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.

Often I was asked, if I have the updated information on business and investment opportunities. Yes, I have one, but in the form of the official Republic of Sakha-Yakutia investment guidebook.

Follow the link “Read more” to find the updated region economy information with infographs and photographs taken by Yakutia-Sakha News Agency and, certainly, download the English version of the investment guidebook with the full list of available regional investment projects.

YAKUTIA GENERAL INFO

Yakutia lies in the north-eastern part of Asia stretching 2,000 km north-south and 2,500 km eastwest.

The area of 3,102 thousand square kilometers covers one fifth of the total area of Russia and is equal to 2/3 of Western Europe’s territory.

Over 40% of Yakutia lies beyond the Arctic Circle.

It spans three time zones (UTC +9, +10, +11).

Yakutsk, the capital of the republic, is 8,468 km away from Moscow.

Yakutia has borders with seven entities of the Russian Federation: on the west — Krasnoyarsk Krai, on the south-west and south — Irkutsk Oblast and Amur Oblast, Zabaikalsky Krai, on the south-east — Khabarovsk Krai, on the east — Magadan Oblast and Chukotka Autonomous District.

The state authority is executed by President, the State Assembly (Il Tyumen), the Constitution and Supreme Courts.

The supreme legislative body is the State Assembly (Il Tyumen).

The supreme executive body is Government of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

The highest executive official and head of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is President of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia).

As of January 1, 2011, there are 445 municipal units, including 34 municipal regions, 2 urban districts and 409 urban and rural settlements.

According to the interim data of the All-Russian 2010 Census, the population of the republic makes 958,3 thousand people, including urban population making 64.1% and rural population – 35.8%. The republic is home to 126 nationalities, including the Yakuts – 45.5%; Russians – 41.2%; Ukrainians – 3.6%; Evenks – 1.9%; and Evens- 1.2%. The population density in the republic makes 0.3 people per sq.km.

Yakutia enjoys the variety of natural conditions: its continental climate shows up in the air temperature fluctuation range reaching 100 degrees Centigrade.

The republic is home to the pole of Cold of the northern hemisphere, with the lowest temperature registered at 71.2 degrees C.

Social and Economic Situation

Natural resources

Almost the entire territory of Yakutia is situated in the permafrost area. 72% of the republic’s territory is covered by taiga, the rest – by forest-tundra, tundra, and the Arctic desert. Forests cover 47% of the territory, making up 11% of all-Russia reserves. Yakutia has preserved many places of pristine nature. This unparalleled environment is home for rare animal and bird species.

There are over 700 thousand rivers, which exceed 10 km, flowing in the republic, with 314 of them being over 100 km long. The Kolyma, Indigirka and the Lena River’s major tributaries – Olyokma, Aldan and Vilyui – surpass almost all the European rivers, including the Rhine and Elba, by their length and water volume.

The Lena River, the republic’s major waterway, is among the ten greatest rivers of the world. There are over 800 thousand lakes with water surface exceeding 1 ha each. The waters are abundant in rich fish resources – over 90 species.

The Sakha Republic (Yakutia) ranks first in the Russian Federation by total reserves of natural resources. Its raw material potential is estimated at RUR 78.4 trillion.

Economy structure

The economy is based on export-oriented industry connected with development of abundant natural resources. GRP is also influenced by construction, commerce, transport and communications, agriculture, and social services.

Industrial production mostly depends on nonferrous metallurgy (mining of diamonds and gold), as well as fuel and energy complex (coal mining, oil and gas extraction). They account for over 70% in the total volume of Yakutia’s own production.

Major economic parameters trend

Over the period from 2005 to 2010, the socioeconomic situation in the republic was marked by the real growth of major macroeconomic parameters: gross regional product (116.2% in 2010 against 2005 level), transport cargo turnover (102.9%), commodity circulation (132.5%), fee-based services rendered to the population (129.3%).

The following agricultural industries remain traditional for people in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia): beef and milk cattle breeding, droving horse-breeding for meat, reindeer herding, and farming. The republic has the largest cattle stock in the Far East. In the northern areas people practice hunting, trapping, fishery, and fur farming. Due to the large share of rural population in the republic (35.8%), the government takes numerous measures to support agriculture.

Investments into fixed capital

The period 2005-2010 witnessed implementation of several large-scale investment projects of great significance for Yakutia and the entire Russia, as well.

Major indicators of the Sakha Republic‘s socioeconomic development by 2030 (according to the innovative scenario):

• GRP growth per capita at parity of the purchasing power up to USD 48 thousand (90% to the level of OECD countries);

• real GRP growth in 2011-2030 by 3 times, including in 2011-2020 – 1,9, in 2021-2030 – 1,6;

• increase of the average expected life expectancy to 73,3 years;

• growth of actual disposable income of population by 4 times compared with 2010;

• reduction of the population poverty to 6,3%.

• reduction of general unemployment level to 3,5% to EAP, level of registered unemployment to 3% to EAP;

• growth of provision of 1 citizen of the republic with total usable housing to 34,05 sq.m.;

• reduction of hazardous dwelling share to 2,03%;

• gas supply coverage of 76% of the republic’s population;

• increase of the share of population having acess to centralized water supply and disposal to 69%;

• elimination of hazardous schools by 2030;

• fully meeting the demand for preschool institutions for the children aged 3-6 by 2030;

• double reduction of the share of hazardous healthcare buildings;

• bringing year-round transport accessibility to 73% of the area. Growth of transport mobility of the population by 3 times;

• completion by 2014 of transfer to rendering public services electronically;

• increase of Internet use density to 85 people per 100 people.

INVESTMENT CLIMATE

Click the image to see the infograph in large size.

By the Russian President commission, the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) has developed the Scheme of integrated development of labor forces, transport and power industry in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) till the year 2020. The scheme outlines strategic priorities
and directions aimed at effective use of unique raw material potential of the republic.

All the major investment projects are included into the Strategy of social and economic development of the Russian Far East and Baikal area till the year 2025.

In the long-term (within the innovative scenario in 2011 – 2030) RUR 5,5 trillion of investment will be attracted to the fixed capital in the prices of the respected
years.

