Why this ride
It goes by way of Saigachy, Saigachy-Beleuli and back through Saigachy. The line favours views over speed.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Saigachy-Duana and Saigachy-Beleuli
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 370 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 6 h 23
- 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.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Saigachy-Duana
There is nothing here with a name on a signpost, and that is the point. The label comes from the saiga, the strange, bulbous-nosed antelope that has lived on these steppes since the days of mammoths, and the plateau's rim breaks away in cliffs, called chinks, that glow white, pink and ochre when the light is low.
Read the complete Saigachy-Duana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Saigachy-Duana is where the day begins. Next is Saigachy.
2. Saigachy
Out on the plateau east of the Caspian, there are places where you can drive for a full day and meet nothing but sky. The Ustyurt, a vast, flat tableland of clay and limestone between the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea basin, was the route of caravans for centuries, travelling between the oases of Khiva and the Mangyshlak coast, and old wells and graveyards still mark the way.
Read the complete Saigachy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Saigachy comes up about 81 km into the recorded legs. Next is Saigachy-Beleuli.
3. Saigachy-Beleuli
This is a place where the map offers few names and even fewer roads. What I can describe is the landscape, and it is one of the most austere in the world: pale, stony ground, scattered tufts of saltwort and wormwood, and a horizon as flat as a table, broken only by the edge of the plateau where it drops in chalk cliffs known locally as chinks.
Read the complete Saigachy-Beleuli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 185 km into the recorded legs you reach Saigachy-Beleuli. Next is back through Saigachy.
4. back through Saigachy
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Saigachy write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Saigachy, late in the day. Next is Saigachy-Duana.
5. Saigachy-Duana
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Saigachy-Duana write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Saigachy-Duana. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Saigachy-Duana to Saigachy
Saigachy-Duana → Saigachy is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Saigachy to Saigachy-Beleuli
Saigachy → Saigachy-Beleuli is 104 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Saigachy-Beleuli to back through Saigachy
Saigachy-Beleuli → back through Saigachy is 104 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Saigachy to Saigachy-Duana
back through Saigachy → Saigachy-Duana is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Saigachy-Zhideyli and Saigachy-Beleuli · 331 km
- Saigachy and Saigachy-Duana · 242 km