Kolyma Highway

Motorcyclists, take tyres for Siberian biking as many as possible!

August 4, 2011

Many tyres are a must for the Road of Bones, Kolyma Highway. Photo of the bike from the Siberia Off Czech expedition.

As it is hard not to make your rear tyres flat...

As it is hard not to make your rear tyres flat...

Let’s repeat the truth about the Road of Bones, known officially as the Kolyma Highway that connects Yakutsk and Magadan. Siberia, including Yakutia, doesn’t have highways as perfect as European amd Asia-advanced ones. It’s Siberia!

Previously, I wrote that it’s impossible to buy spare parts for your motorbikes in Yakutsk. No so many motorcyclists in the city. As a result, no high demand for motorcycle shops at all.

Yesterday, I met really nice British bikers Ed and Dan from the brighton2expeditions. They made the long way from London to Yakutsk via Central Asian countries and Mongolia.

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Travel Guide Video: The Kolyma Highway (The Road of Bones). By Casey Handmer.

July 27, 2011

An Australian hitchhiker Casey Handmer (on the left) with Vadim, a biker of Anadyr.

An Australian hitchhiker Casey Handmer (on the left) with Vadim, a biker of Anadyr.

A year ago, July 28, in Yakutsk I met Casey Handmer, who said he was on the way to Magadan. Asked, how he was going to make it. Hitchhiking was his answer.

He was not the first one, who travelled the Kolyma Highway (Road of Bones) by that mean. So, I didn’t worry much, but I should actually.

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How to find Gulags on the way to Topolinoe, Yakutia / Russia?

July 20, 2011

Remains of one of gulags on the way to Topolinoe in Tomponsky region, Republic of Sakha, Yakutia, Russia. Photo by Ajar Varlamov.

“Do you have any coordinates of gulags in Yakutia?” a question asked very, very often. No, I don’t have GPS coordinates, but I know there are some Stalin’s labour camps north off the Kolyma Higway on the way to Topolinoe (see the settlement on the map). If to be more precise, closer to the village.

Here are a few tips how to find camps. Read more…

Where to buy BMW or KTM motorbike spare parts in Yakutsk, Russia?

July 19, 2011

An American motorbiker, Ben Myburgh, in Yakutsk before his ride on the Kolyma Highway also known as the Road of Bones.

An American motorbiker, Ben Myburgh, in Yakutsk before his ride on the Kolyma Highway also known as the Road of Bones.

Yesterday, an American motorbiker, Ben Myburgh, arrived in Yakutsk. He made the way from Portugal to Yakutsk via Moscow and Mongolia. Today he is starting his journey the Kolyma Highway from Yakutsk to Magadan.

When he arrived, he got a few questions, but his most important request was, Where to buy a front wheel tube for his BWM F800 motorcycle in Yakutsk? Everything is cool with his current tubes, but he wanted to have one more for replacement.

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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…

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.

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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.

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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.

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Cycling through Tynda – Yakutsk – Magadan – Anadyr – Alaska

February 24, 2011

Received a request from the French couple, Olivier and Marine (www.lescolporteurs.org), doing a world tour by bike. Here’s what they are asking:

We already reach Shanghai from France. We are currently planning, what comes next: we should join the Shakhalin island through Japan, come to Yakoutsk and then try to join Magadan by the ossment road, if possible. From Magadan, we may try to join Anadyr, if any opportunity would come (we read your post regarding this route).

So our questions are :

1. Which one of roads lead to Yakoutsk from the South?

2. We, maybe, there in summertime. Do you think it is possible to make it to Magadan with bike in this season?

3. Do you know a way to apply for the Chukotka permit without buying a very expensive tour with a specialized travel agency (which we do not need, since we are travelling by bike)?

4. How do locals or others protect themselves against the voracious siberian mosquitoes?

My answers in regards to their cycling tour

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