Creation of favorable and sustainable investment climate in the region is one of the main tasks of the Sakha Government. The Program of forming a favorable investement climate in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is implemented; it is aimed at improving the regulatory legal base in the field of investment activity, creating and development of investment infrastructure, reduction of administrative barriers, formation of new mechanisms to attract investments, formation of favorable conditions to diversify production and promotion of innovative technologies to the market.

Due to the sustainable socioeconomic development, international rating agencies increase the credit rating of the republic regularly.

In October 2010 Fitch Ratings confirmed long-term ratings of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in foreign and national currency at “BB” level, with the short-term rating of the region on foreign currency at “B”. Also, the agency confirmed the republic’s long-term national rating “AA-(rus)” level.

The forecast for all long-term ratings is amended to “Positive”.

In May 2011 Standard and Poor’s International Rating Agency confirmed the republic’s credit rating at “BB-/Positive/ruAA-”.

The Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is one of the leaders of the Russian Federation by both the number of investment projects to be implemented on its territory and the volume of investments.

Priorities include enhancement of transport and power infrastructure of the republic, hydro and heat generation of power for exploitation of natural resources in the economy.

In accordance with the Scheme of intergarted development of labor forces, transport and power industry in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) till the year 2020, the republic is constructing a railway to the city of Yakutsk with a bridge across the Lena River; in future it is expected to reach the border with Magadan Oblast.

The republic is creating all-year-round network of federal and republic’s motorways with the major logistic hub in the city of Yakutsk; it is also modernizing the airplane and river fleet. There is a plan to connect central, western and southern parts of the republic by power transmission lines, to construct economical power stations.

As a result of these changes in infrastructure, by the year 2020 weight-average cost of bringing one ton of cargo to the regions of the republic would halve and the power tariffs would equal with the average all-Russian level.

In accordance with order of the Russian Government of 10 March 2009 No. 302-r, there started implementation of the first stage on designing documentation for “Integrated Development of Southern Yakutia” investment project. Since the launch of the project, it has received for preparatory and pre-project works RUR 24,2 billion, including RUR 16.5 billion of private investments, RUR 7.25 billion – from the Investment Fund of the Russian Federation. The project includes the following sites: Kankun hydropower station (OAO “RusHydro”, OAO “Yuzhno-Yakutsky GEK”), Yakutsk Center for gas production (OAO “Gazprom”), Elkonsky mining and smelting plant (OAO “Atomredmetzoloto”, ZAO “Elkonsky GMK”), Inaglinsky coal complex (OOO “Kolmar”, ZAO “Yakutskie ugli – new technologies”), Tarynakh and Tayozhny GOKs (mining and processing plants) (OAO “GMK “Timir”), Seligdar mining and chemical plants (OAO “ALROSA Investment Group”), 270 km of railways, 150 km of motorways, 1,200 km of power transmission lines and 7 substations.

The project creates conditions for attracting investments into Southern and Western Yakutia, for realization of projects in related industries. Besides, in Southern Yakutia OAO “Mechel” will develop Elga cola deposit with balance reserves at 2.1 billion tons. A similar cluster approach is applied to a number of other megaprojects: “Integrated development of Tomponsky mining industrial region”. With the use of private investments,
this project includes development of Nezhdaninskoe gold deposit, Verkhne-Menkechenskoe silver and polymetals deposit, as well as construction of Dzhebariki-Khaya heat power station, 3 power lines and 2 substations.

“Integrated development of Western Yakutia”.

This comprehensive investment project includes development of oil and gas fields; construction of pipelines; construction of underground diamond mines; building Vilyui motorway; building motorways and power transmission lines connecting Yakutia with
Irkutsk Oblast.

The Eastern Gas Program of the Russian Federation Government includes development of Chayanda-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok and launching the development of Yakutia gas center with the development of Chayanda-Botuobinskaya group of gas fields.

Legislation regulating investment activity in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

Federal normative acts:

1. Federal Law of 25 February, 1999 No. 39 “On investment activity in the Russian Federation, performed in the form of capital investments”;

2. Federal Law of 21 July, 2005 No. 115 “On concession agreements”;

3. Federal Law of 22 July, 2005 No. 116 “On special economic zones in the Russian Federation”;

4. Federal Law of 9 July, 1999 No. 160-ФЗ “On foreign investments in the Russian Federation”;

5. Federal Law of 29 April, 2008 No. 57 “On procedure of foreign investments into economic entities of strategic importance for defense and national
security”;

6. Federal Law of 29 October, 1998 No. 164 “On financial rent (leasing)”;

7. Federal Law of 30 December, 1995 No. 225 “On agreements about production division”;

8. Federal Law of 30 December, 2004 No. 210 “On tariff regulation in communal service institutions”;

9. Federal Law of 14 April 1995, No. 41-ФЗ “On state regulation of tariffs for electric and heat power in the Russian Federation”;

The Republic’s normative acts:

1. The Sakha Republic (Yakutia) Law of 30 May, 2006 347-З No. 709-III “On investment activity in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia); amendments to the Law are to be approved before the end of 2011.

2. The Sakha Republic (Yakutia) Law of 22 December, 1992 No. 1270-XII “On foreign investments in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia); amendments to the Law are to be approved before the end of 2011.

3. The Sakha Republic (Yakutia) Law of 10 July, 2003 No. 48-З No. 97-III “On taxation policy in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia);

4. Draft Law of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) “On Public-Private Partnership in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) is to be approved before the end of 2011”;

5. Program on creating a favorable investment climate in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) approved by the Resolution of the Sakha Republic Government of July 1, 2011 No. 286.

6. Resolution of the Sakha Republic Government of 26 April, 2007 No. 171 “On adopting a procedure of approving investment programs of regulated organizations”;

7. Resolution of the Sakha Republic Government of 30 June, 2005 No. 404 «”On procedure and terms of forming the united registrar of capital investment objects in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)”;

8. Resolution of the Sakha Republic Government of 30 June, 2005 No. 403 “On establishing criteria for long-term termination of financing investment projects from the state budget of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)”.

Tax incentives

One of the forms of investment activity state regulation is to establish favorable conditions by providing tax incentives.

