This is just my way to announce that La Lupe Production’s TV Show “Climas Extremos” are now available on Spanish TV. Follow La Lupe Production Channel on Vimeo to learn schedules.

Yeah, it were them, Mario Picaso Soriano (left in the above pic) and Oriol (right), who created the Climate Extremes showing people’s live in extreme weather conditions. The first episode is dedicated to Oymyakon located in Yakutsk. Two years ago I helped them with the travel to Oymyakon. In this photo, they are in Yakutsk right after their arrival in Yakutsk.

Cool! So glad that they managed to complete all documentary episodes. Recommend to watch them all.

Con Mario Picazo viajaremos hasta Oymyakon, en la República de Saja, Siberia. Es el pueblo mas frío del mundo. Aquí el termómetro ha registrado la temperatura mas baja en un lugar poblado: 71, 2 grados bajo cero.

Durante los meses de invierno la temperatura mínima ronda los 50 grados bajo cero. Oymyakon es el pueblo más frío por varias razones. Su continentalidad, su elevada latitud, su altitud de unos 700 metros y su posición geográfica en el fondo de un valle entre montañas. Factores fundamentales para que al aire se enfríe más que en ninguna otra población del mundo.

Seremos los primeros españoles en visitar este pueblo. De la mano del simpático guía e intérprete Serguei y hospedado en casa de la entrañable Tamara, Mario estará varios días en el pueblo pescando, buscando hielo, bañándose en el río, experimentando una sauna rusa, bailando en la discoteca con las mozas, cabalgando a lomos de un buey de 700 kg llamado Miguel,…Mario sufrirá el frío más extremo que se pueda experimentar, pero lo compensará con muchos chupitos de vodka.

My favourite local band is “103.” It is a group of villages, who perform rock in the Sakha language. And I thought why not make a slideoshow with my winter pictures of the Kolyma Highway (Stalin’s Road of Bones) and their music. Take a look at what I came with.

By the way, when I and my friends started the travel (driving) on the Road of Bones on the route Oymyakon – Yakutsk in January, it was -57.3C. Pretty extremely cold. No wonder that the road is considered to be the world’s coldest road.

As far as you know, the Kolyma Highway connects Yakutsk and Magadan. The most of it was constructed by Stalin’s gulag prisoners. Yeah, it is in Siberia, Russia.

You might see my Oymyakon travel pictures on one of my pages.

Hope you like the music performed by 103. More about them you can learn on my other blog, eYakutia.com.

From March 28, 2012, oneWorld member S7 Airlines (Sibir) is launching 1 weekly Yakutsk – Beijing service, and increases to 2 weekly from May 24, 2012, with Airbus A320.

Yakutsk – Beijing Flight Schedule:

S7527 YKS0130 – 0410PEK 320 35
S7528 PEK0450 – 1105YKS 320 35

Service operates Day 3 only from March 28, 2012, to May 23, 2012. Operational flight number is S7525/526.

Thought I wrote much about driving from Yakutsk to Oymyakon, but still questions are coming into my mail box. Here is the last one with many repeated questions. It arrived from a journalist who wants to do a report for a German car magazine about driving in a real winter. He says he needs a car.

“Is there any rental car company that rent cars for self driving? Or what are the major car dealerships in the city (German brands very welcome like Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Opel, Porsche, Audi; or Volvo, Fiat, Renault… – or do you only drive Japanese cars?). Also I like to know the problems using a car at minus 45 degrees. Can you stop the engine? How do you keep the petrol liquid? What about the tires? I am thinking to drive from Yakutsk to Oymyakon. Is that possible? Very dangerous? Crazy? How long does it take? Huuh, so many questions, but you probably know the answers…”

Find my answers to this man’s questions:

Is there any rental car company that rent cars for self driving?

No rental car company in Yakutsk at all. This type of business didn’t find any ground here. Here cars are very expensive and people’s average salaries are very low. For comparison, a Russian UAZ might cost as low as 600 000 rubles, but the ordinary salary is around 20 000 – 30 000 rubles. So you see no one will trust his/her car to anyone as it is real treasure. Another reason is that roads are so bad that cars get broken very quickly, if driving irresponsibly, and repair expenses might be too high as well.

Or what are the major car dealerships in the city (German brands very welcome like Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Opel, Porsche, Audi; or Volvo, Fiat, Renault… – or do you only drive Japanese cars?).

In country side people drive Russian UAZ only, as they are cheaper and it’s cheaper to repair. In cities like Yakutsk, Mirny and Nerungri people prefer Japanese cars, as they are reliable and cost less than Europe-produced cars.

