A presentation picture of the Museum of Gulags located in Khandyga, Siberia/Russia

Last two days I spent at 2011 Sakha Travel Exhibition in Yakutsk. It is an annual event held during the first weekend of April. I attend the exhibit just to find new travel enthusiasts from various regions of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

This time I was lucky to meet Mr. Ivan Igoshin from the settlement of Khandyga. He knows almost everything about history of GULAGs in Siberia, as he is the founder of Yakutia Gulags Museum. Right, it is located in Khandyga, where he lives. You can see him in the picture with a tower. Besides, he is a leader of Khandyga Travel Club.

I wanted to meet him for many years. At last, I acquanted with him today. I was really lucky and, yeah, you might be happy about it as well. At least, I hope so :) We decided to cooperate! Woo hoo!

Museum Address: 30 Karpov Street, Khandyga, Yakutia/Russia, tel. +7 (41153) 413-95.

Proud to announce the opening of the photo exhibition “On the Road of Bones: Ghosts of the Siberian Gulag Along the Old Kolyma Highway” at Kris Waldherr Art and Words studio gallery in Brooklyn, New York, today.

About exhibition
Through photography and mixed media, “On the Road of Bones” reveals the secret history and hidden landscape of Kolyma, formerly the land of Soviet labor camps and the coldest inhabited region on earth. Stunning new works by young native Siberian photographers Bolot Bochkarev, Nastya Borisova, and Ajar Varlamov trace the remains of the vast highway built across the taiga, tundra, and permafrost of North Asia by Stalin’s prisoners. The exhibition juxtaposes the tragic events of the past with the powerful natural beauty of the frozen land and the daily lives of northern people.

Frankly saying, I and my friends didn’t plan to have any event. This year we had just wonderful journey to Oymyakon (about the travel), but New York-based exhibition curator Thomas Ross Miller said we needed to do some. We’ll here we are.

More info and opening day photographs at eYakutia.com .

Received a request from Jenanne, a Scotland University of Aberdeen PhD Student. Her major is Social Anthropology, so all her questions sounded accordingly. Mainly she wondered how popular the Sakha (Yakut) language was on the Internet. I said I had a friend of mine, who’s hobby was to write in his native language everything and everywhere in every corner of the worldwide net.

The person I recommended to torture with those questions was Halan (that’s how he prefers to call himself online), who stands behind Sakha Wikipedia. I reforwarded Jenanne’s questions to him. He answered and then Jenanne (currently she studies Russian, but speaks Ukrainian pretty good, cause her mother is originated from Ukraine) translated his text into English. Find Halan’s replies further:

1. Is Sakha your native language? What other languages do you speak?
Yes, my parents speak this language, my grandparents spoke it and I myself didn’t know another language until entering school. Now I speak Russian almost as a native speaker. I studied English later, but this was a requirement of a training program in school and university – that is, the approach to the study was rather formal, therefore unfortunately I don’t speak it for practical purposes. I can read texts on simple themes, and also medical texts with a dictionary.

2. What is your profession?
First – an automobile driver, secondly a doctor – I have a PhD in epidemiology, and third – a manager. At the present time, I manage a small business delivering medicines and medical services.

3. How did you get involved with working on the Sakha Wikipedia? About how many people are collaborating on the Sakha Wikipedia?
I have children growing up, who in my opinion should be proud of belonging to the Sakha people and of their native language. But to be proud of a language with limited possibilities is difficult. Therefore I want that my rich and ancient Sakha language to become widely used in all spheres of human activity. Wikipedia can help a language become universal. From May 2008, when a section in Sakha opened, I became its bureaucrat (administrator). Now the Sakha Wikipedia has about 6000 articles. By this indicator we are in 4th place in Russia (after the sections in Russian, Chuvash, and Yiddish). For reference, in the country there are more than 100 languages that do not have their own national education or formation outside of Russia.

There are no specialized statistics about how many people write or use Wikipedia in our language. But I can say that there are from about 10 people actively writing to about 50 people who write from time to time.

4. Are you involved in any other Sakha language websites, or any other activities to promote the language?
Yes, I am trying to socialize on Sakha forums in Sakha. In the last three years I am actively publishing articles in the press, keeping special blogs in the Sakha language, and entering in studies and public forums in support of native language. I am thechairman of the social/public organization Tas Sakhalar, the task of which is to support connections with Sakha living outside the boundaries of Yakutia.

5. In your opinion, why is it important to promote and spread the usage of the Sakha language on the Internet?
The widening/broadening of the representation of language on the Internet and in general of informational-communication technologies is one of the most important conditions of the retention and development of a language, and of transmission of cultural information to the future generations.

6. What do you think are the most popular websites for people in the Sakha Republic? (e.g. which news sites, which networking sites – Facebook, MySpace, YouTube…)
I don’t completely understand. If you are speaking about the most popular sites of Yakutians, then they are very different and it is unlikely one can gather such statistics. If you are talking about languages, then it is my personal feeling that the most popular ones are usually those sites in Russian.

7. On which Internet sites do you see people using the Sakha language the most?
Recently I made a rather superficial analysis, not pretending in truth in the last instance. It is such that of 34 sites getting into my field of vision (excluding my own blogs) only 15 are completely done in the Sakha language or have a full Sakha version at the same level as other language versions. Still 11 rather often place Sakha texts alongside foreign languages. 8 are done in Russian, but have materials facilitating contact in Sakha (dictionaries, ethnic music, etc).

8. Are there any internet sites that are only in Sakha (besides the Wikipedia) and not Russian, English or any other language?
I answered above.

9. Do younger or older people tend to use the Sakha language more on the Internet? (What age are the people who use Sakha the most on the Internet?)
Specialist research hasn’t been conducted, and this still awaits our own researchers. I think that more middle-ageed representatives study language on the Internet, since the older generation in general badly controls technologies, and youth socialize more in two languages at the same time or even in a mixed language.

10. Do you see more Sakha speakers using English on the Internet, or is using Russian still more popular?
There is a definite tendency. In the language 20 a whole generation of Sakha appeared, controlling well one or two foreign languages (English, German, and French). The Russian language is controlled on a very good level at a practical manner by all youth and all city-dwellers, and at a passable level by all adult inhabitants of the Republic.

11. I found on the Orto Doidu website that there was a list of words in Sakha for computer terminology: http://doydu.sakhaopenworld.org/01tylgt.php. Do you know who worked together to create these? Are you seeing these words used a lot on the Internet, or do you think it is more common to use the Russian or English equivalents?

Yes, this little dictionary was made by my good acquaintance Bert Jikty (Yakov Alexandrov), a man having engineering training, presently a patriot of the nation. The terms Bert Jikty suggests are usually used on Sakha sites, for example, for the translation of the Wiki interface, I based it precisely on this dictionary. Computer terms such as those worldwide, penetrate into Russia from English-speaking countries. Here they at first are adapted to the Russian language, and then penetrate into other languages of the Russian Federation. At the present time, in Russia there appears to be many people speaking the English language no worse than Russian, and therefore people have appeared who consider it correct to borrow terms directly from English avoiding the Russian equivalents.

12. Do you notice many people ‘mixing’ languages when they communicate on the internet? Like speaking Sakha, and using Russian or English words too in their speech?
I don’t completely understand the question. Among Sakha youth it’s always been fashionable to insert (use) some Russian words in one’s sentences. In recent times the use of English expressions has become fashionable. Well, the Internet is a mirror of society, therefore there as well such things are unavoidable.

GULAGs researcher always asked me whether I had a map of GULAGs located on Siberia’s famous Road of Bones. I answered that I didn’t have. Now I have it on the blog.

The Road of Bones is the part of the Kolyma Highway constructed by GULAGs prisoners between Khandyga and Magadan in Stalin’s time. Many innocent people died in the course of its construction. It is believed that there were one dead prisoner per one kilometer. The length of the mentioned route is ~1700 km. So you can imagine how many people passed away and were buried under the road.

Click the pic to enlarge the map. The photo was made in a history & culture museum in Tomtor by Kirill Levin during our journey to the Pole of Cold. Size 1.3 Mb.

This is the map of GULAGs located in the Oymyakonsky region on the east side of the Verkhoyansky Range. There were also a lot of labour camps located on the east side, north to the village of Topolinoe from the Kolyma Highway.

In the map GULAGs are marked by blue points in black circles. The name of now existing settlements are written in red Latin letters.

A month ago the message arrived from Sweden. A horses breeding enthusiast Karl wrote:

First of all, I want to tell you how fantastic it is of you to put up this opportunities to ask questions about Yakutia.

Thanks for your positive feedback :)

Well, I´m very interested in the Yakut ponies. There is actually not so much about them on the Internet. From pictures I have seen they look a lot like Shetland ponies. Are there any of them in Europe? Or have they newer ever exported or sold any horse?