In compliance with the Law of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) “On investment activity in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)”, the subjects of investment activity may seek the following tax incentives:

• on the income tax of the organizations in the form of reduction by four percentage points of the rate of income tax to be paid to the state budget of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia);

• on the property tax of the organizations in terms of the property newly created, purchased or reconstructed (upgraded) to implement an investment project, and (or) in terms of the property provided for temporary ownership or use in compliance with the financial leasing agreement, and (or) in terms of the property purchased in compliance with the financial leasing agreement;

• on transport tax in relation to vehicles used to implement an investment project.

The incentives can be provided for five years from the start of an investemt project implementation.

In order to stimulate and modernize water supply and draining, the tax benefit has been established for enterprises dealing with withdrawal, treatment and distribution of water and investing capital for these goals.

In order to stimulate investment activity of oil producing enterprises, the republic has lowered the income tax going to the regional budget from 18% to 13.5%, on condition that the capital is invested for development of natural resources.

In order to ensure timely supply of the Far North and other territories with limited access with necessary resources during the navigation period, and to improve financial situation at water transport enterprises,operating sea-river type vessels, the abovementioned enterprises pay lower income tax at the rate of 13.5% and are exempted from corporate property tax.

Due to seasonal nature of their activity, water transport enterprises are exempted from paying the property tax on their property which is conserved or idle; forestry and timber industry enterprises – on their property which is conserved.

Also, enterprises generating electric power with diesel stations in the north are exempted from the property tax if this activity earns over 70% of the total revenues from production (works, services) sale.

In order to support local manufacturing in terms of basic production assets, food industry enterprises pay the benefit property tax at 1.1% rate.

Airports with property worth more than RUR 300 million are also exempted from the property tax. This benefit is aimed at modernizing and reconstructing airport facilities, better working conditions and labor safety.

To support airworthiness of aircarfts, air transport enterprises which perform 50% and more of socially important passenger traffic and are enlisted as such by the Sakha Government, are exempted from paying the property tax.

To prevent higher tariffs for heat energy, there is a tax benefit on property of utilities and communal services organizations receiving subsidies from the budget to compensate losses; besides, enterprises in this sphere enjoy a benefit on the transport tax in relation to their special vehicles.

Like it is granted by the federal legislation, there is a benefit for motorways of public use, both republic’s and municipal.

Given high costs of agriculture, enterprises producing and processing agricultural products are granted some benefits on regional taxes.

To support small businesses using the simplified taxation system with taxation target being “revenues and expenses”, the tax rate has been lowered from 15% to 10%, the simplified patent-based taxation system has been introduced for private entrepereneurs.

Financial infrastructure The banking system of the republic is represented by 22 credit institutions, including 4 independent banks, 18 branches of banks of other regions.

Assets of credit institutions of the republic in 2010 totaled RUR 109.3 billion and increased the level of 2009 by 8.6%.

In the insurance market there are 2 republican insurance companies: OAO RIC “Sterkh”, and OAO GSMK “Sakhamedstrakh”, 11 branches of insurance companies of other regions of Russia.

The branch network of the RIC “Sterkh” and OAO GSMK “Sakhamedstrakh” covers all regions of the republic. Additionally, the regional insurance company came to the inter-regional level, opening branches of the RIC “Sterkh” in Khabarovsk and GSMK “Sakhamedstrakh” in Magadan.

There are 7 organizations with 20 licenses for professional activity in the securities market.

OAO “Republican Specialized Registrar “Yakutsk Fund Center “(YFC) is one of the oldest independent Russian registrars at the federal level in the Far East, carrying out activities in keeping the register of holders of securities since 1993. Its license was issued by the Federal Financial Markets Service of Russia for an indefinite term. YFC is a member of a self-regulatory organization of securities market participants – the Professional Association of Registrars, Transfer Agents, Depositories (PARTAD) since 1995.

OAO “Yakut Depository Center” (YDC) was established on January 26, 1996. Activities: brokerage, management of securities depository activities. YDC is a member of a self-regulatory organization “National Securities Market Association” (NSMA).

Entrepreneurship

There are 47 thousand small and medium-sized business entities, including 5.1 thousand small and medium-sized enterprises and 41.8 thousand registered individual entrepreneurs.

According to expert estimation (including salaried employees of individual entrepreneurs), the share of employment in small and medium enterprises in the total employment in the economy is 40%.

The turnover of small businesses in 2010 increased by a quarter and is RUR 80.7 billion and the turnover of medium-sized enterprises almost doubled and exceeded RUR 19.2 billion million.

Financial support for entrepreneurs is facilitated through the relevant federal, republican and municipal programs of the funds of entrepreneurship support and development.

Businesses can partly recover expenses incurred during the entire production cycle, including cadastral work and promotion of manufactured products to domestic and foreign markets. Particular attention is given to innovative small companies and companies involved in the modernization of production and its export.

State support areas in high demand are the following: grants, microfinancing, suretyship, property support, educational programs.

Infrastructure of property support of businesses includes business incubators in the cities of Yakutsk and Neryungri. A business incubator in Nyurba and a technopark in Neryungri are being set up currently.

External economic activity

Click the image to see the infograph in large size.

The Sakha Republic (Yakutia) has external commercial relations with 45 countries. Ties have traditionally been strong with European countries; external economic cooperation of the republic with India, Israel, USA, China is developing dynamically. 94% of the entire foreign turnover of the republic falls on these countries.

By the results of 2010 the growth of basic indices of the republic’s economic development has been witnessed, including the external economic activity indices.

In 2010 the exports volume made USD 3232,9 million. The imports volume made USD 90,7 million.

In 2010 the foreign turnover more than doubled compared to the 2009 level up to USD 3323 million. Export surplus went positive and made USD 3142,2 million, which is USD 1761,0 million more than in 2009.

Among the regions of the Far Eastern Federal District the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) has preserved its positions, holding the third place the foreign turnover index, being inferior to Sakhalin Oblast and Primorsky Krai.

Exports volume grew by the results of 2010 due to the sales of precious stones, precious metals and products from them to Belgium, Israel and India (81,7% of the total exports volume).

Goods were mostly delivered to the republic from the USA (35,3% of the total imports volume), China (13,5%), Japan (12,9%), Germany (8,7%), Ukraine (6,9%), Korea (6,2%).

In 2010 the enterprises and organizations of Yakutia received USD 8,1 million from rendering international services. They basically include transportation services (94,6%), services of travel agencies, tourist agents and excursion agencies.

