shallow body of salt water that has no outlet, shared with the Russian republic of Tuva, and the whole basin is a UNESCO site, listed in 2003 as one of the best preserved steppe ecosystems in Central Asia. The delta of the river is a wetland where reeds, marsh and pools attract migrating birds, including swans, pelicans, cranes and many ducks.
Read the complete Tes River write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tes River comes up about 451 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ubsu-Nur.
Ubsu-Nur, or Uvs Nuur, is a lake in a land of extremes. It lies in a closed basin on the border between Mongolia and the Russian republic of Tuva, in the middle of Central Asia, where there is no outlet to the sea, so the water simply evaporates, leaving it too salty to drink. It is the largest lake in Mongolia by area, shallow, with wide marshes and reed beds, and it sits between the Altai mountains to the west and the Sayan range to the north. The Tes river, which feeds the lake, gives its name to a part of the basin, and the whole area was listed by UNESCO in 2003 as the Uvs Nuur Basin.
Read the complete Ubsu-Nur write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 862 km into the recorded legs you reach Ubsu-Nur. Next is back through Tes River.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tes River write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Tes River, late in the day. Next is Oroku-Shinaa.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Oroku-Shinaa write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Back at Oroku-Shinaa. That is the ride.
Oroku-Shinaa → Tes River is 451 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tes River → Ubsu-Nur is 411 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ubsu-Nur → back through Tes River is 411 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tes River → Oroku-Shinaa is 451 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.