Rainy, rainy, rainy… Chilly, chilly, chilly… Yeah, that’s how it is. September 2009 appeared to be hard for drivers travelling on the Road of Bones. Especially on the old route of the Kolyma Highway from Tomtor to Kadykchan. Everything along the way from Yakutsk through Kyubeme to Tomtor looks perfect. No real obstacles. You can ride to Kyubeme just for 1.5 day and you wouldn’t even stuck.
However, the road after Tomtor is not as smooth as one wishes to be. I called the head of the Tomtor settlement and asked “Is it possible for a 4wd car to drive after Tomtor to Kadykchan?” He said, “Yes. No problems at all. River waters are not so high. You can wade rivers easily. There are puddles on the track though, but if you have a winch, you won’t stuck.” A few moments later I heard “Believe me, everything is okey. I have here the chief of road maintenance department, and he proves my words.”
I passed the information to the Turkish 4WD traveller, Ali Eric (www.istanbul2istanbul.com), when he was already in Khandyga. By the way, you should see his eyes prior to his departure for Magadan. There were excitement and doubts at the same time. As any adventure traveller, he wanted to try the old route of the Kolyma Highway, the most thrilling part of the journey, but his mind said also things like “Be careful. That’s Siberia. You shouldn’t risk.” Further, please, see what happened then. He sent three astonishing photos from Magadan.
Below-posted pictures are fascinating, indeed. You can see how Yakutia might be beautiful and severe.
The pictures look amazing. But he felt pretty much sad. Stuck in nowhere. Surrounded with mountains and wild animals, and the closest settlement was located a few hundreds kilometers away.
It happened on Friday. Immediately he let me know through his Australia based friend. He send an email message from his satellite phone to a friend. Later sent me a sms to my mobile. I replied the Australian guy via the Skype sms service. A very complicated scheme, but the only existing. That was the way of how I kept a contact with Ali. After a while, I learned how to send messages to Ali directly. A cool service, by the way. If interested, check this link http://bit.ly/oRLf8.
That’s where Ali stuck on the Road of Bones. Check the Google map or just watch the below picture.
Ali made me worry. Really worry. I have a friend of mine in Tomtor. He was not available. At that moment he was rafting with Czechs somewhere in mountains, and, certainly, he didn’t have such cool satellite mobile. Even if he had, he wasn’t able to help me. I called the administration of Tomtor. The head was away. Firday, you know, and the start of the hunting period. All village males embarked on hunting journeys.
My goodness. I didn’t have any idea of how to get Ali out of this puddle. Fortunately, I found the home phone number of that road maintenance department chief, who proved the Tomtor administration head’s words. Here is the name of the hero, Alexander Alexseevich. Yeah, right this way. First goes the given name, then his middle name. That’s the Russian way of respectful addressing.
I called Alexander Alexseevich, explained him the situation, and asked finally, whether he would be able to help the Turkish driver. “You know,” I said. “The driver even agrees to pay for help. If needed, I can give you his coordinates. Just 5 km before the border of Oymyakonsky ulus and Magadan Oblast.”
Mr. Alexander Alexseevich appeared to be a very sociable man. He said, “No, I don’t need coordinates. I know this place very well. Just a couple weeks ago in the same puddle another foreign vehicle with German, American and, probably, Czech adventurers got stuck. Right, no trees around to hook on with a winch. So we were forced to get them out. Later they went back to Kyubeme and turned to Ust-Nera.”
“So, will you help?” asked I again.
“Certainly. But it is too late now. I’ll send an UAZ car tomorrow in the early morning. Tell him to make a campfire and endure the night.”
I passed the latest news to Ali. He texted me back a short message “Ok. Thanks for help.” Oh, man. I can’t even imagine how it was at night on that place. When I communicated through an Australian friend, I found that it was -3C at midday. Damn, it is already getting cold in Oymyakon.
Well, the next morning I called Alexander Alekseevich. He said “No probs. The car was sent at 8.00 am.” Around 1 pm I got a message from All. He informed that everything was okey, the rescue operation looked fascinating and professionally done, and he had already hit the way back to Tomtor.
A few hours later I received a call from a happy road chief.
“So, your Turkish friend feels perfect,” said Alexander. “He has just visited my place. We chatted a little, drank vodka. A good guy he is. So, we decided not to charge him. Actually, we feel sorry for the condition of our roads.”
Afterward, I got a call from Ali. And he was happy. He told me the same things. A visit to Alexander, a friendly chat, a little vodka. So… Eventually he decided to stay in Tomtor for night :)))
Praise god, no more head ache and worries. And, praise god, there are such stuff as telephones, mobiles, Skype, Internet and satellite. Otherwise, I don’t know what could happen to Ali, to this brave guy of Turkey.
A few advices:
1. Take along with sat phones and GPS navigators.
2. Keep batteries charged.
3. Have an iron bar or a crow-bar.
4. Let locals know where and when you go.
5. But it would be much better, if you ask locals to guide you all the way.
6. Don’t travel the old route of the Road of Bones alone.
Later Alexander said to me “Don’t understand those foreigners. We, locals, pass the [old] route very easily. Hunters travel this way regularly in summer. If bogged, drivers just put an iron bar inside the ground as deep as possible, hold on it with a winch and get pulled out of the mud. An usual practice. Yeah. I should admit, we know the area perfectly, we know where and how to go through.”
PS. Ali held a record. The driving from Yakutsk to Magadan takes maximum 3 days. He spent on the way the whole week :) Anyway he’s got a big Kolyma story to tell his friends :)
PS2. Ali says the part Kyubeme – Ust-Nera – Kadykchan – Magadan was very easy to pass and turned out to be not so exciting as the route through Tomtor.
Similar Posts:
- Yakutsk – Magadan: A satellite phone is a must! Or how Norwegians were lost and found on the Road of Bones…
- Pros & Cons: Travel from Yakutsk to Magadan in winter by taxi
- 2009 Photo Report: The old route of the Kolyma Highway (Road of Bones) by Czech OFF SIBERIA motorcyclists
- 2009 August Road Report: the condition of the Kolyma Highway (the Road of Bones) in Oymyakonsky Ulus
- The Ford Fiesta will try the Road of Bones