In 2010 the number of participants of the external economic relations in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) grew by 6,6% and made 129 units.

As of January 1, 2011, the accumulated foreign capital in the republic’s economy made USD 2122 million, which is 43% more than a year before.

USD 1337 million of investments came to the republic’s economy from abroad in 2010, which is 20% more than in the similar period of 2009. 99% of the total receipts volume was invested in natural resources extraction.

In the structure of accumulated foreign investments at January 1 2011 the share of direct investments made 11,9 %, portfolio investments 0,2%, the share of other investments on the revolving basis (credits) – 87,8%.

Luxemburg (80,9%) and Cyprus (13,1%) were leading among the investing countries by the volume of the capital accumulated in the republic.

By the volume of investment income from abroad to the regions of the Far Eastern Federal District in 2010 the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) takes the 2nd place after Sakhalin Oblast.

Download the 2011 investment guidebook of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (PDF, ~110 Mb)

Meanwhile, enjoy Yakutia in pictures used in the guidebook…

YAKUTIA PHOTOGRAPHS BY YSIA

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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.

Sakha Sire is one of Sakha language websites.

A week or two ago, I received a message from Nikolay Pavlov (he is also known as Halan and Cyber Sakha). He is a very popular person on the Yakutian Internet. It’s him, who works hard together with his like-minded friends on Sakha Wikipedia.

He asked me about a favour. In his email, he said that in the early summer there was one of UNESCO conferences held in Yakutsk (Yakutia / Russia), and there were Japanese speakers Mikami Yoshiki and Tanaka Nakahira, who monitor the Internet in search of websites done in rare languages.

So, according to Nikolay, Mikami Yoshiki and Tanaka Nakahira said an interesting statement. They said that there were websites even in the Yukagir language, but the Sakha language was not represented online…

Nikolay and all other people, who do their best in promoting the Sakha language on the web, were confused a little. How come? There are many of such Internet resources. Maybe, they got words in a wrong way.

When they talked to Japanese speakers, the latter said that they monitored mainly websites in .com domain zone!

So, to render justice, Nikolay asked me to publish the list of the well-known Sakha language web resources. Proceed reading to check the top.

List of selected, checked websites in the Sakha language:

1. http://www.sakhaopenworld.org/media/ – The Sakha National Broadcasting TV Programs (selected).
2. http://uhhan.ru/ - The website of Ivan Uhhan, writer, public speaker. Some texts in Russian
3. http://www.sakhatyla.ru/ – SakhaTyla.ru, the Sakha language website with Russian-Sakha and Sakha-Russian online dictionaries, Pekarsky’s Sakha Language Dictionary (graphic), a text-book for the Russian-speakers, the Sakha language grammer book, samples of the Sakha folklore texts and songs.
4. http://www.kyym.ru/ – The Kyym Sakha-Language News Agency. Do not mix up with the newspaper of the same name. This one is a seperate online project. Kyym.ru publishes stories in the Sakha language from different media outlets.
5. http://sakhasire.ykt.ru/ – the online version of the Sakha Sire republic governmental newspaper.
6. http://news.iltumen.ru/ – IL Tumen News, online version of the republic parliament newspaper. Published in Russian and Sakha languages.
7. http://sah.wikipedia.org/ - Wikipedia in the Sakha language.
8. http://sah.wikisource.org - Wikisource in the Sakha language.
9. http://www.viktoriasakha.ru/ – Sakha Viktoria FM Radio Station.
10. http://bertjickty.narod.ru/ - Bert Jickty’s website, he is a big promoter of the Sakha fonts on the Internet.
11. http://www.baayaga.narod.ru/ – Unofficial website of the Bayaga settlement of Yakutia’s Tattinsky region.
12. http://olonkho-yak.my1.ru/ – Private website dedicated to the Olonkho, the Sakha heroic epos.
13. http://tylbaas.ykt.ru/ – Online dictionary: Sakha-Russian, Russian-Sakha
14. http://42.ykt.ru/edersaas/ – Eder Saas Newspaper archive.
15. http://www.bichik.ru/ – Bichik National Publishing House. Partly in Russian.
16. http://khohuun.h1.ru/ – Khohuun NGO newspaper
17. http://pages.ykt.ru/tumus/index_sa.html - Public speaker Tumus Mekhaale
18. http://sitim.ykt.ru/sakha/ – Sakhalyy Sitim NGO.
19. http://il.ucoz.net/ – Sakha Non-Governmental Centre. Partly in the Sakha language.
20. http://ilin-yakutsk.narod.ru/index.htm – ILIN, historical & cultural magazin.
21. http://tymen.org.ru/ – Tumen Youth Organization.
22. http://sanaalar.ru/ – Sakha Music Website supported by Sinilga and Qwer
23. http://eyge.sakha.ru/ – Eyge, website for the deliberated Sakha man, as it says in the header.
24. http://altan.naslegy.ru/ – Website of the Altan settlement, a pioneer among Sakha-language websites.
25. http://www.ysia.ru/lang.php?lang=2 – The Sakha version of Yakutia Sakha News Agency.
26. http://sakha.ykt.ru – Forums in the Sakha language on Ykt.Ru, SakhaInternet LLC’s Yakutsk city portal.

An American chopper Doug Wathke and an Austrian BMW rider Hansjorg.

Yesterday I received an sms from Doug Wothke, who said he arrived in Yakutsk… on a Harley & Davidson motorcycle. It was late night. Right after midnight. He wrote he was looking for hotels to stay. For some reasons, all of them were full.

Hotels were full, as the republic’s big events are coming these weeks, including international economical forum dedicated to infrustructure development in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). They didn’t know that, and, frankly saying, that was not the point to mention even. Finally, they found so-called mini hotel (a sort of a guest house).

Today I have met him and he was not alone. There was an Austrian biker named Hansjorg on a BMW and one Russian Max on a KTM from Tynda, who said he catched up his group of Moscovite bikers going also to Magadan… And, yes, there was an Moscow-based American BMW motorcyclist Tom Reiter, a friend of Walter Colebatch’s. As far as you know, Walter is the UK motorbiker, who had explored Siberian roads (www.SibirskyExtreme.com) for others.

