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 Tsugeer els, Altan els, Jamaalyg and back through Altan els. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,900 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.
Tuva is one of those places that makes you check the map twice. It lies in the geographic centre of Asia, in southern Siberia, a republic of high steppe and dry mountain ranges, with the Yenisei starting its long run north from here. Ular and the neighbouring sites belong to the Uvs Nuur Basin, a protected area shared between Russia and Mongolia and inscribed by UNESCO in 2003 for its mix of desert, steppe, mountain and wetland, all within a few hours' travel.
Read the complete Ular write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Ular is where the day begins. Next is 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Tsugeer els comes up about 77 km into the recorded legs. 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.
about 122 km into the recorded legs you reach Altan els. 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.
Jamaalyg, 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 sits at 251 km, about halfway. Next is back through 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.
back through Tsugeer els comes up about 301 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ular.
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Ular write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Ular closes the day.
Ular → Tsugeer els is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Tsugeer els → Altan els is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Altan els → Jamaalyg is 67 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Jamaalyg → back through Altan els is 67 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
back through Altan els → back through Tsugeer els is 45 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tsugeer els → Ular is 77 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.