Travel

What is the condition of the Road of Bones in June? Watch the video of June 2011.

June 29, 2011

Milosz Augustyniak on the Road of Bones in Yakutia, Russia, in June 2011

Milosz Augustyniak on the Road of Bones in Yakutia, Russia, in June 2011

Previously I described the condition of the Kolyma Highway (known also as the Road of Bones) in June. As you know, the Kolyma Highway (M 56) connects Yakutsk and Magadan. The significant part of the road, precisely Khandyga – Magadan, was built by labour workers of Stalin’s gulags.

In posts where I mention the road condition in June, I write that it’s possible to drive the Kolyma Highway in this month, but if to go via Ust Nera. The route via this settlement is a major way and maintained all a year around.

The road through Tomtor is not reconstructed. Moreover, there are no bridges over rivers, that tend to be full of high waters at this period. Keep in mind that late May is the period of ice river melting and spring flooding. Therefore, in June, rivers are still full of waters. So, if you’ve got motorbikes and off-road vehicles, you can try the old road, but more likely you’ll be stuck on the part Tomtor – Magadan Oblast.

On the contrary, the new route via Ust Nera is the only way to be used in June. Last years, it has been improved by road workers pretty good. Broken bridges were reconstructed. If there were gaps, they were filled.

But… Read more…

Canadian 4wd travellers about their 5-day trip Vladivostok – Yakutsk. They plan to made it to Magadan.

June 13, 2011

Canadian 4wd travellers about their 5-day trip Vladivostok – Yakutsk. They plan to made it to Magadan.

Canadians just arrived to Yakutsk from Vladivostok. They spent 12 days in Vladivostok waiting for their Toyota Landcruiser from custom clearance, and they spent 5 days on the way with camping along the route. Yes, they were really tired.

A week ago, I received the sms on my mobile. It said, “Hi, it’s me, Ian. I got my car from the custom service. Now I and my friends are starting the trip to Yakutsk…” I was like, “Who is Ian?..” Then I thought, if he knew my mobile number, he must have kept in touch with me via AskYakutia.com… and I was right.

I checked my email box, typed his name in the search box and found Ian Veinot‘s message dated April 7th, 2010. A year ago! He wrote:

Hi..Thanks so much for posting all of the information you have so far. I just want to clarify one thing…Is the all weather road from Yakutsk to Magadan a separate route to the Road of Bones? I would like to travel the Road of Bones next year but would like to start in June so am hoping to use the all weather road starting in Yakutsk before returning from Magadan in mid-June on the Road of Bones when the rivers are hopefully lower. Thanks for any advise! Cheers.

My answer was short:

If you go by the new route of the Kolyma Highway, i.e. through Ust Nera, you can do it in June as well. This part is in good condition in the course of the whole summer. If by the old route via Tomtor, in late July and August only because of rivers.

My god! I remember, a few months later, he was also asking me, how to clear the car at the Russian custom. I recommended to forward all custom-related inquires to Walter Colebatch from SibirskyExtreme.

One year past, Ian arrived in Yakutsk, as he promised, in June. It happened yesterday, June 12th, 2011.

Further, please, find out the video with his story about the way Vladivostok to Yakutsk, learn what type of problems he had with his car custom clearance and see what made tired travellers happy in Yakutsk.

Read more…

Yudoma River Fishing Lodge in South-East Yakutia, Siberia / Russia. Fishing in Siberian rivers at reasonable prices!

June 1, 2011

Exclusive offer: VIP fishing at reasonable prices in Yakutia, Siberia, Russia

Exclusive fishing at reasonable prices in Yakutia, Siberia, Russia

A frequently asked question: “What types of fishing do you have in Yakutia, Siberia / Russia?” In other words, people are interested in where, what and when to fish.

Frankly, Yakutia is considered to be one a highly desired fishing destination. Yakutia offers Siberian taimen fishing, perch fishing, whitefish fishing, lenok fishing and grayling fishing. Moreover, Siberian rivers with wildness and abundance of various fishes are, indeed, something for a fisherman to try in a life.