I live in Sweden and love horses. I want to know everything possible about these wonderful horses.

My reply is the following.

1. Frankly saying, I don’t know anything about the Yakut ponies :) Maybe, Karl meant the Yakut horses. They really look like ponies. Relatively short, but strong. The Sakha people are proud of them. As far as you know, Yakuts’ major activity was horse breeding.

2. There isn’t any of them in Europe, unfortunately. I reforwarded this question to Valery Protopopov, pro-rector of the Yakut Agriculture Academy. He said there was no Yakut horses export experience ever recorded. So… be the first. Local breeding experts are very interested in it.

WHAT IS THE YAKUT HORSE?
Read the article that was published once in local newspapers many years ago. Thank God, I saved it and can share it now.

Written by N.D. Alexeev, N.P. Stepanov

Breeding of the Yakut species of horse, developed under severe conditions of the North by people’s selection, is a traditional occupation of the rural inhabitants in Yakutia. The horse- breeding, basing on year-round pasturing, has become one of the main and profitable branches of stock-breeding, the base of the life style and economy of rural inhabitants. In gross meat production, horsemeat occupies 22-25%, making up to 40 % at some farms.

Yakut horse is the most northern breed being developed all the year round in the open air under extreme northern conditions. Its spreading range on the territory of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) goes far beyond the Arctic circle to forest-tundra zone, where the fluctuation of the absolute annual temperatures reaches 108 С (from +38 to -70 С ), and winter pasturing period lasts for 8 months a year.

According to modern scientific data Yakut horse is one of the most ancient breeds in the world. Researchers assume that modern Yakut horse is a direct descendant of primitive and the most ancient domesticated horses that came to this severe region from the centre of domestication. Immune and genetic markers revealed high genetic similarity of Yakut horses with horses of Central-Asian origin (Akhal-Teke, Arabian, Kazakh , Kirghiz , blooded saddle-horse) and Polish aboriginal horse.

Yakut horse is bred by the pasturing method, based on year-round use of natural pastures. Yakut horses have a complex structure. Local types of Yakut horse were formed under influence of natural and climatic conditions of specific areas and as a result of different levels of mixture with other breeds.
Types within the breed

When differentiating types within the breed, the most important criterion was what the original material that connected all existing types was. It turned out to be thoroughbred Yakut horse bred in central and Vilyuisk regions. They became the main source for all other types of Yakut horse.

Original type horses are blooded Yakut horses. They descend from Lake Baikal horses that were brought by ancestors of the Yakut people and they are their direct descendants. Thoroughbred breeding and unchangeable herd pasturing during several centuries enabled keeping original Yakut horse features. They are more adapted to severe condition of keeping: winter frost, scanty and little nutritious feed. Their external construction and the type of build changing according to a season of the year characterize the final degree of morphological adaptation of the animal to influence of extreme environmental conditions.

In general, these horses are not big but have a harmonious built. In summer they do not differ much from cultivated types of southern origin in the way of build. In autumn, after accumulating fat, they differ in mass and stout construction. The head is of average size, with straight profile. The neck is short and broad; withers are low but wide enough. The back is of average length, the croup is wide. There occur horses with shortcut and loppy croup. The chest is deep and comparatively wide. Horses of this type have short and strong legs with firm hoofs without crackles. There occur closely set legs at the hock and some narrowness of the hock angle. The dominating colors of the original type horses: mousey of different shades, roan, various shades of grey, chestnut, red, skewbald and seldom mottled.

Yansky type horses are pure-blooded Yakut horses, whose ancestors came from the original type that bred on the Yana and Indigirka rivers valleys. In their exterior they are similar to their primary type – horses of the original type, but they are more massive and larger. Yansky type horses differ in stout constitution, high adaptability to winter frost with poor pasture feed. All this is possible due to great fattening ability of this type horses during short summer and autumn period. The head is of average size with straight and concave profile, forehead is wide. The neck is short and fat, withers are wide and low, the back is of average length, and croup is comparatively long and wide. The chest is broad and deep. The legs are strong and set regularly. There are dominating light colors like all the northern horses have: grey and mousey of various shades, roan and others.

Kolymsky type horses are also pure-blooded Yakut horses, bred on the rivers of Kolyma and Alazeya valleys. Forefathers of their ancestors also came from the original type. They are typically northern horses.

This type horses are characterized by strong constitution, good fattening ability. The head is massive, with straight profile, neck is of average length, well muscled, and withers are average and wide. The back is straight, of average length; the croup is high, mildly deflated and round. The chest is deep and broad; legs are strong, regularly set. The dominating color of the Kolymsky type horses is grey of various shades, down to white, which is sometimes mistakenly associated with the influence of extinct wild so-called “tundra horse”.

Enlarged type. This type horses are received as a result of blood-mixing of farm breeds (the Orlov trotter and Russian heavydraft horse) to the horses of central and western Yakutia farms, as well as the result of improved feeding and breeding. A typical feature of the enlarged type horses is its longer body and relatively high withers. The head is of average size, little hook-nosed. The neck is of average length, back is straight and wide, and croup is high and muscled. The legs are put regularly, hoofs are strong enough. The dominating colors of these horses are: mousey, chestnut, roan, red, skewbald, grey of various shades.

Megezheksky type . Yakut horses bred by mixing blood of Kuznetsky type horses. This type was finally formed in the 1990s and selected as an independent type. Mostyly, these horses are bred at Stepan Vasiliev stud farm in Nyurbinsky region. The name of the type comes from the place of its development at Megezheksky settlement. This type is also bred at some places of Nyurbinsky and Suntarsky regions. Some outstanding examples have the mass of 600 kg and more.

The head is relatively big and the forehead is wide, with broad jowls, and straight and a little bit hooked profile; the eyes are lively, ears are short; the neck is of average length, straight and massive. The withers are of average height, tall enough. The back of the Megezheksky type horse is wide, straight and long that provides well expressed meat forms. Little “softness” of the back occurs in old horses. The loin is wide and strong, well muscled. The croup is high and wide with well developed musculature, the chest is broad and deep, ribs are round.

Horses of the Megezheksky type are characterized by regularly limbs setting. Setting defects like (toes-out or toes-in) are extremely rare. The limbs are strong, with well expressed tendon.

The colors of horses of the Megezheksky type are varied and basically are broken down evenly: light brown with a black mane and tail (19.5%), roan (16.9%), chestnut (16.6%), grey (13.7%) and mousey (2.3%).
Productive qualities

Horses are bred for meat and milk production, as well as for work. Meat output and slaughter yield depend on the age and nutritional state of animals. Foals at age of 6 months give at the average 106 kg , at the age of 2.5 years – 165 kg , while adult horses give 228 kg , and their slaughter yield is respectively: 55,9; 49,1 and 54,5%. High velocity of foals’ growth before 6-month age is provided with comparatively high milk productivity of mares of the Yakut breed. The peak of mares yield is observed at the beginning of lactation, when it reaches 18- 20 liters . Different sorts of horses mares’ yield for 6 months to lactation varies from 1 500 to 2 400 liters .
Reproductive qualities

Yakut mares are capable to give full-fledged posterity till 18-20-year age under such severe living conditions. Work output of foals from every one hundred January mares reaches 60-65 % in average, at good years up to 80 % and more.

The main structural unit of a horse herd is a herd, headed by a stallion. The herd consists of 10-15 mares and the current-year yield. The size of the herd depends on the age and herding qualities of a stallion-producer. Young animals of the past years yield form separate herds according to sex and age.

Fillies reaching the age of three years are released into herds of reproducing composition. Newly formed herds are kept in corals for few days and only afterwards they are released.
Adapting qualities

Yakut horse is perfectly adapted to living conditions. It is also proved by seasonal periods of mass foaling that basically occurs at May and June. Foaling takes place at the most favorable time of the year, so that a yield would prepare well to meet severe winter conditions during summer-autumn time.

The type of built of Yakut horse changes twice a year: in winter it takes full-bodied appearance, in summer – shallow-bodied. So in winter the body area decreases, giving less heat, and in summer, on contrary, it increases, which results in greater heat loss. Decrease of a body area is also reached by shortening of emerging parts of body: ears, legs and neck.

Adaptation to winter frost is reached also by growing of thick and long hair. Young animals have longer and thicker hair than adult horses do. In adult horses, stallion-producers have thick hair. High heat insulating characteristics of Yakut horses winter fur increase due to thick core layer in all the categories of hair, which takes up to 81 % its thicknesses. It provides still air layer around the animal body. Sub dermal fat layer, accumulated in favorable, from feeding point of view, summer-autumn period reaches thickness of 2- 3 cm and serves as another heat insulator during frost.