So… today, instead of two expected bikers, Doug and Tom, I saw 9 motorcyclists, they are 2 Americans, 1 Austrian, 6 Russians. They were changing tires and preparing their bikes for a long ride to Magadan.

See more photographs of today’s meeting.

Doug’s bike in the front.

Doug Wothke is really a cool guy. He is an American, a big fan of Harley & Davidson. A famous person in the moto world actually. Some says he is a legend.

Last year he travelled across the country from Moscow to Vladivostok on a clasic chopper. Preparing for this year’s trip through the old route of Kolyma Highway (Road of Bones), he decided he needed another bike, that would be ready for making through various terrains, as the classic chopper might get stuck on the first muddy puddle or pothole.

So, last year Doug built his new bike… himself… especially for the Road of Bones.

Well, if you are a motor biker, it’s not me to tell you, who Douge is. If not, check his travel website http://motosapiens.org/

A Russian biker (in center) is helping Tom Reiter (left) to remove a wheel.

Doug’s bike.

A scull on Doug’s motorcycle.

Doug’s stickers.

More Doug’s stickers. Do you see the star with Lenin head? It’s the SibirskyExtreme‘s sticker. IMHO, we need to say many thanks to Walter Colebatch, who promoted so intensively the Road of Bones last year.

This is a biker from the Moscow group.

Moscovite’s sticker with the mentioned Russian website, where Moscow motorbikers are writing travel notes during their journey. Frankly, they didn’t appear to be friendly. So, I didn’t try to talk to them much. Just learned that they were going separately from international riders. Whatever.

UPDATE, Aug. 24, 2011:

The picture from Yakutia’s major newspaper “Yakutsk Vechernyj.” Motorcyclists on the ferry across the Lena River. From left to right: Russian Max, Austrian Hansjörg Franz and American Doug Wothke.

Here is Doug already in Magadan. Learn more about his arrival at AskMagadan.com.

Tomasz, Bartosz and Filip. That is how guys looked at the finish.

In May I wrote the post Long Walk Plus Expedition: Walking up the Lena River from Yakutsk… to Calcutta, India about three Polish students, Tomasz Grzywaczewski, Bartosz Malinowski, Filip Drozdz, whom I met in Yakutsk and who said they were planning to repeat the famous escape from Yakutsk-based Gulag to British India depicted later in Slavomir Rawicz’s memory book “The Long Walk.”

There was a dialogue between us. I wrote,

These young Poles asked me, “Have you heard about Slavomir Rawicz’s The Long Walk?” I said, “Sure. It’s a real story about the Polish prisoner, who escaped from Gulag and walked southward to India.” And they were like, “Yeah, but you know what?! Its author says that it was him, who escaped to British India, but in reality the depicted character appeared to be another Pole, who lives now in the UK in poverty. A true hero is Witold Glinski. He didn’t earn anything from the book revenues, because he is very modest and unpretentious, and the publishing house was too authoritative to convince him to keep silence.”

Further, three guys, Tomasz Grzywaczewski, Bartosz Malinowski, and Filip Drozdz, started disclosing all the truth. Finally, they said they wanted to make the documentary and share the truth with the whole world by making the Long Walk Plus Expedition.

In October Polish guys finished the Long Walk Plus Expedition in Calcutta. Many Indian media newspapers came out with the story of their completed journey. Tomasz, Bartosz and Filip were totally exhausted, but excited.

A month ago I told about Poles’ achievements to Mikael Stranberg (www.mikaelstrandberg.com) and he made a story about them at ExplorersWeb.com.

That became the starting point of the hot discussion with questions, Who was a real hero? Who escaped from the Gulag near Yakutsk? Did Slavomir Rawicz depict his own long walk to freedom or did he use Witold Glinski’s real story to make his own book? Was it a big escape or a big lie?

Read people’s opinions and express your own in comments to Mikael’s post The Long Walk to Freedom.

Mikael asked about my opinion…

Frankly, I didn’t think over it before and have nothing to say definitely now. However, I live in Yakutsk… Yeah, I live in the area where that gulag was located in Stalin’s time… Why not make an investigation on the spot? Find that camp? Find people, who worked in that camp? Find some documents?.. I am not telling that it can be me to research… I am saying, It’s a good IDEA!

I see that the world is pretty much interested in people’s life in the Siberian coldest places such as Oymyakon (Ojmjakon) and Verkhoyansk (Verkhojansk)… and an idea arrived…

I have friends who live in Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk. Both villages compete for the title “The world’s coldest inhabited place.” In Yakutia locals do not pay much attention to where it is much colder, because everywhere it is cold, extremely cold. Even Yakutsk is currently experiencing -47C.

Well… If you wish, you can leave your questions about life in the cold condition and I will ask all of them to my friends in Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk.

Do you want to know, how they cope with the cold, how they keep their houses warm, what winter clothes (cold weather outfits) they use, how long daylight lasts and many other aspects of their daily life?

Use the comment form to leave your questions…

Vaselisa Popova, my new contact in Verkhoyansk, Yakutis, Siberia.

Good news to all travelers, who are interested in Sangar (the Kobyajsky region) and Verkhoyansk. I visited the 2010 Sakha Travel Exhibition held at Polar Hotel in Yakutsk on April 9-10, 2010. Finally, I acquainted with travel enthusiasts from those places. You can see them in the photographs.

The Kobyajsky region is famous for its fantastic fishing and rafting near Segyan Kyol as well as its Even nomads‘ settlement of Sebjan Kyol in the Verkhoyansky Range.

Verkhoyansk is known as the 2nd (maybe, the 1st) Pole of Cold in Yakutia. It’s located near the Arctic Circle, where travelers can see Aurora Borealis and experience the most extreme cold weather in Siberia’s Yakutia. Believe, it is much colder there than in Oymyakon. Besides, Verkhoyansk is the most challenging destination for auto/moto adventurers.

Vaselisa Popova in the national costume

Another news contact... in Sangar, Kobyaisky region, Yakutia, Siberia.

2010 Sakha Travel Exhibition in Yakutsk.

2010 Sakha Travel Exhibition in Yakutsk.

2010 Sakha Travel Exhibition in Yakutsk.

Now I know, whom to redirect questions regarding the Siberian remote villages of Sangar and Verkhoyansk :)

As far as you know, I decided to organize a road trip to Oymyakon, the Pole of Cold, from Jan. 17 till Jan. 21 for my friends. Today we, trip participants, gathered and had lunch in Yakutsk at the Chicago Bar.

