Glad to be of help

The main Trans-Siberian route is really not very interesting until you get to Lake Baikal, so by deviating from it you won't miss much.

Much of northern and western Kazakhstan are also dull, but it's a nice kind of soothing emptiness which you can camp in without (many) mosquitoes. But the further south you go, the hotter it gets. I like the centre of Kazakhstan for this, though there isn't a clear road across.

There are some nice backroads in the South Urals, in the Miass - Orenburg - Magnitogorsk area. Western Siberia is pretty dull. The best bits are when you head south into Altai, Tuva, Khakassia and Kemerovo Regions. There are a few detours you could do here.

East of here things are slightly more interesting as the scenery after Baikal becomes nicer. Again, I can recommend back-roads if you are interested.

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.

You are confirming my view on this, apart from the fact that I have no experience and don't know many nice backroads. I also heard from other travellers abuot this section, birch trees and mosquitoes.
Altai was already long time on our list, and have already been looking into what to visit there. This is because anything you want to visit (those detours) close to the borders (like Sailugem) you need to arrange a permit in advance. Not a big deal but you have to already do that in advance.

I rode through those areas in June/July. I Siberia towards east the moskitos started to be a plague, clouds of them follow you, I have a short clip of that phenomeanon. Although there is nothing much in mid Kaz. I loved it. I rested my eyes and my mind while riding through this land of nowhere. It´s amazing how much space I´ve experienced there. It was wonderful for me. Others find it boring, or not interesting...I love it.

There is much to see in the Altai region without touching special permit areas. And it´s easy to find backroads, in my case: they always found me, there was nothing more to wish for.

For Siberia: take local moskito repellent, this will cost you some days of your lifetime, but it works.
And take a moskito hat, to avoid strolling around with your helmet on. ;-)

For Kazakhstan: carry a camelback. It´s really hot in summer! If you like deserts, go there. Camping is easy, riding is smooth. Don´t speed if you see any shadow ahead (i.e. under a bridge), that´s where the cops are hiding from the heat and they will hassle you if you were speeding or crossing the line.

For Kirgistan:
always carry some 10$ bills on different places on you. you might need them for bribing.
For eastern Russia:
no more camping for us, first of all, we were warned abot criminals, and wildlife.
And I really liked the long roads, just like Kaz. but with trees.

To your 1. post: I would definetely rush through the states :-)

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Hi
You mentioned you didnt camp in Eastern Siberia because of criminals and wildlife,
Did you manage to find cheap accomodation where ever you needed it?