Besides morphological adapting qualities Yakut horse also possesses unique physiologically biochemical mechanism of adaptation to frost. The breath frequency and respiratory volume considerably fall in winter, from 20 breathings per minute in summer to 10- 12 in winter and 19.8 liters per minute in summer to 12.6 l/min in winter respectively, while the blood circulation speeds up with circulating shelters volume increasing to 24 % and shelter volume per a minute – to 59%. In addition, heat production level falls from 8.65 kJ/kg/h in summer to 4.83 kJ/kg/h in winter.

During long cold winter the heat balance is ensured by economical consumption of fat reserve, which takes up to 20-22 % from flourish weight. The accumulated reserve of the internal fat of a well-fed adult-horse reaches 35 kg .

High adapting qualities of Yakut horses to extreme northern conditions contribute to relatively high reproductive qualities. The main limiting factors of breeding horses of this type are availability of pastures, their quality and accessibility, as well as duration of extreme environmental factors (low temperature, icing, sever winter winds).
Use in economy

Horse for the Yakut people, first of all, is a means of transportation and pulling force. Yakut horse is characterized by endurance and unpretentiousness to its feed. Until lately, horses made 60-70% of haymaking. Yakut horse as a beast of burden was used since ancient times. Kolymsk merchants would carry cargoes from Yakutsk to Srednekolymsk on the same horses, which is the 2450 kilometers distance. Herewith, more than 1.5 thousand kilometer they covered only on pasturages.

In the XXI century Yakut horse is used in farm works, haymaking, hunting and fishing in the countryside. Summer national holiday “Ysyakh” is usually accompanied with horse race. Horses are used in tourism, in walking children, etc.
Major scientific works on the branch development:

• The scientific expedition materials, submitted in 1987 to approbations of the Yakut breed.

• Plans of selective and tribal works in horse-breeding.

• Ways of increasing herd productivity and its rational use.

• Original recipes of mineral and vitamin additives for Yakut types of horses.

• Technologies of the horse-breeding production processing.

• Systems of horse-breeding under conditions of Yakutia.

• Technologies of the national milk products production.

• Vaccines against diarrhea and salmonellosis abortion in horses and methods of its usage.
“Sakhabactisubtil” preparation for treatment and prevention of disbacteriosis, increased horse immune reactivity.

In the beginning of November 2009, I wrote the post “Descending into the world’s deepest shaft in the permafrost zone.” In a few days after I received a message with a lot of questions from a Hungarian scientists Adam Soereg.

He wrote “Data from Yakutsk is extremely important, because this is the longest dataset in the Eastern Siberian region, longer than any series in the United States. Yakutsk shows an abnormally high rate of warming since the early 19th century, but what if the official values used by large agencies between 1829 and 1854 are 1.9°c lower than reality?”

Here is the whole text of his message:

I’ve recently read your post about the world’s deepest vertical shaft in permafrost. When I discovered that it was built by Fyodor Shergin, a merchant employed by a joint Russian-American company, I had a thought that I’ve seen this name somewhere. Later I found at home the copies of some old documents published by the Central Physical Observatory of Russia, which contained very old temperature measurements from Yakutsk.

I interested in climate research and especially in surface temperature records and calculating global temperature.

Data from Yakutsk is extremely important, because this is the longest dataset in the Eastern Siberian region, longer than any series in the United States.

Yakutsk shows an abnormally high rate of warming since the early 19th century, but what if the official values used by large agencies between 1829 and 1854 are 1.9°c lower than reality?

I possess all data since the first observations began in Yakutsk in 1829, and it is absolutely sure that the official values were calculated each year from Neverov’s data. I have three different sets: the official record used by lots of institutions, and the original measurements taken by Aleksandr Neverov and Fyodor Shergin. To easily understand my problem, I am going to show you an example:

Monthly averages in Yakutsk from various sources and difference between measurements taken by Alexsandr Neverov and Fyodor Shergin (°c):

Month/yr Official Neverov Shergin Diff.

Aug 1837 13.1 11.9 14.1 2.2
Sep 1837 4.3 3.5 5.0 1.5
Oct 1837 -10.9 -10.8 -10.6 0.2
Nov 1837 -33.5 -31.9 -31.1 0.8
Dec 1837 -36.9 -34.9 -32.8 2.1
Jan 1838 -49.1 -46.5 -44.1 2.4
Feb 1838 -38.8 -36.9 -34.9 2.0
Mar 1838 -26.1 -24.9 -23.1 1.8
Apr 1838 -7.4 -7.4 -6.1 1.3
May 1838 2.7 2.3 3.4 1.1
Jun 1838 15.8 14.4 16.3 1.9
Jul 1838 21.8 19.9 21.3 1.4

Annual -12.1 -11.8 -10.2

As you can see, there are extremely high differences in case of the 3 temperature series. The official values are the lowest, with the largest negative bias in January. Shergin observed a monthly mean of -44.1 degC, Neverov’s data shows a lower mean (-46.5°c) and the official ones decreased Neverov’s values by 2.6°c in every January between 1829 and 1854. But how the hell they “homogenized” his measurements when Yakutsk was the only observing site in entire Yakutia and Eastern Siberia?? If you adjust the early data downwards, you will get an artificial warming trend (to be honest, this is exactly what some global warming scientists would like to achieve).

I would like to ask for information in case of three different problems:

1. I think that Mr. Shergin measured the air temperature in his own property, next to his famous permafrost shaft described in your post. Is there any chance to give its exact location in Google Maps and find some information how the temperature readings were taken?

2. I do not know at the moment which series are correct, but the official ones are suspiciously low. However, there could be an another source of information to estimate the real temperatures in the 19th century. Mr. Shergin recorded the exact time of freeze-up and brake-up on Lena river. In 1837/38 winter season, it was 27 October 1837 and 25-27 April 1838, respectively. If somebody in Yakutsk have a diary with dates we can compare it with the modern temperature measurements (and check the accuracy of the 3 series).

3. Where is the contemporary location of the local weather station in your city?

I would highly appreciate your help in this topic.

Adam Soereg
Budapest, Hungary

I forwarded the message to Valentin Spektor, expert of Yakutsk Permafrost Institute. He replied and supplied a pretty good amount of info:

1) At present i have one scientific source for that time. This is the book by Karl M.Baer. Materials for study of unmelted soil frost in Siberia. Yakutsk: Permafrost Institute SB RAS Press, 2000. -160 p. It is published in Russian for the first time. The original in German was kept as a manuscript in the arkhives of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The materials were obtained by 1842 for A.F. Middendorf.
2) According to the application 19 by Dr. Adolf Erman, Erman had measured air temperatures in Yakutsk in 1828 by spirit thermometer in Reaumur degrees (1 °R = 0,8 °С)
Here is the Erman’s table i translated from this application:

Month
(old style) Air temperature in Yakutsk (degrees Reaumur)
8 am 2 pm month 8 am 2pm

January -31.0 -29.0 July +14.2 +20.7
Feb. -27.1 -22.3 Aug +8.4 +14.4
March -17.6 -7.5 Sept. -2.5 +3.0
Apr. -5.4 +2.3 Oct. -12.5 +9.1
May +5.3 +10.7 Nov. -25.4 -2.3
June +12.4 +12.4 Dec. -35.5 -33.8

Here is the reference:
Adolf Erman Bergchaus Annalen der Erdstaaten und Völkerkude.1882, Bd.V,S.541-54

See also: Erman’s Reise um die Erde. Erste Abteilung historischer Bericht, B.II (1838), S.250

3) Then, in the application 21, von Helmersen about the well in Yakutsk writes that Shergin made measurements of temperature in the well by a Reaumur thermometer, and sometimes measured temperature of the outside air

Bulletin scientifique de l’Academie de S.Petersbourg, vol III, p.193.

4) We can?t tell in which exact time of the day Shergin made his measurements and on which height above the surface.

5) We would be obliged if you send the old documents published by the Central Physical Observatory of Russia you mentioned.

Cheers,
Valentin Spektor.

In my turn I sent Adam coordinates on Google Maps:

The shaft is that small grey roof in the front of the G-like brown roof.

I found this question in the list of keywords that have brought some traffic to my weblog, and I recalled Nick Middleton, an Oxford geography lecturer and the creator of the four-series TV show “Going to Extremes.” The first part, btw, depicted his travel to Oymyakon, the Pole of Cold. While staying in the village, he gave a detailed explanation of why the area in eastern Yakutia was able to keep the cold as low as -71.2 degrees Celsius (-96.16 degrees Fahrenheit).