There were alll of those mentioned in travellers list, including a German photographer Bjorn Steinz and a US student Tilden Smith. Bjorn arrived yesterday by plane from Vladivostok. Tilden came this morning by a car from Nerungri.

A very good news. I will go with my friends. By the last minute I wasn’t sure, whether I will go. There were a lot of works to be done.

Another good news. We will apparently depart for Oymyakon from Yakutsk on this Sunday at 8:00 am. Travel to the Pole of Cold will take two days. We decided to make night stop in Khandyga so to see the best part of the Road of Bones in the Verkhoyansk Range in day time. You know, many of us have cameras. Need to take as many gorgeous pictures as possible.

Not enough good news. We will be offline most time. Maybe, in Khandyga we will find time and visit an Internet cafe. Certainly, at any time I can ask locals for letting us go online from their home computers in Tomtor, near Oymyakon, where we are going to stay for nights. A guest house in Oymyakon was occupied by Moscovite tourists.

Bad news. Tilden won’t go with us. He’s got a serious health issue, something with lungs. His travel from Irkutsk to Yakutsk via Nerungri was tough to him. So his doctor said “You shouldn’t go to Oymyakon!” He changed his Yakutsk – Vladivostok air ticket and is flying back to Moscow on Sunday and to the USA on Monday.

So follow us! A lot of photos are guaranteed. Maybe, there will be videos. Need to find a cam. And, certainly, I will write more posts with travel tips and useful info. And yeah, let me know what you would like to know more about the way to Oymyakon.

Why not celebrate the New Year in Yakutia?! You will be surrounded with the extreme cold and real Yakutian hospitality. The Siberian winter is fun and worth to try it! Don’t you think so?

By the way, this is the first time, when I realized what a wonderful New Year we have here, on the coldest place on the Earth, and I thought why not to share this exotic experience with others :) Further, please, see our warm NY greetings in the cold, cold and exotic, exotic surroundings.

My current tip is to celebrate NY in Yakutsk, than to embark on the exciting expedition to the Pole of Cold.

Video is digged by tengry.org, created by the republic’s TV company “Sakha” (Innokenty Slepzov) in Yakutsk in 1998, hosted on my YouTube account.

Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Just wondering… Will the blog visitors, who love travelling and free downloading at the same time, be enough grateful for what I am going to do now? Damn, I am really up to let the world download the Kolyma Highway travel map for free.

Yeah, it’s really happened. I spent much time and efforts on developing this map a year ago. But I love my blog readers. The travel map for the Kolyma Highway is available online now.

Designed for adventurers, who are not afraid of driving the Kolyma Highway, well known as the Road of Bones.

It is the PDF on 7 pages (the A4 format, in English.)

Available maps for:

(1) Republic of Sakha (with Kolyma Highway),
(2) Yakutsk,
(3) Nizhnyj Bestyakh – Churapcha,
(4) Churapcha – Khandyga – Razvilka,
(5) Kyubyume – the Pole of Cold, Tomtor – the border of the Magadan Oblast,
(6) Kyubyume – Ust-Nera – the border of the Magadan Oblast.

It contains information on:
- distances,
- petrol/gas stations,
- tyre repair stations,
- car repair garages,
- pharmacy,
- hotels,
- cafes,
- airports,
- river ports,
- etc.

To download the Kolyma Highway travel map, click here. To download, use all browsers, except Internet Explorer.

Consider also checking out the Czech OFF Siberia … ОФФ Сибирь project’s Google Earth Kolyma Highway (old route) map with the GPS coordinates. To download a kmz file, click here.

Walter Colebatch, the UK Sibirsky Extreme moto adventure project leader, returned to Yakutia from Baikal. He said good bye to his fellows Tony and Terry, who went back home to England. At that moment, he thought “I still harboured a burning ambition to get to the Arctic Circle in Asia… I just had enough time before the seasons changed to try one more time to get North from Udachny.”

As two months ago, he hit the same route Ust-Kut – Lensk – Mirny – Chernyshevsky – Morkoka – Aikhal – Udachny and finally reached the place just a few kilometers before the Arctic Circle, the place that had stopped him and Tony last time round.

“The river then had been full of water, and rain was falling,” wrote Walter. “Now it was colder, but the sky was half blue. I approached the marker on my GPS that indicated the limit of our travels last time and took a photo. Now it was all dry road. Just 100 metres ahead there was the River … One look told me the river was 3-4 metre wide and at least 1 metre deep. I walked the shallowest part … My arse got cold and wet. That wont work on the bike, especially considering the current as well.”

Further, please, find more of Walter’s travelogue plus the scanned maps of the Anabar Road.

UST-KUT – LENSK

30.08 – 31.08 – 01.09.09

I loaded the bike onto the boat for Lensk at another obscure loading point. As it happened, the boat had to dock briefly at the main river port anyway, next to the Lena Hotel… My boat pulled away into the darkness, set for 1000 km on the Lena.

I shared a 4 berth room on the boat with Valeri, and old truck driver from Lensk. He was clean, didnt drink or smoke, and was about as good a companion as I could have hoped for.

I had been told the ride to Lensk would be two days, Valeri had been told a day and a half. A couple of hours out of Ust Kut and it was apparent that was not going to happen. The engines shut down and the boot moored in the river about midnight. When I awoke in the morning, we had not moved. We were still just 45km from Ust Kut. It was almost midday before the engines fired up again. We had thought the boat had stopped due to fog last night, but there had be no fog since early in the morning. It was apparent there was a bit of engine repair and maintenance going on. I noted only one propeller was turning and when the boat was moving we were making about 17-20 km/h … about the same as the barge had done two months earlier. So I assumed we would also take about 3 days for the journey.

