Why this ride
The stops in between: Saigachy-Duana, Saigachy and back through Saigachy-Duana. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Saigachy-Zhideyli and Saigachy
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 281 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 51
- 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-Zhideyli
Somewhere on the vast, empty Ustyurt plateau, between the Caspian and the dried-out Aral Sea, the map reads Saigachy-Zhideyli, and then it goes quiet. The Ustyurt is a high, flat desert of clay and limestone, cut at its edges by sheer white cliffs called chinks, and it lies partly in Kazakhstan and partly in Uzbekistan. It is one of the emptiest places in Eurasia.
Read the complete Saigachy-Zhideyli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Saigachy-Zhideyli is where the day begins. Next is Saigachy-Duana.
2. 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 comes up about 59 km into the recorded legs. Next is Saigachy.
3. 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
about 140 km into the recorded legs you reach Saigachy. Next is back through Saigachy-Duana.
4. back through 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 through Saigachy-Duana, late in the day. Next is Saigachy-Zhideyli.
5. Saigachy-Zhideyli
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Saigachy-Zhideyli write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Back at Saigachy-Zhideyli. That is the ride.
Leg by leg
Saigachy-Zhideyli to Saigachy-Duana
Saigachy-Zhideyli → Saigachy-Duana is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
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 back through Saigachy-Duana
Saigachy → back through Saigachy-Duana is 81 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Saigachy-Duana to Saigachy-Zhideyli
back through Saigachy-Duana → Saigachy-Zhideyli is 59 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
More motorcycle rides nearby
- Saigachy-Duana and Saigachy · 242 km
- Saigachy and Saigachy-Duana · 242 km