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. Read more…
This question I hear very often from international website visitors. The last time it was a Turkish 4WD adventure traveler Ali Eric, who is making his world-around trip Istanbul2Istanbul. A few days ago, while seeping the Russian beer at a local grill house, he said to me:
“You know, before my start, I told friends that I plan to drive alone the Road of Bones through Yakutia to Magadan. And those, whom I shared my plans with, were astonished. Said like, My goodness, it is so cold over there in winter. Why do people live there? In my turn, I also wonder, Why do people live in Yakutia?”
Well. This question always sounds embarrassing. No, it’s not awkward. Read more…
Yeah, what does the West know about Yakutia? This question a RIA Novosti correspondent asked Eric Hoesli, writer, journalist and Editorial Director of Edipresse, Switzerland, who arrived to Yakutsk with the purpose to participate in the meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club. His answer was interesting. Partly I agree, partly not. Check yourself. Read more…
Three Valleys Innovation Technopark invites international companies to join the permanent online exhibition “New Technologies and Innovations for the Economy of Sakha Republic (Yakutia)”. Read more…
The one day trip to the village of Namzy located north off Yakutsk. 1 hour by a car. Date: Aug. 5, 2009. Further, please, find the slideshow. Read more…
Andrew I with a creative studio “A Novigator” announced a descent to the deepest well in the world, Shergin’s shaft, to take place in Yakutsk on October 20, 2009. Update, 21.10.2009: The even was postponed till November 04, 2009.
An exclusive speleological tour into the unique well, that is 116 meters deep, as long as a 40-store building,and surrounded with permafrost! Read more…
Thanks to my writing about Yakutia for international readers, I have a unique opportunity to communicate with very interesting people. One of them is Rob Lilwall, a travel cyclist of London. Five years ago, he decided to embark on the journey of his life.
Bored of his work as a geography teacher in England, Rob eventually packed his panniers and took his bike for an adventure. He flew as far from England as possible. To Magadan. That was where he and his old school friend, Al Humphreys, hit the Road of Bones. It was the end of September and the beginning of a Siberian winter. At that point everything seemed perfect.
A month after he wrote Read more…
If you have been thinking about hunting in Yakutia in autumn, check out the pictures of what it can be. Read more…
That’s great news. Czech OFF SIBERIA adventure motorcyclists Tomáš Holman and Eva Krečová, who are traveling across Russia on one BMW bike, allowed me to post their travel photos taken on the Road of Bones this summer. They rode from Yakutsk to Magadan via the old route Kyubeme – Tomtor – Kadykchan (Magadan Oblast).
In a previous post 2009 August Road Report: the condition of the Kolyma Highway (the Road of Bones) in Oymyakonsky Ulus I gave information on the current road condition using some Tomas and Eva’s report. This time I am up to show pictures of how it looked like. Read more…
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. Read more…
