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Dimitri Kieffer about his cycling from Omsukchan (Magadan Oblast) to Yakutsk (Yakutia) via the Kolyma Highway #Siberia #Russia

October 8, 2011

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! Read more…

The Road of Bones (Kolyma Highway) by the Scottish MAD Expedition. Magadan – Yakutsk in September, 2011

September 21, 2011

The Kolyma Highway, Road of Bones, Magadan and Yakutsk. Road condition in September 2011

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.

Read more…

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.

Read more…

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…

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…

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

Read more…

DIY tips: How to arrange the travel to Oymyakon, the Pole of Cold, from Yakutsk?

February 5, 2011

View on Tomtor in the valley of Oymyakon.

I am often asked about possibilities to travel to Oymyakon, the so-called Pole of Cold, from Yakutsk in the winter. Some requests sound like, “Can you arrange the tour to Oymyakon?” and some of such message authors even started promising me free beer… My god, I am not a travel company and, certainly, I do not do someone’s work for beer, but I know how to make DIY-trips from Yakutsk to Oymyakon, one of the world’s coldest place.

Follow the link to learn essential travel tips and current rates.

Read more…

How does the Road of Bones (Kolyma Highway) look like in winter?

September 22, 2010

A winter photo of the Road of Bones, Kolyma Highway, in Siberia, Russia. By Bolot Bochkarev

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…

Flashback: 2010 Motorcycle Adventure Season on the Road of Bones, Yakutia/Siberia

September 15, 2010

Captain Magadan on the Road of Bones. Aug. 2010, Yakutia, Siberia.

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.

Read more…

2010 Yakutia Photo Exhibition in New York

September 11, 2010

Oymyakon Boy

Proud to announce the opening of the photo exhibition “On the Road of Bones: Ghosts of the Siberian Gulag Along the Old Kolyma Highway” at Kris Waldherr Art and Words studio gallery in Brooklyn, New York, today.

About exhibition
Through photography and mixed media, “On the Road of Bones” reveals the secret history and hidden landscape of Kolyma, formerly the land of Soviet labor camps and the coldest inhabited region on earth. Stunning new works by young native Siberian photographers Bolot Bochkarev, Nastya Borisova, and Ajar Varlamov trace the remains of the vast highway built across the taiga, tundra, and permafrost of North Asia by Stalin’s prisoners. The exhibition juxtaposes the tragic events of the past with the powerful natural beauty of the frozen land and the daily lives of northern people.

Read more…

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