The same explanation he gives in his book Going to Extremes: Mud, Sweat and Frozen Tears (reviews below), in which he ventures to the hottest, driest, coldest, and wettest inhabited places on Earth. He wants to know not only how people manage to live in these places, but also why they settled there in the first place. And, most intriguing of all—why they stay. He follows Stalin’s “Road of Bones” across Siberia’s icy wilderness to the world’s coldest village, and Nick Middleton’s account of his journey to the edge is never less than fascinating.

I am not a pro geographer, so I wouldn’t be able to give such a thorough information as Mr. Middleton did, but I’ll try to do it in a more simple way.

Oymyakon as well as the whole Yakutia is located at northern latitude and relatively far from oceans to not be dramatically affected by streams. Besides, mountains surround the village so tightly that they turned out the area to be a mere trap for air. The chilly air is literally kept and not allowed to go up and dispersed. Moreover, it continues being refrigerated, because of its inability to be warmed up in the course of the short daytime. That makes Oymyakon possible to hold the chilly distinction of being the coldest permanently inhabited place on Earth.

So why did people choose to live in such a chilly trap, and how do they manage to survive in extreme cold, according to Nick Middleton?

His answers can be found in the interview he gave to the National Geographic Channel. Below, please, find the Q&A.

Why would people choose to live in such an inhospitable place?

Before the 1920s and 30s, Oymyakon was a seasonal stop for reindeer herders. But the Soviet government, in its efforts to settle nomadic populations—claiming they were difficult to control and technologically and culturally backward—made the site a permanent settlement.

What is there to eat so far north?

All people eat is reindeer and horsemeat. Medics say the reason they don’t suffer from malnutrition is that there must be lots of micronutrients in their animals’ milk.

There is a short summer season during which people can grow things. But for the most part people don’t eat fruit or vegetables.

How do people keep warm?

Fur. Fur is considered a luxury in the West but it is the only thing that keeps you warm. Most of my crew wore synthetic fibers, and they were cold and miserable. My hat was raccoon, my coat was made from the skins of a flock of sheep, and I had knee-high reindeer boots. Reindeer fur is particularly good at keeping you warm, because the shaft of each hair is hollow, and the air [in the shafts] has an insulating effect.

You had a pretty icy introduction to Siberia when you arrived. You became a member of the Walrus Club [a group of people who swim in rivers and lakes in winter, sometimes called polar bear clubs in other parts of the world]. How did it feel to take an ice bath in the frozen river?

It was short and sweet, but my biggest concern was that I would have a heart attack. It isn’t so much the water but getting out that is the worst—that brief moment between the water and contacting the air, which is about -22 Fahrenheit (-30 Celsius).

I lost it within minutes of getting out—it was as if I went into a state of shock. I began to lose feeling in my body and, for about 24 hours, walking was tricky and I felt out of it. It was difficult to think and remember, and I felt groggy, as if I had a bad hangover. I have no doubt that if the walrus club had not been there, I would have frozen to death.

What are some other consequences of living in such a frigid environment?

Dealing with dead people. In permafrost zones, where the top few feet of ground tends to thaw in the summer and then refreeze, large buried objects tend to rise to the surface. This is particularly bad when buried coffins rise to the surface after several years.

The whole tradition of burial is not a Siberian one—it came from Europeans. Siberians used to perform sky burials where they would wrap the bodies in canvas and hang them from the trees, but the Soviet government probably discouraged this.

Sadly, a little girl died from pneumonia while we were visiting. To dig a grave, the townspeople lit a long bonfire for about an hour, which allowed the ground to thaw a little, then dug a couple of inches and repeated the process for a couple of days before they were able to bury the coffin.

Transportation can’t be easy in those temperatures. How do people get around?

Cars and trucks housed in heated garages are fine. But diesel freezes at -58 Fahrenheit [-50 degrees Celsius]. It’s a pretty common practice to light a bonfire beneath the fuel tank to keep it from freezing. Axle grease also freezes and is warmed with a blowtorch.

What effects did the cold have on your expedition? Did you run into any problems?

Pen ink freezes. Batteries lose power faster. Metal sticks to skin. The first time I tried to take some stills with my camera the metal stuck to my nose.

We had severe difficulties with filming. The eyepiece froze, and you couldn’t see through it. The camera lenses did strange things, because the metal casings and screws holding the lenses in place were made of different metals that contracted at different rates and distorted the images—so really we had absolutely no idea whether we were actually shooting anything.

All the electronics in the video camera froze so film was the only technology that worked. But even the film would get brittle and crack.

What adaptations have the people of Oymyakon had to make to live in this environment?

In the last ten years, post-Soviet Union, people have returned to a more self-sufficient lifestyle. Everyone owns some livestock, and they rely on this livestock for food and for barter.

There are times when coal deliveries are irregular and the local power station—which makes indoor life bearable—must burn wood to keep hot water flowing to the homes. If the power ceases, the town shuts down in about five hours, and the pipes freeze and crack.

One of the guys who runs the power station hasn’t been paid in nine months, but he keeps doing his job. There is a great sense of community. People do what they need to do to survive. For them, extreme [subzero] temperatures are normal.

Interviewed by Bijal P. Trivedi
Via National Geographic Channel

A short explanation given by tanetahi, a Flickr pro user:

- The reason Oymyakon gets so cold in winter is the combination of its elevation above sea level and its being sited in a valley between two mountain ranges. The valley behaves as a frost-hollow in calm anticyclonic weather during the Siberian winter, so yes, it does kind of make its own weather.

Find more facts & photographs in Oymyakon-related posts.

Check also our fascinating Journey to the Pole of Cold, Oymyakon.

What had been happening at 1930s on the territory of East Yakutia was really awefull. Watch the short documentary “Kolyma” made by SDMediaEU for the TV series “Siberian Impressions.” Terrible feelings after watching the video. Especially the scenes with human bones. But we can’t do anything about it. That’s history and the worst part.

This question I hear very often from international website visitors. The last time it was a Turkish 4WD adventure traveler Ali Eric, who is making his world-around trip Istanbul2Istanbul. A few days ago, while seeping the Russian beer at a local grill house, he said to me:

“You know, before my start, I told friends that I plan to drive alone the Road of Bones through Yakutia to Magadan. And those, whom I shared my plans with, were astonished. Said like, My goodness, it is so cold over there in winter. Why do people live there? In my turn, I also wonder, Why do people live in Yakutia?”

Well. This question always sounds embarrassing. No, it’s not awkward. Just I’ve never asked myself this way. However, I know what to say.

I feel myself comfortable here. To find the job what I like is very easy, praise god. At the same time, I am confident and I know my abilities. If needed, I can find good jobs in other places as well. But I prefer to be here. I am Yakutia-addicted, as you have already noted. Besides, I’ve got the family and think kids will be much safer here than, for instance, in Moscow.

In my case, to live in Yakutsk is the best option, and I can travel from here. If there will be need to move out, I’ll do it just for some period and one reason… to get a new work experience.

That’s my explanation of why I live in Yakutia.

Below, please, find others’ replies to this question received on my local blog.

Mariiya:
People here are good, though enough shits happen. Good men and women are majority.

Halan:
Because we love this land, where we can feel ourselves as masters. Because there is no one, except us, who can love this land, tend and care for. We love, because our ancestors lie in the land. And all our childhood memories are tightly related to it. Because this land unifies rare things – plants, animals, and… people. And, finally, because our land is really beautiful.

Werwolff:
Have no clue. That’s good on our side, but winter is terribly long and cold, hiking activities come to a standstill, local tourists become sluggish.

Sofigor:
In my turn, I wonder, why the Japanese love so much their islands shaken all the time by earthquakes, tsunami and other cataclysms?! Why are they not spread around the world as same as other nations are. Perhaps, the Japanese didn’t ask you such a question ;-))

A girl with a log:
I live here, because nostalgia didn’t appear to be an empty word.

Anonymous author:
The most part of local people, if they’ve got opportunity, will consider their moving to the warmer places.
However, if to take a sober view of things, the world is overpopulated, and all warm places have already been occupied : ) Our ancestors reserved this place a long time ago, and we do our best trying to keep this land for our offspring. But some non-good people try to pollute our land : ( and we, maybe, start loosing self-preservation instinct or intellect so that we allow temporary visitors making dirty in our houses.

Vyacheslav:
The simple question, the simple answer. It is necessary to wear more warm clothes. We are the northern nation. No malaria, no cholera and no other dangerous infections peculiar to warm climates. No poisonous mosquitoes, no reptiles. And no need to waste money on air-conditioners.

Anonymous author:
Because the so-called “northern” seniority counts. When I make seniority, I’ll depart definitely for warm lands.

IceR:
People were born here. All relatives, friends, and acquaintances live in Yakutia. And the point is not patriotism or strong love to the homeland.

