Understand
Tuva is on the border with Mongolia and shares much in common with the adjacent Mongolian regions. Tuvans comprise the largest ethnic group over 60% in the region and Tibetan Buddhism, mixed with indigenous Shamanism, is the predominant religion. Perhaps Tuva's greatest offering for the visitor is its musical treasure: Khoomei. Khoomei, also known as throat-singing or overtone-singing, is a method in which the singer simultaneously produces a low drone and a series of higher melodies over the drone note. This music is utterly unique and a performance is said to be a powerful experience. Tuva is of interest for its diverse and impressive wild landscapes. Tuva's topography spans desert, grassy steppe, lakes, and snow-covered mountains, many of which are dotted with cultural monuments of the Tuvan and Schithian herdsman who have nomadized across the region for millennia.
Tuvan's suffered greatly under Soviet repression of their culture and religion, particularly at the incidents of 1929, in which shamans and Buddhist monks were ruthlessly arrested and killed in a large-scale act of cultural vandalism against the Tuvan minority. As a result, foreign tourists are likely to be greeted with an even warmer welcome than in most of Siberia, as they are seen as part of a new future for Tuva that values the region's traditions. Many of the Tuvans were forced by the Soviet government to abandon their nomadic lifestyle and to work on collective farms, but to this day Tuvan culture remains essentially rural and, to a lesser degree, nomadic. Accordingly, to experience the "real" Tuva, you will need to get out into the countryside, among the sacred peaks of the Western Sayan.