The boat had warm showers for a few hours each day and a galley, where hot meals were prepared 3 times a day. That was a big improvement on the barge. In theory the barge could have cost us about 9000 rubles each back in July … the price for vehicles was 4000 rubles per metre of length. But they didnt know how to account for motorcycles as they are not full width vehicles. I guess they could have charged us half the regular price per metre, but in the end they charged us nothing, and we took the barge from Ust Kut to Lensk for free. The boat I was on now, the ‘Moskovsky 11′ charged 8000 rubles (180 EUR) per passenger for the journey (which included a cabin) … and 6000 for the motorcycle, which was fitting neatly on the front deck of the boat…

..This year is a turning into a great year for horizon widening in Siberia. All sorts of new possibilities have opened up. Routes have been mapped and documented. Mac [Swinarski, a Moto Siberia Expedition leader] was telling me even the locals in Anadyr know nothing about the perfectly decent new roads he found to their city. Only a handful of people know anything about the roads – usually the truck drivers that regularly drive them in their 6WD trucks – and they typically don’t have internet. We found the same with the BAM road and Vilyuisky Trakt.

Most of the locals you ask en route don’t have a clue and know only about the area within about an hour or two’s drive away from where they are. The two Moscow guys we met adventuring across the country in their wazzik (Road of Bones) had expressed great surprise that we had done the Vilyuisky Trakt. They had been been researching Russian 4WD sites for months, and found nothing to suggest it was possible…

..Back to life on the river… A day later, and our boat docked in Vitim, where the Vitim River joins the Lena. Vitim is a real boom town around here. There is a big plan to develop oil and gas fields about 170 km ‘inland’ and Vitim will be the centre of logistics for that. The next few years will see the town grow from a small service port to one of the key cities on the Lena, the same way Lensk grew dramatically to service the diamond towns of Mirny, Almazny, Aikhal, Udachny and Anabar several decades ago.

Valeri, my cabin mate, was telling me that if it werent for the crisis they would have started building the planned road between Lensk and Vitim already. Watch out for that one in the next few years. Already there is a road from the BAM town of Nebel to Kirensk on the Lena, so in a couple of years you would need a boat only from Kirensk to Vitim. In about 6-7 years, you wont need the boat at all to go from Ust Kut to Lensk as there should be a road all the way. (Actually you don’t need a boat now – you can go all the way the long way round via Tynda and Yakutsk.) Plans are to link Ust Kut with the new oil and gas fields by road, which will already be linked to Lensk via Vitim.

02.09.09

About 10am, after 3.5 days on the river, the boat docked in Lensk and I unloaded my bags and then the bike. I had a big day ahead of me. I was going to try and get to Udachny, 770km away, all on dirt roads, by the end of the day. If I made it, it would be the biggest day of the trip in terms of mileage. I had wasted enough time on the boat and had itchy feet. Too much time sitting and thinking, without any doing.

LENSK – MIRNY

I found a fuel station and hit the road. It was 10:20 when I left Lensk. I’d had plenty to eat on the boat over the last few days so breakfast was not required. I would go straight through to Mirny 240 km away.

The road from Lensk to Mirny was in truly excellent condition. Its one of the finest dirt roads I have ever ridden. I sat on 110 km/h the whole way, but if I didn’t have mousse in my front tyre and gearing for low speed via my front sprocket, I would have done most of the road at 130. I stopped on for photographs. The seasons were changing up here already and the trees were bursting with colour.

I fuelled up again on the southern edge of Mirny. I didnt need to – I would fuel up at Chernyshevsky 100 km further up the road too, but there the price would be a lot higher and the quality less reliable. Better to get as much as possible while in Mirny. I sped on to Andrei’s workshop, our trusty mechanic from 2 months ago, arriving at 12:45. I had texted him I was on my way as I left Lensk, but it was a quiet day in the workshop and he was away. I stripped the bags off the bike and just took a couple of much lightened bags – leaving two bags at Andrei’s to collect on my return.

I stopped at the Mirny market place to pick up some Samsa’s for the trip North. Andrei had shown me this little shop, a personal favorite, 2 months ago, and remembered the samsa’s were the best I had eaten in Russia. I took the liberty with time of eating one. I pulled out of Mirny just before 2pm. It would be a 6-7 hour ride to Udachny, 530 km away, assuming I stopped only for fuel along the way.

MIRNY – UDACHNY

The road from Mirny to Chernyshevsky is not as good as the Lensk – Mirny section of the Anabar Road, and party out of respect for the road and partly because I wanted to get accustomed to riding at 90 km/h for the section North of Chernyshevsky to conserve fuel, I slowed to 90 km/h for the 105km to Chernyshevsky. I topped up with 5 litres of fuel there. Now I was maxxed out on fuel. Both tanks dripping fuel onto the pavement. 22 litres ready to burn.

Last time we went up from Chernyshevsky, both Tony and I had both burned more fuel than expected … we had a strong headwind the whole way and rode at 110 km/h … which probably explains it. But I ran out before Aikhal, which is still 65 km short of Udachny, and relied on Tony going ahead to get me 5 litres. This time I wanted to go straight thru to Udachny. There wasnt too much wind about and I was going to try and stick to the more economical speed of 90 km/h by the GPS … which is about 96 km/h on my speedo.

The usual collection of ‘Jacksons’ (terminology courtesy of the brothers Vince) stopped me to ask the usual question in Chernyshevsky when I refuelled and then stopped at the shop for a litre of liquid refreshment, but I brushed them aside. I was on a mission. I had now done about 350 km and had 420 still to go – non stop. I didnt know when it got dark this far North at this time of year, but I was only 3 weeks from the equinox … I guessed it would be about 8pm. I had no time to spare if I wanted to not risk riding in the dark.

Headphones were blaring and I just concentrated on the surface of the road ahead. There had clearly been rain around and some patches of the road were moist, tho so far no rain had touched me today. The first point of interest would be the village of Morkoka. It’s the only inhabited place between Aikhal and Chernyshevsky. It has about half a dozen buildings, a fuel station that seems to only sell diesel (though I would try again to buy petrol when I got there) and I have been told a cafe with rooms.

When I got there, I asked a stopped truck driver where the cafe was. It seems a silly question for someone in the west, but in the more remote parts of Russia, every building and every door looks the same. None offer a hint of what is behind each one. Places like Morkoka dont even bother with signs. There are no visitors here – Just the regular truck drivers who know where everything is. I marked the location of the cafe on my GPS and moved on to the fuel station.

I am compiling a list of waypoints of all the cafes, fuel stations, hotels, water hazards etc I have used, crossed or even seen in off the beaten track Siberia. I think that would be useful. No one needs a guide or guide book if you already know where the fuel, cafes and hotels are.