The most of people have the fear of something new and unknown. We think “Who will care about us on the other side of the region’s border?!” That’s the local mentality. We’ve got other rules and values.

Perhaps, many Yakutia residents had moments, when they wished to abandon everything, sell property and move to warm areas. By the time, when a person realized himself and had enough funds to move out, he/she acquired already other brakes, kids, the family, relatives. The set of such factors, I think, holds people from moving to places with more comfortable conditions of living. As the saying goes, you’re mostly useful in the place of your birth.

mason:
As they say, the homeland is not selected. The place of your birth is the best place, where you can prove to be useful.

x-fox:
We doomed to love this land. Two polar opinions exists:
1) This is the land of Olonkho (the Yakut heroic epos).
2) That’s the prison without bars.
I can’t imagine myself living permanently somewhere away. I traveled much, I have a good idea of how people live in other places. However, my current position is “I am not eager to live here, but I don’t know where to move to.” : )

Gorick:
It is easy to live here. Ubi bene, ibi patria. Every person has personal motives. And here another reason comes. I am so lazy to move out.

Anonymous author:
In winter it is cold, but withstanding the cold is not hard, because humidity is low. In summer it is terribly hot, but the absence of humidity makes it also easy to bear the heat.

In my case, I was so tired of speaking the Russian language. The Sakha (Yakut) mentality is more close to me. I love traveling to the ordinary Sakha villages and seeing the patriarchal life style there. Especially I like talking to people on the journey. If I had more travel chances, I would like to visit places of kindred nations such as Tuva, Mongolia, Khakassia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Hungary.

I love celebrating Ysyakh. Love the art of our skilled craftsmen, their embroidery, wood engraving, and jeweller’s art.

Ivan Bozhedonov
Give them [blog readers] the answer as follows.

The indigenous population of Yakutia, including Russians as well, has been living here for 300 years. Historians still continue disputes over where exactly the Sakha people came from the South. Whatever the case, they live here from the ancient time.

Cold tempers humans, makes their spirits and bodies strong, doesn’t allow them relax even for a minute. And people accustomed to the cold, they cannot even live without cold.

That’s like in Harry Harrison’s The Deathworld. The Pyrrus residents live in terrible life conditions, with double burdens, but they do not fly away, because that’s their land. The same in our case. It’s the land which our ancestors lie in. That’s our homeland.

Punk
Fatherland!

Anonymous author:
People live everywhere! In tundra, mountains, deserts, even on water, and in the space… Why not living there?!… In Tiksi, for instance, June is not summer yet, July is not summer no longer, but humans continue to dwell over there.

LIN_DARK:
No other options. Feel despair.

Anonymous reply to LIN_DARK’s statement:
Any of us has a choice. Anyone, who wants to move out of here, can do it easily, just wish and be enough persistent. The next thing I am going to say could sound hackneyed though, but… I love my homeland! Even if I received an offer to move to another country, I would stay here in any case, because this land is all mine and I feel myself as one of this people and because all around Yakutia are precious to me equally.

Well, at this moment, I think, I stop gathering people’s opinions

So, what do we have here?!

As you can see, reasons are different, as different types of people with various purposes, motivations, ambitions and abilities live in Yakutia.

1. Those, who wanted to move out, have done it already.
2. Those, who are dreaming to follow the departed, are:
- still thinking over, to do or not to do;
- or trying to find opportunities, funds and enough courage.
3. Those, who live on here, think:
- they really feel good… in terms of mentality, spirituality, career, stability, security, private life, etc;
- or they really don’t have any opportunity, ability or relatives, living in other places;

The situation is the same as everywhere around the world :)

Andrew I with a creative studio “A Novigator” announced a descent to the deepest well in the world, Shergin’s shaft, to take place in Yakutsk on October 20, 2009. Update, 21.10.2009: The even was postponed till November 04, 2009.

An exclusive speleological tour into the unique well, that is 116 meters deep, as long as a 40-store building,and surrounded with permafrost!

The hole of this well was dug in permafrost for more than 10 years. A construction was finished in 1829. Fyodor Shergin was a manager of a joint trade Russian-American company (a joint trade Russian-American company manager) and he leaded this construction. Not knowing about deepness of permafrost seam, Shergin argued that he would obtain water. But he couldn’t do it. Deepness of permafrost seam lies 225 meters down in this region.

The shaft has been used for scientific purposes by the Russian Academy since then. It served as a jolt to originate and to develop a new scientific direction.

Generally admitted Shergin’s shaft is considered to be a crandle of geocreology (or permafrost)!

Only several persons have been at the bottom of the well for the whole period of its existence. Risking very much, they were descended to the well by a hemp rope due to the windlass specially made.

The bottom of the well was descended last in 1934.

In 1942 the rope of the descending device was broken off under the mysterious circumstances.

In the eighties because of thawing water in the upper part of the well a glacial stopper had appeared which insulated the shaft from the outside world.

In 2007 a project of Shergin’s shaft restoration was elaborated by the initiative group of Andrew I with the creative studio and “The Novigator”.

During this period there was a large number of skeptics who made the most pessimistic predictions that the well was full of water, ice and fragments of broken rope.

In winter 2009 specialists from the SS RAS Institute of Permafrost carried out a test drilling the upper part of the well. This drilling confirmed “The Novigator” expectations that thickness of the icy stopper was more than 10 meters.

In June 2009 a specially prepared by “The Novigator” specialists video-finder was put down through the hole of 20 centimeters in diameter. A unique videomaterial about shaft videofixation till 110 meters depth was received.

The well was finally kept. There are several well-holes without any timberlings except some parts of the shaft strengthened with larch ones. The upper part of isolated stopper ends with icy stalactites. There is one more stopper from icy formations with thickness of 2 meters to a depth of 20 meters. This stopper is not full of ice, but it has got a hole in it.

The lower part of the shaft has a deep effect of ice crystals with amazing beauty which cover the walls (covering the walls). The larch timberlings look like as if they had been installed yesterday, not more than 160 years ago.

As a result of this work a documentary film “A descent” will be on in the very near future.

Nobody has been at the bottom of the well for more than 70 years.

The intrigue of the forthcoming descent to the bottom of the well is connected with mysteries and legends:
• According to the first legend Fyodor Shergin hid some value at the bottom of the well including a ring with a diamond which he was awarded by the emperor Nickolai I.
• In the days of the Soviet Union this shaft was equipped for carrying out secret tests.
• In the depth of the well (everywhere in permafrost) there are unexplicable anomalous phenomena.

Except this there is an objective difference in forthcoming descent organization.

If there is the lack of minus temperatures on the outside, air ventilation doesn’t occur inside the shaft, that’s why there is no any oxygen at the bottom of the well.

On the 20th of October in 2009 the ice stopper in the mouth of the well will be open. An assault team consisting of four persons equipped with potable videocams will descend at the bottom according to a TV show “Shergin’s shaft storm show”.

In the future it is planned, not changing the configuration of the shaft, to organize an exclusive speleological tour for extremists.

It will be a descent to the Shergin’s shaft bottom! (in mountain outfit).

The speleological tour of maxi extrim will be held in summer when there is no oxygen at the bottom of the well.

There is hardly the same place anywhere in the world except Yakutia!

The name of the project with four “Ss” in abbreviation joined together symbolizes an ancient Solar symbol and a square. Sun sign personifies endless ways of life, directed by nature. A square with rays reminds an outline of the well with walls strengthened by wood. The well is open.

It symbolizes a good sign and good luck.

Andrew I
leader of creative studio “The Novigator”.
shaxta_shergina@mail.ru
+7-924-46-11-016

So… Two UK adventurous bikers of the Sibirsky Extreme travel motorcycle expedition have just ridden the Kolyma Highway. They had left Yakutsk on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Magadan on Sunday evening. 2100 km, 3.5 days, and 7 tyre changes! What did they say about the federal road?

The road was a little better than the Vilyuisky Trakt, but only a little better. There were still long gravelly sections, the odd sandy patch.

Here’s the Sibirsky Extreme leader Walter’s road description in short:

“Road of Bones” (Doroga Kostyei) is a term given by the Russians to the roads built by Gulag labour between Khandyga, a former major river port before the road to Yakutsk was built in the last 10 years, and Magadan. As most people already know, the terms road of bones was used as the gulag prisoners who died during construction, and reports are of hundreds of thousands at least, had their bones and bodies just used as landfill for the next section of road. Quite literally the corpses were bulldozed into the road.

The original summer through route ran via Kyubeme (now deserted), Tomtor (accessible by motorcycle only in August and early Sepember), Kadykchan (now a ghost town) and then south to Magadan via Ust Omchug. There was also an all weather spur up to the gold mining town of Ust Nera from Kadykchan connected to a zimnik (winter road) from Kyubeme to Ust Nera. There was an additional road up from Magadan to Susuman and Kadykchan via Atka and Orutokan. The whole lot was originally all built in the 1930’s and 1940’s by Stalin’s Gulag system.

