Thanks to Eva Krečová, I’ve eventually watched the Long Way Round episode dedicated the Road of Bones. So many years past, but it happened now only. If you weren’t lucky to see it, just do it and consider your traveling this way. Must be a lot of fun and adventure stories.
Btw, Eva Krečová & Tomáš Holman are the Czech travel motorcyclists, who repeated the same journey along the Road of Bones in August 2009, but alone on one BMW bike and without local truckers’ help. Check their set of Kolyma Highways photographs.
Watch other parts of the episode. Keep in mind that Ewan and Charley’s biking took place in June 2004. May and June is the period, when local rivers tend to be furious and full of high waters. The safer period is August.
The truth about Vladimir, a Russian truck driver, shown in the above video. He was since the very beginning of the Road of Bones journey. He was hired in Yakutsk by a local travel expert, Rail Zalyalov, in advance. Just for the case, when bikers would stuck at a river. There was also another truck. However, locals say Ewan and Charley were not lazy apparently. They worked on making its way as hard as hired supporters.
Rail, btw, was shown one or two times only. Unfair. The reason might be the fact he played many jokes on a TV show producer. Hehe. The moral is “Don’t make fun of a TV producer.” :)
Btw, what a driver did with a little bear is not legal. Killing brown bears in Yakutia is not allowed according to Russia and Republic’s legislation.
To kill wild bears and make money on them for survival in Kolyma is not, actually, necessary for now. A trucker can earn minimum 3000 EUR for one ride from Yakutsk to Magadan. 200 bucks, you know, doesn’t make any sense.
By the way, you might wish to consider 2010 moto travels via Yakutia:
- Sibirsky Extreme: Magadan to Mongolia (say “Hello” to Walter from me);
- The Road of Bones: London to Magadan (yeah, pass my greetings to Mike Garbe as well).
My god, I would like to join their trips. The funniest thing is I can’t even drive a bike. Man, that’s just my dream :)
Similar Posts:
- Sibirsky Extreme 2009 – DVD Preview. Yakutia included!
- 2009 Photo Report: The old route of the Kolyma Highway (Road of Bones) by Czech OFF SIBERIA motorcyclists
- Motorcyclists, take tyres for Siberian biking as many as possible!
- Flashback: 2010 Motorcycle Adventure Season on the Road of Bones, Yakutia/Siberia
- Summer 2010: Biking the Kolyma Highway (the Road of Bones) – Mountain Area