There is one store through which it’s possible to order car, but produced in Russia only. They might be UAZ again and cars made in Russia like Ford and Toyota.

Also I like to know the problems using a car at minus 45 degrees. Can you stop the engine?

No. Otherwise you won’t start engine again. When outdoor, it’s highly recommended to keep the engine running.

How do you keep the petrol liquid?

As far as I know, local drivers use so-called winter petrol. With some antifreezing addition.

What about the tires?

Winter tires. With sparks.

I am thinking to drive from Yakutsk to Oymyakon. Is that possible?

Oymyakon drivers can make that way three times a week. This is a regular route for locals, but experienced ones.

Very dangerous? Crazy?

For locals, not. For unexperienced westerners, maybe, yes. Actually, no, if not driving crazy and not fast. All incedents on the road happen when drivers are drunk or very tired.

How long does it take?

In winter about 20 hours. If to make stop in Khandyga for night, so it would two-day driving. It is recommended to spend a night in Khandyga, as the hardest mountain part comes after that settlement.

Here is the famous hillarious Japanese TV Show about Oymyakon (Ojmjakon), one of the coldest inhabited places in East Yakutia, Siberia / Russia.

The video doesn’t need any translation, as all can be seen in action! Yeah, that’s the fun travellers might have in the extreme cold winter weather.

Ok. Here is my answer to the most frequently asked question last days, “How much does it cost to travel from Yakutsk to Oymyakon?”

Hope you remember that Oymyakon is the village located almost 1000 km west off Yakutsk and considered to be the world’s coldest inhabited place.

As of 2011, the situation is as follows:

Stay in Yakutsk: if in a hotel, from 2500 rubles. if at a couchsurfer’s place, for free.

Stay in Khandyga: 1000 rubles in a guesthouse.

Stay in Tomtor or Oymyakon: 1500 rubles in a guesthouse w/ 3-times meals.

A UAZ car:

- if to rent the whole vehicle, 70,000 rubles for 7 days;
- if go by a long distance taxi (marshrutka), 6,000 rubles per passenger.

Learn more about Oymyakon in post marked under the tag Oymyakon.

See photographs of my travel to Oymyakon with friends.

Here is Polar Airlines’ winter schedule for domestic flights within the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Click on the photo to see it in large size.

Polar Airlines Website: www.polarair.ru (in Russian)

Online ticket purchase might be possible to do at http://travelshop.yakutia.ru/ (in Russian). International credit/debit cards accepted. Here you can see flights from other air couriers.

Keep in mind that a few air companies, including Polar Airlines and Yakutia Airlines, conduct domestic flights within Yakutia.

Dimitri Kieffer (http://nexusexpeditions.blogspot.com/) is the Franco-American adventurer, who is listed in NYC-based Explorers Club. He is doing an NEXUS expedition around the world using human powers only. Some call such a journey human powered circumnavigation.

It was him, who walked with Karl Bushby from Alaska (US) to Chukotka (Russia). By foot. On the sea ice. Through Bering Strait. It was him, who gave me a great info on the route from Chukotka to Magadan Oblast, as he walked that way with a sledge in last winters. Check the post Dimitri Kieffer’s ultimate description of Russia’s Chukotka – Kamchatka – Magadan route. From Uelen to Anadyr, Omsukchan and Magadan.

And here is what he says about cycling together with his lady, Gulnara Miftahova, from Omsukchan to Yakutsk in August-October 2011.

A great fellow! A great explorer to follow!

I was pretty happy to follow, help a little and meet him and make the above video. Further, please, find his current expedition facts and, certainly, 40 travel photographs!

Why is Dimitri’s expedition called “Nexus”?

It is a Latin word and means “connecting cultures.” That’s exactly what he is doing now.

He’s navigating through nations’ cultures and doesn’t do what others do. He doesn’t pass through lands at fast speed and he can really recall all names of settlements, where he had stops, and people he met on the way. A few stories for each place.

Amazing! If you would meet him, he would tell you many, many and many exciting stories about nations and cultures he saw. I have met him personally two times only and think those meetings are not enough. He is a kind of person, whom you want to listen to more and more.

Magadan Oblast – Yakutsk (Yakutia) Cycling Pictures

Nexus Expeditions Facts

Dimitri Kiefer started the human powered circumnavigation around the world in February of 2005 at the place called Knik Lake (near Anchorage, Alaska). That was the first section, that ended in Nome (Alaska) in 37 days. He completed 1770 kilometers by foot (trekking & snowshoeing).

