"Where Siberia meets Mongolia..." Tuva by KarolaK

This summer, in late August, during my travel to Russia I had the opportunity to spend a few days in the Republic of Tuva. It is a small Russian republic with its own people – Tuvinians, speaking Tuvinian language. Tuva is located in southern Siberia near the Mongolian border, and you can find there almost all the types of landscapes and ecosystems – from deserts and steppes to taiga, tundra and rocky mountains. Although Tuva is mostly known for throat singing and maybe also for “The center of Asia” obelisk situated in the capital of Tuva – Kyzyl, there are many other interesting places to visit and things to do there, like the Buddhist Temple, National Museum of Tuva Republic or Kara-Hol lake just to name a few.

National Museum of Tuva Republic

Kyzyl is the capital of Tuva and its biggest city. The main tourist attraction is of course the monument symbolizing The Center of Asia. But in this city there are… two centers of Asia – one - most photogenic - at the Yenisey river, with beautiful view on the mountains, and the other one in the city center, not so representative, with distances to some world cities written on it (ex. London 6975km :)
There are three main religions in Tuva: Buddhism, Shamanism and Orthodox Christianity. In Kyzyl, among other traces of buddhism (ex. Theatre), there is a Buddhist Temple, where you can participate in some buddhist devotional practices. Remember not to turn backwards to Dalai Lama portrait – for Buddhists it’s an affront.
Another Kyzyl attraction is National Museum of Tuva Republic with interesting expositions on Tuvinian history, religion, flora and fauna, traditions, clothing, photography, everyday-life and others. Some expositions on Tuvinian geology and biology can be found also in Tuvinian Institute for the Exploration of Natural Resources – Siberian branch of Russian Academy of Science.

West Sayan Mountains

A natural reserve Ubsunorskaya Kotlovina located in south Tuva was created in 1993 (since 1997 as a Unesco Biosphere Reserve) to protect various mountain and highlands ecosystems of West Sayan Mountains. Even today most of the local people lead a nomadic existence, living in yurts or wooden chalets, pasturing sheeps and cows, riding horses… The landscapes are breathteaking, gorgeous mountains with snow-covered peaks, clear lakes, wild rivers, old larches, huge spaces with no people and no civilisation…