Hi! My name is Bolot. I am a journalist. Based in Yakutsk. Ask me a question about the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Siberia / Russia, and get the answer.
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?
Well, it seems Oymyakon is currently a very hot news story topic in the European media. Last days brought many requests from there and all of them about the way of life in the coldest inhabited place in Siberia’s Yakutia.
The last one arrived from Madrid’s La Razon. A Spanish reporter wrote:
It would be also very usefull if you could tell us some aspects about this place:
-¿Do they have train? ¿Why?
-¿Do they have a motorway? ¿Since when?
-How many months winter last there? Is it true it takes nine months?
-Is it true summer is complicated because of thaw?
-What are their most frequent health problems? ¿Because of cold?
-What problems do they find in their daylife because of low temperatures?
Frankly saying, all answers to the above questions are already written on the blog AskYakutia.com, i.e. in posts tagged as Oymyakon and the Pole of Cold. To find them will take time for sure. Of course, it’s easier and faster to ask than to search required info on the resource. Indeed, that’s the philosophy of this website. Well, if I received a request, I need to answer.
I decided to make a post with listed questions about Oymyakon, because I found them frequently asked and, yeah, they are very fascinating.
Western media representatives, please, keep in mind one important thing! Oymyakon is not a part of technology- and communication advanced Europe, Asia or North America. It is located in the very depth of Siberia! People in Oymyakon live their ordinary Siberian village life.
The village of Anyuisk, Chukotka. The way goes through this place as well.
Off-road drivers, motorcyclists, and cyclists keep asking me about the road from Magadan (Magadan Oblast) to Anadyr (Chukotka). Like road existence, road maps, road conditions, road reports, road photos, road traffic, road weather, and any other possible road information. Some requesters are asking, if there is an unexplored road.
Actually, all their questions can be expressed in short, “Is it possible to make it from Magadan to Anadyr overland?” “Yes” and “No.” The final answer depends on many factors.
I hear this question very often. Frankly saying, it was that show, that forced me to upload winter photographs of the Road of Bones (officially known as the Kolyma Highway) built by GULAG work camp inmates in the time of Stalin.
Well, if anyone is interested in the winter Road of Bones condition. Here we go. Further, please, find 45 pictures taken the last winter by me. Read more…
Captain Magadan on the Road of Bones. Aug. 2010, Yakutia, Siberia.
This year’s summer and early autumn the Kolyma Highway (the Road of Bones), located, as you know, between Yakutsk and Magadan, was pretty busy… in terms of hosting adventure motor bikers from many nations.
So if you’ve got questions about the current summer-autumn Road of Bones condition, please, check the following list of adventure motorcycle travellers, whom I personally met or learned about, and you can get in touch with them and require more detailed info.
What did they report? General road information remains almost the same as I described in previous posts filed under tags, Road of Bones and Kolyma Highway.
Magadan drivers compiled the so-called road legend (description of roads) for the route Magadan – Yakutsk – Bolshoi Never – Chita. They gathered information on settlements, distances and availability of gas (fuel) stations, cafes, repairs shops, places to stay for nights, road police stations, roads condition, etc.
Everything is presented in one .xls file in Russian. Bisides, authors indicated their contacts. If you’ve got any question, please, feel free to get in touch with them. One thing to remember. They speak Russian.
For instance, distance between Yakutsk and Magadan is 2024 km, between Bolshoi Never and Yakutsk is 1157 km.
Though I am based in Yakutia, I am often asked about the availability of any GPS maps for the roads of Magadan Oblast. Well, here are a few links for downloading such files.
Watch the real Siberian video done on the Kolyma Highway (the Road of Bones) by Oisin Hughes, an Irish adventure biker, who yesterday made it to Magadan from Yakutsk just for 4 days only. In this vid you will see, how close to the edge he was biking in the Verkhoyansky mountain area. Fantastic and thrilling! That’s Siberia! That’s the Siberian challenge!
Oisin says, “Jesus, I nearly died when i rewatched it… Got way way way too close to the edge here, gives me the colly wobbles just looking at it…”
My comment will be simple. While being early in this summer, he was really lucky. Weather was awesome. Sunny and no rains. But… the end of his biking happened to be not so much exciting.
Further, please, find what happened and get the information on the current condition of the Road of Bones (the Khandyga – Kyubyume part). Read more…
Oisin Hughes, an Irish Giant, is the first adventure biker of summer 2010, who arrived on his motobike to Yakutia on the way to Magadan. Yesterday he made it to Yakutsk from Tynda. He spent two days on the road. Really fast! This morning (pretty early, at 8.00 am) on my way to the office, I found him in Lena Hotel. Actually, I woke him up… Read more…