After he had seven sections listed by ExplorersWeb:

Second Section: Nome (Alaska) – Wales (Alaska)
Feb 2006, 9 days, 115 miles 185 kilometers
Completed by foot (Trekking & Back Country Skiing)
(with Goliath Expedition – Karl Bushby)

Third Section: Nome (Alaska) – Uelen (Russia) Bering Strait Crossing
March 17-31 2006, 14 days, 5 days where swimming was required
200 miles 322 kilometers
Completed by foot (trekking & back country skiing) & swimming
(with Goliath Expedition – Karl Bushby)

Fourth section: Uelen to Egvekinot (Chukotka, Russia)
April 12- May 16 2007, 34 days, 425 miles 684 kilometers
Completed by foot (Back Country Skiing and only trekking after Vastoshisno)
Uelen – Anguema (with Goliath Expedition – Karl Bushby)
Anguema – Uelen (solo)

Fifth section:
Egvekinot to Vayegi (Chukotka, Russia)
April 15 – June 7, 2008
exact amount of trekking days still being tabulated
Approximately 600 miles / 965 km
exact number of miles still being tabulated.

Completed on foot (back country skiing, trekking with a backpack and pulling the sled simultaneously, swimming and using the sled as kayak while going down rivers).

Sixth section:
Vayegi (Chukotka, Russia) – Paren (Kamchatka, Russia)
March 11 – May 13 2010
707 km completed, 63 days.

Location May 17, 2010:
N 62° 25.040′; E 163° 05.160′
Paren, Northwestern Kamchatka
Total kilometers covered Spring 2010: 707.2 km
Manily to Paren 199.4 km

Seventh section:
Paren (Kamchatka, Russia) – Omsukchan in Magadanskaya Oblast.
Dimitri is returning in Kamchatka in February 2011 to continue trekking and skiing 423 miles (680 km) from Paren in Kamchtaka Koryak Okrug to Omsukchan in Magadanskaya Oblast. He covered this section on skis and snowshoes, while pulling a sled on tundra, considering the absence of roads in this remote part of the world. His route should take him from Paren to Omsukchan via Verniy Paren, Chaibura, Ghiziga, Evensk, Tavatum and Merenga.

This section completes the “missing link”. Dimitri: “One can drive year around from South America to South Africa on permanent roads except through the Darien gap and between Anchorage and Omsukchan – the missing link.”

Position: April 25, 2011:
N62° 30.987, E155° 46.342 Omsukchan
595 km completed.

Eighth section:
Omsukchan, Magadanskaya Oblast to Yakutsk in the Republic of Sakha.
August-September 2011 with Gulnara Miftakhova
Approx. 1760 km

Dimitri: “After Yakutsk, our goal is to travel on our bicycles southwest towards Mongolia and continue further through Kazakhstan, and through some of the Central Asian states (Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan), some of the Middle Eastern countries (Iran, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Israel), and some of the Northern African countries (Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Mauritania, Senegal) where it will be time to row!”

“Of course, the exact route will be determined as we progress, partly depending on geopolitical conditions.”

Dimitri plans to complete the entire expedition by 2016, upon reaching Knik Lake, after having circumnavigated the globe via human power.

Meanwhile, Dimitri is in Yakutsk, the capital of the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, Russia. This Sunday, Oct. 08, 2011, he will continue his expedition to Nerungri. This time he will be cycling alone, without Gulnara. Wish him luck and a safe journey!

As you know, Yakutsk, the capital of the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia in Russia’s Siberia, is based on the frozen ground known mostly as the permafrost. What’s that? It means the ground the city stands on is penetrated by ice. Actually, it is the mixture of dust, soil and ice.

See the above video made inside the undeground tunnel used by Yakutsk Permafrost Institute (the only one alike in the wold) and get an idea of what I am trying to tell. In this vid I like most of all those huge frozen snowflakes. If you had be lucky enough to go down inside, please, do not crush snowflakes, as it took decades for them to became so awesome :)

Previously, I wrote much about Yakutsk Permafrost Institute. The last post was called Yakutsk Permafrost Institute: Why did climate changes not affect permafrost in Yakutia?

Check also other posts mentioned in the list Similar Posts in the bottom of the current post.

Have a great day and give me your Like and RT, if you like the video :)

Yesterday I said bye to the Scottish travellers, who are making the MAD Expedition from Magadan (Pacific Ocean) to Scotland (Atlantic Ocean) on their own Landrover Defenders. They drove the Kolyma Highway through Ust Nera on September 13-18, 2011.