As I suspected, the fuel station refused to sell me fuel – mentioned something about needing paperwork, coupons or something like that to buy here. I looked inside my tanks to guess how much fuel I had left. My economy looked good. I estimated at current consumption I would get to Udachny with 2-3 litres to spare.

It was always a risk, now that I was travelling alone. When I was with Tony we could take these risks. If one person ran out of fuel, the other could go ahead with the fuel canister. Tony had been Tsar of the spare fuel canister … mainly from necessity. Terry and I both had 22 litres of capacity, due to modifications, but Tony had just the stock 17 litre tank. This was however, compensated with a old 5 litre oil container found by the side of the road, at a cost of zero rubles / dollars / euro / sterling. By strapping that old grey plastic oil container to his bike, he too had 22 litres.

I would risk the ride to Udachny. The signs were positive. I even stopped to eat another Samsa. I had done 300 km since Mirny, in 3.5 hours, including a fuel stop and Samsa break – pretty much 90 km/h on the road. It was 17:30 and I was peckish. 230km to go to Udachny … I should get there soon after 8pm.

It was tougher going after Morkoka. I felt tired at several points. The recent rain over the road had been very recent – last couple of hours I reckoned. Several places I had to be a little careful due to slippery surfaces. If the increasing cold had brought Autumn colour to the trees between Lensk and Mirny, up here there was only one colour – gold. All the trees were close to losing their remaining gold leaves. The temperature was about 5 degrees. I had plugged in my Exo heated jacket in Morkoka. It was the first time I had needed it in almost 2 months. I was glad I still had it. The forecast for later in the week is for serious cold.

At about 7:30pm I made it to the turnoff to Aikhal. I thought briefly about a 12km run into town to get fuel, but I was pretty confident my visual inspection in Morkoka was accurate and I would get to Udachny. I pressed on over the stretch of road that had given Tony 5 flat tyres in one night. Without Tony’s flat tyres, the road was a hell of a lot quicker I thought to myself. Flat tyres didnt seem to be a problem for me, but rain might be.

Since passing the Aikhal turnoff, evil looking clouds were building. At one point drops of rain were hitting me from the edge of a storm cell, but I was riding through the very edge of the cell, and I was through it in less than a minute. I passed several points where Tony had had flats and it brought back memories of being stuck in the rain fixing endless flats. Miserable memories. I put them aside and soon found myself in sight of Udachny. My fuel warning light was not yet on, I had made it in one day. By the time I pulled up in front of the hotel, I had racked up 765 km … apart from 5km thru Mirny, it was all dirt. It was about 8:20pm. (8:50pm by the time I did all the time consuming Russian Hotel paperwork and got into my room).

I was cold. I hadnt plugged in my heated gloves, and my toes felt like ice. It was half an hour in a hot shower for me before I was suitably thawed. I popped outside to grab a cold beer and sunk back in an armchair to enjoy it. Tomorrow I sniff around the Arctic Circle again.

- – -

03.09.09

I slept in till 10am … I deserved it after yesterday. The bike was still outside, but it was bitingly cold. The receptionist said it was zero degrees out there. It was time for an executive decision – I delayed outdoor action in favour of the hotels communal washing machine. I had plenty of clothes to wash; the only clean ones being what was still clean from the Taksimo wash about a week ago. While washing, I had a visit at the hotel from the local immigration police / FSB. They were full of questions about what a solo motorcyclist might be doing here in Udachny. A lot of documents were copied but all seemed in order and things returned to normal.

I emerged around midday to a cold overcast day and headed for the cafe around the corner to warm up. Tony and I had stopped here to warm up 2 months ago after a cold ride up from Aikhal and I remembered this place had the best lemon tea in all of Russia.

About 1pm and I summonned my resolve and jumped on the cold bike, headed firstly for the petrol station. Udachny had 2. Last time I was here one was out of fuel and the other was rationing sales. I went to the one thhat sold us fuel last time, but they adamantly wouldnt sell me fuel without coupons. I turned round and went to the other one. They were selling 92 octane at the huge price of 40 rubles a litre. At the place that required coupons it had been 29.50. I guess thats supply and demand for you. I took only 10 litres. I wanted to have my main 10 litre tank full, but as little as possible in the extra tank. I wanted the bike as light and manouvreable as possible for the assault on the next 20km of the Anabar Road.

400 rubles later and I headed on down the road that had stopped us last time round…

The full story of Walter Colebatch’s breakthrough at SibirskyExtreme.com.

UPDATE: Received the short message from Walter. Think, it won’t be polite to disclose his great plan. I would like just to give an advice. If anyone wishes in the near future to experience the same moto adventure excitement in Yakutia & Siberia as the Sibirsky Etreme had, follow the updates of Walter’s website :))

UPDATE2: In his last travelogue post Walter disclosed his plan for summer 2009. There is a good opportunity for bike travelers to join the motorcycle trip from Magadan to Lake Baikal next year. Walter wrote “It could only ever be a small group, 5-8 people, over 4 weeks. If anyone is interested, drop me a line thru the blog and we will send out more detailed information as we put it together. If we get enough expressions of interest, we will have a serious ride on next summer, Magadan – Baikal.”

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.

Yeah! That’s right. Wood buffaloes do live in Yakutia, i.e. in Siberia. They were transported in April 2006 from Edmonton, Canada. Since then the quantity of bisons was increased from 26 up to 39. 6 calves were born in 2008, and 7 in 2009. They are doing pretty well, have reacclimatized successfully on the land, where their ancestors had used to live thousands years ago.

They are not kept in a zoo. They live in a huge nursery by the Buotama River, almost 200 km south from Yakutsk. I was lucky to take pictures of rare animals on August 8, 2009. Here you can see just some of pics.

More pics of previous Ysyakh at Flickr.com

This summer Yakutsk’s Ysyakh (Ысыах), Yakut national holidays, will be held on June 27-28, 2009. Location is Ys Khatyn (Yс Хатынг), 20 minutes by car northward from Yakutsk, near the settlement of Zhatai (Жатай). The opening ceremony will take place on the first day, Saturday, at 12.00.

Note: Yakutsk Ysyakh takes place traditionally on the last weekend of June.