I do not say, it is a must to fish in Yakutia, because I live in here. No, just fishing in Yakutia is one of our special gifts. A brand, I would say.

When distinguished guests, celebrities, high officials and other VIPs come to Yakutia in summer and early autumn, hosts take them for fishing in Siberian rivers. That’s what locals love to do, as they know, when their guests will come back home, they would repeat one phrase for sure. “Yakutia has mind-blowing fishing!”

Great news is that. A friend of mine, who works for LenaTourFlot LLC, a travel agency of the biggest Lena River carrier company called LORP JSC, informed me that

“..Its so-called Yudomskaya fishing lodge constructed for VIP guests on the Yudoma River in South-East Yakutia is now available for regular fishermen at very reasonable prices…”

I say, “My god!” This place used to serve exclusively the chosen people. Now it is available for any fisherman, who can do all above-mentioned types of fishing. The big plus, IMHO, is the absence of furious mosquitoes and gnats.

Further, please, find information for LenaTourFlot’s 4-day fishing tour. Read more…

Oisin Hughes’s biking the Kolyma Highway (Road of Bones). Not Dead Yet Videos.

May 12, 2011

Here are three videos of biking the Road of Bones via the Ust Nera, precisely on the route Yakutsk – Khandyga – Ust Nera – Magadan. They might serve as the answer to the question What is the condition of the Kolyma Highway in summer.

Oisin Hughes is a BMW motor biker from Dublin, Ireland. For a few years, he was riding a BMW motorcycle around the world through 27 countries and over 40,000 miles.

Last summer he visited Yakutsk, my city, and continued his journey to Magadan via the famous Kolyma Highway and then to Vladivostok, South Korea, Canada, USA and back home to Ireland.

Read more…

Dimitri Kieffer’s ultimate description of Russia’s Chukotka – Kamchatka – Magadan route. From Uelen to Anadyr, Omsukchan and Magadan.

May 8, 2011

Dimitri Kieffer on his Arctic walking expedition from Alaska to Chukotka, Russia.

Dimitri Kieffer on his Arctic walking expedition from Alaska to Chukotka, Russia.

From time to time, I get really frustrated about being the answer machine and doing research works at requests. Aaaah, but I do not complain at all, as to give answers and insights into Yakutia and neighbouring regions is my passion…

Thanks to the Ask Yakutia weblog, I have aqcuainted with a lot of people around the world. Lately, many of them moved within my email inbox from the “Requesters” category to the “Friends” list :)

This month, for instance, brought two great adventurers. Both of them are fellows of the Explorers Club.

It is Karl Bushby, the author of the highly praised “Giant Steps” book. He is mentioned in the prevous post “Karl Bushby, the UK explorer, about his walking from Bilibino (Chukotka) & Srednekolymsk (Sakha-Yakutia), Russia’s Far East.”

The second great one is Dimitri Kieffer, a Franco-American explorer, who completed together with Karl Bushby the famous Bering Strait Crossing Goliath Expedition from Nome (USA) to Uelen (Chukotka / Russia) in 2006. So, more info on Dimitri and his achievements can be found on his page http://nexusexpeditions.blogspot.com/

So what am I trying to say by this long entry?..

It was Karl Bushby, who gave the explaination of how to get from Srednekolymsk to Bilibino by a car using winter roads. It’s the way that goes through Yakutia’s Kolyma.

Finally, Dimitri Kieffer gave me the ultimate description of his winter walking journey from the farest point of Chukotka, Uelen, to Magadan (read the Kolyma Highway, the Road of Bones, that connects Yakutia’s Yakutsk and Magadan Oblast).