They are a group of friends from the Scottish city of Glasgow. Stuart, Richard, Gaven, Graham. They do long-distance driving travels regularly. Last time they made it from London to Kazahstan. This time they are here in Siberia on the way home.

Their mission is not just to have fun on the road, but also fundraising for charity. Check the list of charity funds they are supporting. Good friends with good intentions!

Ilya Kovyakin, the host of AskMagadan.com, helped them with cutsom clearance at the sea port in Magadan, Russia. Check out his website later to learn more about the specifics of custom paperworks.

The Scottmen’s travel delayed for more than a month. Initially they planned to start their road trip in the late July 2011, but their shipping company made a mistake in papers, so the cargo with the off-road vehicles stuck in Seoul on the way to Vladivostok and Magadan. It wasn’t the Russian custom service, that postponed their trip.

These four Scottish travellers prepared themselve to ride in the conditions of hot summer weather. In July they asked me, what the current weather was. I said, “+36C and +42C.” They were shocked to hear such news.

After a month, in the early September, the situation was totally different. The temp in Magadan and Yaktusk was already +10C, all trees turned in yellow colors. Moreover, it’s more colder on the road, especially in mountain area. When arrived in Yakutsk, guys said they were camping at -25C… at night.

Ok, no more words about the road conditions and weather reports. Let’s watch travel pictures taken by Scotsmen on the way from Magadan to Yakutsk.

In Yakutsk I share time with them. In the below pictures you can see them at the TV Studio of the Sakha National Broadcasting company. That was the recording of the morning talk show called “A New Day”

Back to a hotel for changing Scottish kilts for regular jeans.

This photo might be called, “Praise god, we made it the Internet.” Here they are at Chicago Cafe with free Wi-Fi.

The whole set of Yakutsk photographs with Scotsmen’s walking around the city in kilts might be seen on the fb page Yakutsk City.

What does biking on the Road of Bones in the late September look like? The answer is in the following video and pictures.

Enjoy adventure!

Last year it was pleased to see Mick MacDonald and his fellows. They arrived in the middle of September and it was already snowing on the road.

For more info check out CompassExpedition.com and LondonToMagadan.com.

By the way, the Compass Expeditions tour was included in the National Geographic’s “Top 50 tours of a lifetime” list, making Compass the “only” motorcycle tour company on earth to be included in this list.

Benjy Davenport finally made it from UK to Yakutsk, Russia. He and his Landrover Defender in front of the Government of the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia.

Last Friday Benjy Davenport, who is doing the long trip from London, UK, to Cape Horn in South America, finally made it to Yakutsk. His driving on LandRover Defender to my city took more than one year.

Yes, that’s how long his journey was. He was supposed to come in August 2010, but a crazy drunk driver hit his landy in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov and Benjy was forced to return home for the total reconstruction of the car. He resumed his journey this year’s April.

So, who is Benjy Davenport and why he is doing an epic charity fundraising expedition?

Here is what he says himself:

My name is Ben Davenport. I’m 28 and live in the South West of England in Cornwall. Last year I embarked on a solo expedition in my Land Rover, attempting to drive from London to Cape Horn in South America. My route was to take me through Scandinavia via NordKapp, across Europe, Russia, The Central Asian “Stans”, Mongolia, across the Pacific to Alaska and then down through Canada, The United States, Central America and South America to Tierra del Fuego.

While a fair few people have done such expeditions, what makes my solo trip that bit more challenging is that I’m afflicted by Noonan’s Syndrome… Don’t worry ! You aren’t the only one not to have heard of it !!

In short, he travels to raise funds for Newlife Foundation and British Heart Foundation. If you are active donators, you can help him to help others. Learn more about his charity at Cornwall2Capehorn.com

Meanwhile, he is determined to follow his mission, “40 borders, 50,000 miles, 1 landrover, 1 driver, solo.”

Further, please, see more photographs from our meeting in Yakutsk, Russia.

I like his car. Not because he is on LandRover Defender only. Mainly because its transport carries a lot of wishes from people he met during his travel. Think, the idea to write wishes
appeared in Russia’s Altai Mountains, as many greetings are from Barnaul.

I took an advantage of such tradition too. Left my own wish as well (see in one of the below listed photographs).

After chatting on the parking lot designed only for vehicles of Yakutia’s Government, we went to share coffee.

By the way, the place where we have been is pretty nice. It’s called Chicago Cafe. Apart from good coffee, they’ve got free Wi-Fi.

