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.
It goes by way of Altan els, Jamaalyg, Aryskannyg and back through Jamaalyg. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,650 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It crosses from Russia into Mongolia - carry ID and check the toll rules. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tsugeer els is where the day begins. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Altan els comes up about 216 km into the recorded legs. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 538 km into the recorded legs you reach Jamaalyg. Next is Aryskannyg.
Tuva sits in the heart of Asia, in a basin enclosed by the Sayan and Tannu-Ola ranges, and its geographical centre was once marked by a monument at Kyzyl, where the Yenisei begins its long journey north. This point lies in the western half of the republic, near Samagaltay, in country of steppe, river terraces and dry hills. Tuva is known for throat singing, for felt yurts and horses, and for a landscape strewn with the stone mounds and carved slabs of people who herded here thousands of years ago. The Scythian-era burial mound at Arzhan, in the east of the republic, held gold animal figures that rank among the glories of ancient steppe art.
Read the complete Aryskannyg write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Aryskannyg, about halfway. Next is back through Jamaalyg.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jamaalyg write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Jamaalyg sits at 1115 km, about halfway. Next is back through Altan els.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Altan els write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
back through Altan els comes up about 1465 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tsugeer els.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tsugeer els write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tsugeer els closes the day.
Tsugeer els → Altan els is 216 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Altan els → Jamaalyg is 322 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Jamaalyg → Aryskannyg is 303 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Aryskannyg → back through Jamaalyg is 303 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jamaalyg → back through Altan els is 322 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Altan els → Tsugeer els is 216 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.