Kyzyl Getting there & around

Getting there & away

Tyva Avia (12064; ul Bukhtueva 3; 9am-1pm & 2-5pm Mon-Sat) flies to Krasnoyarsk (R3210, four weekly), Novosibirsk (R3750, three weekly), Ust-Kut via Irkutsk (R3950, Saturday) and Abakan (R1150, Thursday). To Todzha (four weekly, weather permitting) it's R2050 by plane or R2800 by helicopter. Astair (Hotel Mongulek; 9am-6pm) plans to restart direct flights to Moscow.

For the lovely drive to Abakan, shared taxis (R600 to R800 per seat, 5½ hours) are well worth the difference over the grindingly slow, overbooked buses (R280, 10 hours), which depart from the bus station daily at 6.50am, 8pm and 9pm. Cars congregate behind Hotel Mongulek but if you book ahead through Mezhgorod (14343) they'll collect you from anywhere in town once almost full. Shared taxis/marshrutky are best for Chadan (R200/120), Ak-Dovurak (R350/230) and Saryg-Sep (R100/60) but these cannot usually be prebooked.

There's no railway but train tickets ex-Abakan are sold from the post office (special entrance on ul Chuldum).

Summer hydrofoils shoot along the Yenisey rapids up to Toora-Khem in Todzha (R870, 10 hours upstream, seven hours back) on alternate days. Prebook at the hydrofoil ticket office (11897; ul Tuvinskikh Dobrovoltsev; 9am-4pm) beside the quay. You'll need your passport. Window seats 19, 25 or 31 are best for views with least spray.