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.
Oymyakon in Siberia, Russia
Oymyakon is a little village located in the valley of Oymyakon in Oymyakon area, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Siberia / Russia. Known as the world’s coldest inhabited place, where the winter temperature was registered as low as -72.8C.
In the previous post I wrote that I had returned from 5-day travel with reindeer herders in Oymyakon, one of the coldest places in the Republic of Sakha-Yakutia, Siberia, Russia.
When we were heading back to Yakutsk through the Road of Bones (officially known as Kolyma Highway), the temperature was somewhere under minus 40 degrees Celsius. Cold weather as usual.
We were driving on a Nissan Patrol 4wd vehicle without any long stops. On our way back – around 1000 km – we spent 16 hours only. Fast. It means the road appeared to be in good condition.
Clean. Partly icy, but covered with sand by road workers. As you know, the Kolyma Highway (including the route through Ust Nera) is considered to be a federal road. So even in the nowhere of Russsian Siberia, roads with such statuses might be maintained all around the year in pretty well manner.
So, if you’re going to Magadan from my city in winter, remember one of my travel advices.
Tip: Reserve one of your travel expedition stickers for a gas station in Kyubyume to attach on the right side of the tube from cashier’s window. It’s a new tradition.
Further, see more photos taken during a few short stops. They were done on February 24th, 2012.
If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, you might already know and see photographs of my recent Oymyakon travel to Even reindeer herders, whom I and my friends experienced fascinating winter reindeer sledding through snowy rivers, mountains and hills with.
Hereby I am posting more photgoraphs and adding more journey details. I’ll post info part by part in this post, as I have a lot to say in fact. Meanwhile, enjoy 200+ pictures.
This week famous Russian blogers, photographers and designers, embarked the winter off-road expedition from South Yakutia (Nerungri) to Chukotka (Mys Shmidta).
On March 07 they were already in Yakutsk. In two days in Oymyakon. Yesterday in Ust Nera. Currently, they are heading to Magadan on their pretty glamour 4wd vehicles.
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. Read more…
My favourite local band is “103.” It is a group of villages, who perform rock in the Sakha language. And I thought why not make a slideoshow with my winter pictures of the Kolyma Highway (Stalin’s Road of Bones) and their music. Take a look at what I came with.
By the way, when I and my friends started the travel (driving) on the Road of Bones on the route Oymyakon – Yakutsk in January, it was -57.3C. Pretty extremely cold. No wonder that the road is considered to be the world’s coldest road.
As far as you know, the Kolyma Highway connects Yakutsk and Magadan. The most of it was constructed by Stalin’s gulag prisoners. Yeah, it is in Siberia, Russia.
Thought I wrote much about driving from Yakutsk to Oymyakon, but still questions are coming into my mail box. Here is the last one with many repeated questions. It arrived from a journalist who wants to do a report for a German car magazine about driving in a real winter. He says he needs a car.
“Is there any rental car company that rent cars for self driving? Or what are the major car dealerships in the city (German brands very welcome like Mercedes, BMW, Volkswagen, Opel, Porsche, Audi; or Volvo, Fiat, Renault… – or do you only drive Japanese cars?). Also I like to know the problems using a car at minus 45 degrees. Can you stop the engine? How do you keep the petrol liquid? What about the tires? I am thinking to drive from Yakutsk to Oymyakon. Is that possible? Very dangerous? Crazy? How long does it take? Huuh, so many questions, but you probably know the answers…”
Find my answers to this man’s questions: Read more…
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.
