Hi! My name is Bolot. I am a journalist. Based in Yakutsk. Ask me a question about the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Siberia / Russia, and get the answer.
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.
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. Read more…
I have been reading the last report about Norwegians’ accident [in Yakutia/Siberia], and I want to ask you something… Is this a recent story? I haven’t found the piece of news relating to this.
Nowadays I know some people who want to make the journey to Oymyakon [the coldest place in Yakutia and the whole Siberia], only as a wish, without nothing to take it seriously. I’ve been reading different articles, and AskYakutia’s reports and I think it is not a thing for not taking it seriously. It’s very funny to see -60ºC, but another thing is to go for them.
What do you thing about this journey? It is a little dangerous, isn’t it?
Today’s top local news is totally dedicted to Norwegian adventure travelers lost allegedly in the Oymyakonsky region by the Embassy of Norway and found by the Russian rescuers. They were okey.
They appeared to be very naive travelers. They thought they would be the first who made it to Magadan by the old route of the Kolyma Highway in winter. Even experienced local drivers know that driving from Tomtor directly to Magadan that way is impossible, because it is impassable, it is covered with thick snow. Now they are forced to say they got stuck due to the breakage of their Mercedes Benz off-road vehicle. That’s the myth! Read more…
A few weeks ago I received a question from an UK backpacker, who is coming to Yakutia in January 2010. He asked “Is there an ice road to the Lena Pillars? Is it possible to make it there in January?”
Btw, a request was sent via the Facebook group “Ask-Yakutia-Today,” everyone is welcome to join us.
Frankly saying, the Lena Pillars (located a few hundreds kilometres south off Yakutsk) is visited in winter less than in summer. The main reason is the ice road that was asked about. Read more…
One of the first questions I hear from new non-Yakutian friends of mine is “What are your traditional meals?” I started my answer from the short sentence “We love frozen horse meat and frozen Arctic fishes.”
Well, I decided to start publishing posts about traditional cuisine in Yakutia. The one is dedicated to stroganina.
Stroganina is the traditional cold dish in Yakutia.
Stroganina is the first traditional dish that will be offered you to try in Yakutia in winter. It is thin long slices of frozen fresh Arctic river fishes, i.e. broad whitefishes, whitefishes, and white salmons. Read more…
As far as you know, there is no bridge over the Lena River at all. Therefore, to cross the river, locals are forced to use ferryboats from June till October and ice roads in winter, officially from the midst of December till early April.
Late April – May and late October – November are considered to be dangerous periods for crossing the river. Nevertheless, some people take the risk and as result we can periodically read news about accidents, precisely about sunken cars and trucks.
It is a must for local drivers to know ice roads requirements, and travelers are recommended to keep them in mind as well. So… Read more…
That’s what I see on my way home in the evening. In the last Friday evening, Dec. 4, 2009, we had -41ºC and fog and no winds. So the frost was almost dry and burning, and my quickly frozen camera was slow to take pictures. Many unfocused shots were just deleted. See the left pics.
That’s a X-mas tree on the Ordzhanikidze Sq. No garlands and decorations yet. We are promised to see its finished beauty on Dec. 9, 2009. Hope it will be so. Read more…