This last section when combined with the original road from Susuman down through Ust Omchug to Magadan is known as the ‘Kolyma Ring’ and is the heart and soul of the “Gulag Archipelago”, made famous by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. It was on or near this ring that dozens of Stalin era Gulags existed in the 1930’s, 40’s and early 50’s, only to be abandoned after the deaths of Beria and Stalin in 1953.

The zimnik from Kyubeme to Ust Nera, once the roughest part of the route is currently being upgraded to all weather road status. The Russians have declared one route to be worthy of Federal Road status and have been spending money upgrading that particular route with road widening, new bridges etc … that include the two most northerly alternatives.

Because the road thru Tomtor is really only rideable on a motorcycle in August or early September, we were going to try the northern variation thru Ust Nera, check out the current state of play regarding the upgrading of the old zimnik, and then revert to the original road direct from Kadykchan to Magadan thru Ust Omchug.

My initial plans had been to take the new road (further east) after Kadykchan so that I could get to and beyond Omsukchan. But have just heard Mac Swinarski has beaten us to that by a week … he has just ridden from Magadan to Merenga, which had been my target, and is currently battling to get further. For me there is not a lot of point being the second bunch of guys to get to Merenga. So we head on to Magadan and will sort out flights to Khabarovsk, where we will meet up with a bunch of Russian adventure bikers headed for Sakhalin and also Terry, another Englishman who will join us for the ride home. We had also planned to meet up with Chris Scott there for the ride across the BAM and thru Mongolia and China, but unfortunately Chris has been tied up with publishing deadlines.

We were ready to leave Khandyga about midday when a storm cell passed overhead. We headed for the market and a cafe there, where were filled ourselves up, grabbed a bag full of pirozhki for the road and waited out the rain. It was 12:45 when we finally started the engines and got the wheels rolling. Rapid progress was made thru to Tyoply Klyuch, a decent sized town. We pressed on at 100 km/h passing Razvilka, a tiny settlement with no commercial premises.

The scenery in this region was particularly pleasant on the eyes. The was the first mountains we had seen since the shores of Lake Baikal.

But the Sibirsky Extreme juggernaut was brought to a shuddering halt by roadworks. The road between Razvilka and Kyubeme was being worked on, and all traffic had to halt while they worked. It was now 2:30pm, and their afternoon work shift was 2pm to 4:30pm – we had 2 hours to wait. Half an hour later a pair of Muscovites touring the country in a wazzik rolled up behind us. They had had their wazzik modified with extra fuel tanks, a couple of beds etc. The Wazzik is a phenomenal, flexible,
competent platform. Modify it at will. Just dont expect it to look beautiful.

We chatted to the Moscow boys and another half hour later another wazzik rolls up – a route bus serving the communities along the assorted roads of bones. We all waited and waited and waited. I chatted to the guys manning the road barrier about bears. They had seen one 2-3 weeks ago, but nothing so far today. Thats good.

Finally at 4:30 we were again underway … and we shot off towards Kyubeme. The scenery was stunning and we stopped many times for filming and photography. It was 7:45pm when we finally made it to Kyubeme, or where Kyubeme should be on the map. The former town of Kyubeme was across the River, on the start of the southern route of the Road of Bones. The townships and road are now abandoned and the only remnant of Kyubeme is the broken bridge and the petrol station. After some fotos at the old bridge, I shot up ahead to the petrol station and filled up. Tony wasnt behind me. He was when we left the bridge two kilometres back, so I rode back to try and find him and sure enough a kilometre down the road Tony was pointing to a flat front tyre, thru a swarm of mosquitoes. We hadnt had this problem since the Anabar Road. I suggested he ride slowly on to the fuel station and we fix it there where there were at least a few other people to chat to, and a small concrete slab. By Kyubeme we had topped 140 degrees east.

We fixed the tyre and chatted to the rough guys around the fuel station. I asked when was the last time they saw any motorcyclists. A week or two ago they had seen a group of three Polish guys and some time after then a lone motorcyclist of unknown origin … but he thought also Polish. The group of three I suspected I knew who they were. There are two hardcore Polish groups in the region at the moment trying different routes to extremes. One, as mentioned earlier, led my friend Mac Swinarski, flew straight into Magadan and recently got to Merenga and was last heard battling to get to the coast with the help of tucks. And the second group took the Trans-Siberian Railway across to Chita, and rode up to Yakutsk and the Kolyma region from Chita … I was pretty sure the 3 Polish guys the Kyubeme fuel station had seen was that second group. But the lone motorcyclist? Who was he? I texted Safran back in Poland and he confirmed the three would have been the Polish group, but he too had no information on the lone rider up ahead.

Tony’s front rim had a bad ding it it from hitting a large rock at 100 km/h and we borrowed an axe from the fuel station guys, using the back of the head to bash the rim back into some sort of shape. By the time we finished chatting and bashing and repairing the tube, the two wazziks from our roadworks delays had caught us up and also fuelled up. Anyone moving in this area has to stop at the Kyubeme fuel station.

As we prepared to go, a tracked military type vehicle chugs into the fuel station. Finally at about 10pm we were underway again. It was 265km to the next properly inhabited place, Ust Nera. we had ridden 250 km since Tyoply Klyuch, the last inhabited town. We were in the middle of a 500 km long stretch of uninhabited wilderness, and the fuel station at Kyubeme was the only sign of life, apart from road workers camps. If I had known it was this empty, I would have bought more piroshki for the road in Khandyga.

Now we were on the northern branch of the road – the old zimnik – winter road. As recently as 2005 a friend attempted this route, but it was impassible by motorcycle. Since then the Russians had been working on the road, building bridges, widening and grading it and initial thought were that it was in excellent shape. Rayil back in Yakutsk had told me that apart from Winter and August, its really the only road possible now, with the abandoned southern (summer) road decaying more and more every year. This year, 2009 is the first year the upgraded zimnik was now fully operational (bridges still being built in some places).

By 11:30 pm we were in fading twilight but still progressing at high speed. The road upgrading was recent and accordigly the surface was reliable. Despite the fading light we had been powering on at 80 – 100 km/h and had covered 130km in the hour and a half since leaving Kyubeme.

It all came to a shuddering halt at some brideworks over the Selerikan River. A new bridge was built and being surfaced. The bridge workers had blocked the entrance to the bridge at both sides with heavy equipment such that not even a motorcycle could squeeze thru.

A couple of drunk road workers approached us and said the road is closed until the morning. On seeing we were foreigners, they came back with 1000 rubles each and they would let us thru. We scoffed. They tried 500 each. Again we shook our heads. Vodka?

Well we had two bottles of beer in Tony’s luggage unused from the night before, so we offered those. They scoffed. Tony went to the other end of the bridge while I tried befriending the drunks. Tony returned 10 minutes later and said a senior guy at the other end wanted to see our motorcycles. That was great news. I explained that to the drunks at our end of the bridge and assorted shouting went on from one end of the bridge to the other and eventually one guy jumped into the cab of a roller, and fired up the diesel engine. Before moving it, he reconfirmed that we would still give him our 2 beers. We said yes, at the other end of the bridge.

Eventually the roller moved and we squeezed thru and onto the 200 metre long bridge, rolling gently towards the other side, and the other road block, We stopped there while they checked out the bikes, and we agreed to let them take fotos. They tried in vain to get the camera working but it appeared to have a flat battery. Meanwhile Tony was digging into his panniers for the two beers. He found one, while the other had leaked. We gave them one beer while the budding camera men went back to their camp a few hundred yards away to source a new camera.

About an hour after we arrived at the bridge, all the photos were taken, and the second roadblock was removed. It was now 12:30 (middle of the night) and we had an hour of mosquito bites for our troubles. It was quite dark, largely because thick rainclouds had gathered. Rain began falling soon after we began moving. We still had an hour and a half on the road at least. The rain was just a storm cell, and we passed it in 20 minutes. The road was not quite as good once we hit the old northern road between Ust Nera and Elginsky, but we pressed on, eventually making it to Ust Nera at 2am. We located a local lad driving his friends and their girlfriends around in the middle of the night and asked where a hotel might be. He led us directly to the hotel and by 2:15 am we were safely in a hotel room in downtown Ust Nera. We broke out the instant noodle packets and took advantage of the kettle in our room.

- – -

18.07.09

We woke late … around 11am, and had a few jobs to do. Tony needed to get his rim bashed again. There had been another big rock at high speed between Kyubeme and Ust Nera. We went to the town’s shino montazh guy, who took to it with a selection of sledge hammers until he was satisfied. I meanwhile had gone searching for a cafe, and found a place selling chebureki … I bought 6 and returned to Tony. I had also located a bankomat and scored some extra cash. We needed it. It was expensive up in these remote regions. Everything from food to fuel to hotels were all chewing thru our cash supply.