See Chicago Cafe on http://g.co/maps/p6yf5. By the way, in the same building, there is my lovely Chicago grill bar, where I usually share beer with travellers :)

Ok. Let’s back to Benjy. This Monday he started his ride on the Road of Bones to Magadan. Today is Wednesday, so he must be somewhere between Ust Nera (Yakutia) and Susuman (Magadan Oblast).

The current weather is really autumn-like. Below 10C in a daytime and around zero at night. Raining. Tree leaves have already turned in yellow colour.

PS. If you like what Benjy Davenport is doing, please, spread the info about his epic charity expedition.

The Lena River in Yakutia, Russia

Questions from a guide book writer regarding the construction of the AyAM railway to Yakutsk and a bridge across the Lena River:

In your opinion, when do you think the AyAM train to Yakutsk will be ready? My best guess is not before the Sochi Olympics in 2014.

When the AyAM is complete, it will just go to Nizhny Bestyakh, right?

Somebody told me there will also be a train station in Yakutsk. Why do they need a train station in Yakutsk? Is there another train line being built on the west side of the Lena River, or will there be a bridge across the Lena somewhere?

And here is my reply:

Well, the railroad end is already on the opposite bank of the Lena River, but there must be a lot of engineering works done before the first cargo train’s arrival (promised in 2013) and more additional works for the first passenger train to come. So not so soon.

Currently, Yakutia’s government works on getting funds from the federal center for constructing the bridge across the Lena River, but Moscow changes its mind all the time. No one is sure yet. Morelikely, Nizhnij Bestyakh (on the opposite bank) will be a Yakutsk railroad station in the beginning. If everything will be clear with the bridge construction, there will be the station on our side. If not, in N. Bestyakh.

No other bridges exist across the Lena River. No plans either.

The Lena River in November. Near Yakutsk, Yakutia, Russia. Photo by Alexander Li, Yakutsk Vecherny Newspaper, Vecherka.Ykt.ru

Often asked, if it is possible to drive roads (ice roads) and crossing rivers in Yakutia in a particular month. Yes, such questions arrive mostly from independent vehicle drivers.

So decided to give description of the conditions of roads, ice roads and river crossings month by month.

Conditions of roads & river crossings in Yakutia, Siberia / Russia
This is my quickest try to give the answer. Will update them with more details lately.

September – rainy in the early month, already chilly in the end. Late Sept. there might be light snowing, especially in the area of Oymyakon, but rivers are still open.

October – it’s always chilly, no rain at all. constant snowfalls in the end of October. Rivers are still open, first thin ice cover starts appearing (in Russian we call it шуга), but ferries across Lena and Aldan rivers still work, but in the end of the month they might stop operating, as rivers start intensively frozen.

November is the month, when no ferries work, and car drivers are not recommended to cross. Officially the road is open in December, when the ice cover is thick enough.

The end of December, January, February and the first ten days of March = ice roads are okey.

From the middle of March till the first week of April is the time, when ice starts melting intensively. After 10th day of April, ice roads tend to be closed officially, as the ice cover are too thin.

May is the period of ice floating on rivers.

In June rivers are, indeed, full of waters. Rains happen often in the first half. The last week of the month is usually warm and sunny.

July and the first week of August are totally dry and hot. This summer we had three weeks of weather with temps above +30C. We had even +42C.

The end of August is controversial. It might be hot, it might have chilly nights like +5C.

Related posts about ice roads:

- The official openining of ice roads over the Lena River
- The official closing of ice roads in Yakutia

The flag of Yakutia in a bookstore in the 2nd House of the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia

Yesterday, Doug Wothke sent me a text with a quick question, “Where to buy the flag of Yakutia?” Gosh, it appeared to be a hard question.

I don’t know why, but Yakutia flags are something that tend to be ordered specially at local advertising & publishing houses. It is something used mostly and ordered in a bulk by governmental and municipal organizations, NGOs, various parties or companies.

So, the flag of Yakutia must be ordered. I mean, if you wish a flag, you need to contact a company that produces flags, and place the order.

Yakutia flags are not available widely in the city’s stores. I gave calls to several souvenir and regular stores. All of them gave me negative answers.

Today, when Doug has already left the city for his biking to Magadan, yes, without a flag, I accidently saw the flag of Yakutia on sale in the bookstore “Knizhnyj Market” located in the 2nd House of the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The price was 750(!) rubles. Could you believe it? So expensive, around 27 USD per item.

I asked a lady in that small store, how long the flag had been hanging on sale, she said, “A long time!” Amazing! Not so many people willing to buy it. I think, it is mostly because of the high price.