Dimitri said, “Here was my route over multiple winters… Uelen – Anadyr- Krasneno – Vayegi (all in Chukotka) – Slautnoye – Kamenskoye – Manily – Paren (aka Urs Paren) (all in Koryak Okrug of Kamchatka) – Verniy Paren- Giziga – Evensk – Tavatum – Shiroka River – Galimy- Omsukchan (all in Magadan Oblast) and then you are on a permanent road to Magadan…”

Read more…

Karl Bushby, the UK explorer, about his walking from Bilibino (Chukotka) & Srednekolymsk (Sakha-Yakutia), Russia’s Far East

May 4, 2011

Karl Bushby, of 21st Century Odyssey, in Yakutsk, Yakutia, Siberia, Russia

Karl Bushby, of 21st Century Odyssey, in Yakutsk, Yakutia, Russia

This is Karl Bushby (www.odysseyxxi.com), who has been doing the epic journey back home to London from Puntas Arenas (Chile), the most sourthern point of South America. He has been walking around the world for 14 years. Alone. Unsupported.

When he walked from Chile to Alaska, he wrote the famous book “Giant Steps.” When he crossed the Bering Strait from Alaska to Russia’s Chukotka, he made a documentary for BBC Channel.

Further, find more info, and two videos. Read more…

Wi-Fi Access Points in Yakutsk, Yakutia / Russia. As of Apr 28th, 2011.

April 28, 2011

Jonathan Cafe offers Wi-Fi Access for free.

Jonathan Cafe offers Wi-Fi Access for free.

Thanks to Vasily Kirillin, we’ve got this updated info on Wi-Fi access points in Yakutsk, Siberia / Russia, as of Apr 28th, 2011.

Vasily writes, in Yakutsk, where is the most expensive Internet (1MB=~2 Russian Rubles), Wi-Fi is a luxury that is not offered in all places. Nevertheless, there is a recent increase in the number of those organizations that offer their customers Internet access via Wi-Fi on a fee basis and only a few for free.

Below see the full list of Wi-Fi access points.

Read more…

How to cross the Lena River, when ice roads closed near Yakutsk?

April 18, 2011

MI 8, Polar Airlines helicopter, in Yakutia, Siberia, Russia

MI 8, Polar Airlines helicopter, in Yakutia, Siberia, Russia. Click the image to enlarge.

Since April 15, 2011, ice roads across the Lena River near Yakutsk are closed officially. Today the temperature is +7C at daytime. Snow and ice river cover are melting fast. Some drivers, especially villagers and truckers, run risks and cross the melting river, but that’s not good. More chances to sink.

Due to high demand and the absence of the bridge over the Lena, Polar Airlines (www.polarair.ru) starts MI 8 helicopter flights between Yakutsk (Magadan Airport) and Mannyahtaah (Megino-Kangalassky region on the opposite bank) from April 21, 2011.

Read more…

Found a man, who knows a lot about GULAGs in Siberia, Russia!

April 2, 2011

A picture of the Museum of Gulags in Khandyga, Siberia

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.

Read more…

Is it safe to drive the Road of Bones, the world’s coldest road, in November?

March 11, 2011

Chernyj Prizhim on the Kolyma Highway, so-called Road of Bones, in Yakutia, Siberia, Russia

Chernyj Prizhim on the Kolyma Highway, so-called Road of Bones, in Yakutia, Siberia, Russia

I have written a lot about ways between Yakutsk and Magadan, Yakutsk and Oymyakon. Actually, both are the same. They are on the Kolyma Higway, known also as the Road of Bones or M56. I thought it’s time for requests to stop coming. All posts on this theme are filed under Kolyma Highway and Road of Bones.

Instead, I started receiving very specific questions. Love them all. They are specific as their authors are not regular people. Last two messages arrived from companies that focus on extraordinary expeditions. One was from explorers, who do so-called cold climate journeys. Another from the TV show, that arranges and broadcasts breathtaking off-road driving.

Two requests are related tightly to Oymyakon and the way to this place. Actually, questions sound the same.

Read more…

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