It was 3pm by the time we were underway and refuelled. We had eaten 4 of the chebureki for brunch. Artik was the next town on the map, 130 km down the road. If we wanted to get all the way to the next fuel on our route at Omchak, we would need to top up with the 5 – 6 litres we would burn thru on the way to Artik. The road from ust Nera to Artik was very scenic, following a river, with cliffs on the left and river on the right.

When we got to Artik, the fuel station was bare. Out of fuel. That and the late start meant we had to change the plans, and I decided our target for the day would now be Susuman, 40 km off our route, but a place where we could easily find a hotel, food and fuel. Artik also had a police checkpoint on the road, it was the last town in Yakutia. The time changed again as we left Yakutia. We were now 11 hours ahead of London. We had crossed Yakutia by road, from Lensk to Artik. All up we had ridden over 4000 km in Yakutia alone, all on dirt roads (apart from in the towns of Mirny and Yakutsk). We passed 145 degrees east as we entered Magadan province.

The road to Kadykchan was pretty uneventful, and each town marked on the map we passed I searched for shops or signs of life but most were deserted. The afternoon was spiced up when Tony got his second flat tyre of the Road of Bones. This time it was the rear. We stopped and were set upon of course by mosquitoes. An hour and several dozen bites later and we were again underway.

Kadykchan had been one of the largest towns in the region with over 15,000 people, but 13 years ago was abandoned – apparently in the space of a few hours. The story goes that at some point the town lostt its electricity and heating system and in this part of the world in mid winter, that spells death. The town was abandoned and its people moved to nearby Susuman and the Magadan region. Tony and I wanted to check out this abandoned city and take a look around. As we began to see the city on our left, I noted the other road of bones route turnoff to our right. Its an unassuming turnoff marked only by a post with three cubes on it. I couldnt resist, I turned down there and followed the road for a few kilometres.

It was getting dark and we needed to get into Kadykchan and get some fotos so I turned around, crossed the main road and we made our way into the ghost city. It was indeed eerie, and everytime we stopped we were swarmed upon by mosquitoes. Abandoned shops, apartments, buildings – some with old belongings still in there – made for a surreal scene. The buildings themselves were in relatively good condition and it was clear the abandonment was relatively recent. At 9pm and with the sun still shining we pulled out and headed back to the main road.

From here it should be a quick ride in to Susuman … 80 km … but nothing is ever so simple on Sibirsky Extreme. A dozen kilometres down the road and Tony’s rear tyre was flat again. we have the process of changing the tyre down to a relatively quick 10 minutes or so, its all the getting the luggage off, and on again, getting the tools out, and assorted cleaning and so on that seems to mean every tyre change takes an hour out of the travel progress.

Finally underway again and we zoom to within 8 km of Susuman, when again Tony’s rear end lets the team down. Tony tried limping into town while I rode ahead and sorted out a hotel and some beer and instant nooodles. I returned to find Tony almost where I left him – he was still by the side of the road, about 7 km from Susuman. This was the 4th puncture of the road journey so far from Yakutsk. It was getting ridiculous. The tyre Tony received from Leon seemd to be cursed!

We made it gingerly into Susuman soon after midnight and checked into our palatial suite, where the beers and noodles tasted like heaven.

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19.07.09

I awoke Tony at 9:30am. We both could have done with more sleep, but it was 600km to Magadan and there was nowhere worth stopping the night in between. We needed to get going by 11am. As if out of a movie script, we brought our gear downstairs to be confronted with yet another flat rear tyre on Tony’s bike. A small nail was the culprit this time. We did the old flat tyre shuffle for the 5th time since Yakutsk, then headed off for some breakfast and finally hit the road about midday.

The first 40 km was backtracking road we covered yesterday until we reached the turnoff for what the locals call the old road. Whichever route is getting the most maintenance is called the new road, and whatever is not is called the old road. Almost immediately on turning south down the old road and it was apparent that this road would be a lot more fun. Tony hooted with joy as we climbed into the mountains that it reminded him of the Welsh forestry roads from his car rallying days.

We were having a ball on these roads, until 80km or so down the road when Tony’s rear tyre again went flat. We took it out, pumped it up and found no leak. We dammed a small stream to make it deep enough to immerse the tube and still no sign of a leak. After 30 frustrating minutes of finding no leak and with the tube still inflated, we decided we didnt understand the problem, reinserted the tube, inflated it perfectly normally, and rode off.

I was a little frustrated with myself as this was one area in which I hadnt done enough research prior to the trip. At the time of planning my priority had been to get to Merenga, now I wanted to know more about the Gulag region thru which we were passing. The Gulag histories are not ones encouraged by the local Magadan government to be promoted to foreigners. There are no signs to former gulag camps, and local tour companies are discouraged from organising gulag tours. Some knowledge about the location of some of the better preserved ones would have been great, but I didnt have it.

I had a few settlements marked on my map but they didnt exist any more and we didnt come to anything resembling a village or town until Kulu, almost 100km down the road. The first properly inhabited place was Omchak, where fuel was available but we pressed on towards Ust Omchug. Midway between Omchak and Ust Omchug, again Tony’s tyre was flat. What was it with this tyre? This was the 6th flat on the Yakutsk-Magadan road. Again we went thru the process, and again no leak. Tony said it had gone down on the road reasonably quickly. And we were unable to pump it up, yet when we take it out, and pump it up there is no problem, and not even a leak. Infuriating! Especially when you spend an hour getting savaged by the most aggressive mosquitoes on earth. For good measure, we changed the valve, pumped it all up and rode off again.

Fuel and food came at Ust Omchug. It was now 7pm and we still had 260km to go to Magadan. We powered on for 3/4 of an hour, before yet again Tony had another flat … the 7th now in 3 days. For the 3rd time in a row we were unable to find a leak. And despite being unable to pump the tube up when it was on the bike, it now happily pumped up.

From here on Tony seemed to have taken some sort of motorcycling viagra. He sensed my frustration that we were late and despite the fading light, zoomed off at over 100 km/h. There was still 100km until we hit the main road to Magadan at Palatka. I gave him a km or so start so I wouldnt swallow his dust and then set off after him. I hadnt caught him as I usually did within the first 10 minutes or so, so I stepped up the pace. I wasnt even seeing his clouds of dust. Before long I was at full speed, hampered slightly by still having to wear sunglasses. My visor was filthy and I had refused to take my helmet off to clean it while Tony was changing his 7th tyre – lest my scalp also get savaged by mosquitoes.

I began seeing dust clouds, a sign that Tony had ridden here within the last minute or so and powered on to reel him in. 100 – 120 km/h slowing down to 80 for the corners but still I was only getting clouds. I hadnt seen Tony ride like this all trip. The dust cloud grew thicker as I finally sensed I was catching the source, but when I did catch the source it was a 4wd van and not Tony. I zoomed past and was relieved to see the dust cloud going on ahead. Tony was racing ahead but I still hadnt seen him. Finally at a curve in a mountain I looked across the valley and saw him about 300 – 400 yards ahead.

For the next half an hour to the main road at Palatka, I chased hard but could not reel him in. We had just ridden at insane speeds to finish the last 150 km of the Road of Bones. I spoke with Tony on finally catching him while he waited for me on the asphalt at Palatka and he said he just was in a groove, and was reading every curve like a book. It was his finest riding of the trip. I was dumbstruck. I had been unable to catch him over 100 km.

At Palatka we hit asphalt and from here to Magadan 80 km away was asphalt highway … the first asphalt highway since Kachug, 250 km from Irkutsk, 6000 km ago. We cruised into Magadan just after sunset, the first real sunset we had seen since somewhere near Irkutsk as well. We were heading south and further away from the solstice. By the time we reached Magadan it was dark. The first real darkness we had seen since Ust Kut.

As we rode over the top of a hill and into Magadan, the Maska Skorbi (Mask of Sorrows) monument was lit up on a hill overlooking the city. It had to be our first stop. The monument is a moving tribute to those who lost their lives under the gulag system. Like many Russian monuments, the closer you get to it, the more powerful it becomes. The ultimate power to move comes from the small bronze statue behind the concrete mask of a small girl on her knees, weeping.

I called Prokhor, a local contact I had been given from a 4WD enthusiast in the area. Prokhor met us at the mask and led to his garage. We garaged the bikes and headed to the Magadan Hotel in the centre – via a beer shop of course.

We had left Yakutsk on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Magadan on Sunday Evening. Tony P, an OAP from west London, had just ridden the 2100 km from Yakutsk to Magadan via the Road of Bones in 3.5 days. And that included no less than 7 tyre changes!

More reports at SibirskyExtreme.com.

Received a big portion of questions from a UK-based TV documentary production company. A production executive wrote in his request:

I’m researching a history/travel series about women travellers, their journeys and achievements. One story I’ve been looking at is about [a Brit nurse] Kate Marsden who travelled on horse back to help the Lepers in the Sakha Republic [in 1890s]. The part of the journey I’d like to do is from Yakutsk to Vilyuisk. I can’t find out much information about this region today outside of Yakutsk and I hoped that you could… advise me on this trip, about the regions, what to see and do etc.

Later a researcher emailed me a lot of questions. Find them with my answers below and also check the map of Vilyuisky Ulus.

I’ve heard of a square in Yakutsk which was being built in her honor, but no reference to whether it has actually been finished.

Yes, there is a small square named on the name of Kate Marsden in Yakutsk. It was officially opened on May 13, 2009. The grand-opening ceremony was visited by Evgenia Mikhailova, the vice-president of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), and many other officials. Located near Yakutsk Medical College. By the way, Yakutia is officially celebrating her 150th anniversary in the course of the year.

If you’ve got a Russian-speaking assistant, here is the link to the news story about the opening of the square: http://ysia.ru/full-news.php?id_news=697

There are varied reports on the distance, time of travel depending on the time of year, and condition of road between the town. It would be good to know what is the best time to travel this route and if there is a metalled road.

The condition of the road is pretty good. You can reach Vilyuisk at any time. However, in the rainy period it is hard to go through. The distance is 576 km. Time to drive is around 7-11 hours. Depends on a car and driver.

I’m assuming that hunting takes place along the route and if so what animals are hunted for their food and their fur.

Yes, you can hunt along the route, mainly ducks, hares, and elks, but in the legal time of hunting. It is usually in the late spring and autumn.

I’d like them to learn more about Yakut culture, maybe by staying with a family who still follow some of the traditions?

Staying with a family you can arrange via a travel company that has agreements with locals. One night stay with breakfast costs about 1000-1200 rubles.

Is yakut horse trading still prevelant and is this something we’d find on the route between the 2 towns?

It is not regular practice anymore. However, if someone wants to sell a horse, he/she can post an ad in a newspaper or somewhere else and sell. A resident may have and breed a horse for meat on his/her own. But when we talk about mass horse breeding, we mean a special farming organization (plemobjedinenie in Russian).

Kate Marsden was searching for a herb which allegedly Shaman’s used to cure leprosy. Would it be possible to meet with a Shaman?

Yes, it is possible to meet the Shaman in Vilyuisk, namely a Yakut shaman Fedot P. Ivanov. Please, read the following post on my weblog http://askyakutia.com/2009/01/how-to-meet-shamans-in-yakutia/

Also I’ve heard that this herb is still drunk distilled in Vodka, but I havent’ been able to find a name for the herb.

You’d better ask locals about their recipe, when you’ll be in the place. Any family has its own recipe.

In Vilyuisk there were the remains of the hospital that was built for the Lepers by Kate. I’m assuming its still there but it would be good to know for sure.

Yes, there are remains. They are located 15 km from Vilyuisk, right on the way between Yakutsk and Vilyuisk.

A U.S. scientist wrote, “I found a newspaper reference to a 1929 Soviet expedition in search of a village in Yakutia which had not changed since the 1500s. Do you have any information about this expedition and what happened to it?”

Then he sent me a scan copy of the newspaper story.

My reply below.

The settlement described in the story is called Russkoe Ustje (translated as the Russian outfall). Located in the area of the Indigirka River. That’s the North-East of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), in the Arctic zone. The village has still the same name.

Mentioned Russians were Old Believers exiled, actually moved to Siberia under the pressure of the Orthodox Church in the 17th century. Old Believers still live in the area.

The expedition was ethnographic and lead by the Travins. It was the first one in the region after the 1917 Revolutionary. Researchers managed to collect huge folklore and language data dedicated to Russian Old Believers. If to be more precise, they brought 886 items from the expedition. In 1934 the whole collection was given to Leningrad Academy of Ethnography.

Actually, in the 19th century Zenzinov wrote about another northern settlement. It was region researcher A.Chikachev, who dedicated much his work to Russian Old Believers in the described village of Russkoe Ustje.

At the end of the Ice Age primitive men inhabited the basins of the mighty full northern rivers – Lena, Yana, Indigirka, Kolyma, Anabar, Olenyok, and their tributaries – Aldan, Amga, Vilyui, Olyokma, and others; they laid the basis for the development of human civilization on the vast territories of the north-east Asia, Alaska, Canada, Central and South America. Archeologists determined the presence of all archeological cultures on this vast territory; the carriers of these cultures created original culture adapted to the extreme living conditions.

By the moment when the Lena area entered the Russian state, its indigenous population consisted of the northernmost settled cattle-breeders – Turkic language-speaking Yakuts, who herded cattle and horses, hunted, fished, and did blacksmith’s work; they also created a wonderful heroic epos – Olonkho, and a unique material and spiritual culture.

Culture of other indigenous peoples – Evens, Evenks, Yukagirs, Dolgans, and Chukchis – is also diverse. Living in the extreme natural-climatic conditions of the North, the aboriginals had the corresponding extensive economy; they had poor political organization and lived in clans; only Yakuts were partially joined in larger tribal and clan communities.

The year 1632 is traditionally considered the date of Yakutia’s entering the Russian state; it was the year when Yakut Fortress was built on the right bank of the Lena River, which started the future Yakutsk, the present capital of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). Yakutsky Uyezd (Yakut district) was formed in 1638; it was later transformed into Yakutskaya Province (1755), and Yakutsk Oblast of Irkutsk Province.

From the moment of its foundation, Yakutsk became not only administrative, military, trade, cultural, and religious center of Yakutsky Uyezd, but also a starting point for exploration and investigation of the new Far Eastern and north-east Asian territories. In the second half of the 17th century famous Semen Dezhnev discovered a strait between Asia and America; Ivan Moskvitin reached the Pacific coast, and a native of Yakutsk Vladimir Atlasov discovered Kamchatka…

Mass baptizing of the region’s indigenous peoples occurred in the 18th century. Orthodox clergy’s activity favored the development of public education of Yakutia’s peoples, as well as appearance of national literatures and enhancement of inter-civilization interactions.

Migrated Russian peasants started northern farming, accustoming northern peoples to it.

From the moment of Yakutia’s joining the Russian state, the region’s peoples have always aspired to establish relations based on statutes and compacts, and to get their rights for self-governance. However, the interests of central authorities have always prevailed in the Russian Empire’s policy towards Yakutia. Animal breeding, hunting, and small-scale arable farming made the basis of the Republic’s economy until the 20th century. Yakutia entered the new 20th century, being economically retarded and politically powerless outlying district.

A breakthrough occurred in the 1920s, when on April 27, 1922, Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialistic Republic (YASSR) was formed within RSFSR. This political decision provided legal and constitutional base for the formation of statehood within the autonomous republic. The Republic has gone through a difficult historical way of economic, social, and spiritual development.

Soviet period of Yakutia’s history witnessed a large-scale industrial exploration of its natural resources, which was started in the 1920s with the development of Aldan gold-bearing deposits. Exploitation of the Northern Sea Route began in the 1930s; Tiksi Sea Port was built in the Lena River’s estuary; shipping and air routes connected the previously hard-to-reach regions of the Republic. Powerful diamond-mining industrial infrastructure was created, when diamond-bearing deposits were discovered in the west of the Republic in the 1950s.

A new stage of Yakutia’s history began on September 27, 1990, when the Declaration of State Sovereignty was proclaimed, actively supported by the Republic’s population. A post of the Republic’s President was introduced in October of 1991. Mikhail Nikolayev became the first President of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in December of 1991. The Republic’s name was also changed to the Sakha Republic (Yakutia). Since early 1990s the Republic witnessed a transition to market economy in the course of the all-Russian processes. At the same time, the Republic’s authorities were trying to find its own way, where the state would play an active role at the reforms’ initial stages, because northern regions’ social and economic systems turned out to be the most vulnerable and unadjusted to market relations. The Republic’s transition to market economy was more restrained; it was implemented through the state support of the population’s living standards by way of keeping down prices and tariffs, introducing additional social payments, and regulating social and labor processes.

Economic reforms implemented by the Republic’s new leadership headed by the President Vyacheslav Shtyrov are aimed at the restructuring of economy. New strategy of development, implemented in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), is directed at a more intensive use of oil and gas, forest, and other natural resources; creation of new processing industries and additional specialization in production of finished goods, meeting the internal market’s demand.