Description
TRIP ALONG THE KOLYMA HIGHWAY. MAGADAN - UST-NERA - OYMYAKON - YAKUTSK 2432 KM |
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1. Theme |
SIGHTSEEING & FIRST SIGHT EHTNOS & LOCAL MINORITIES NATURE & SNOW EMPIRE ACTIVITIES ADVENTURES EXTREME |
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2. Region, city, itinerary |
The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Magadan Region. Yakutsk - Khandyga - Oymyakon - Ust-Nera - Talaya - Magadan. |
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3. Seasonality |
Summer May-September (expected t +10 ~ +18) Winter December-March (expected t -25 ~ -60) |
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4. The complexity, style of the tour |
Comfortable extreme, Moderate Winter adventure Auto expedition Daring & challenging Wildlife watching and trekking |
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5. Accommodation |
Hotel, hostel, guest house |
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6. Number of days |
5-10 days |
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7. Number of people |
2-12 people |
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8. Booking conditions |
2 months before the tour start |
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The federal highway M56 “Kolyma” has become a familiar symbol of the two northern regions in Russia - the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Magadan Region. The length of the route is 2032 km, of which 1197 km are laid through the territory of Yakutia, 835 km - through Magadan Region. The Magadan - Yakutsk Highway is one of the ten most difficult roads in the world and is the longest in length. Uniqueness of the rally in that the route passes through very remote and sparsely populated places. We also recommend that you visit the Pole of Cold (+400 km) and villages of Oymyakon and Tomtor located slightly off the main route along the old road towards Magadan. The trip is organized on SUVs, Toyota Land Cruiser Prado or expeditionary minivans Mitsubishi Delica, specially prepared to sustain extremely low temperatures. The entire trip is divided into segments for comfortable toleration of the trip at a speed of 40-60 km per hour. Meals are organized at roadside cafes, in villages along the way or from prepared in advance food boxes during some longer stretches without stops.
Day 1. Magadan. Acquaintance with the city.
The tour starts at the observation deck in Nagaev Bay. It was here that the construction of Magadan began in the distant thirties. Ships came to the bay to bring prisoners and civilians for the construction of roads and the city. Prisoners also worked on extraction of gold, silver, and tin. Development of Magadan continues with the construction of the Kolyma highway, which is called the "Road on the Bones." During the sightseeing tour you will see the city’s memorable places: “Pioneers of the exploration of Kolyma and Chukotka”, a monument to the poet, singer and actor Vladimir Vysotsky, the Sea Square, the sculpture “Time” (“Mammoth”). Take a tour around the central streets of Magadan: Portovaya, Lenin, Gagarin, Karl Marx, Proletarskaya, Parkovaya. Visit the city park, the Cathedral Square, the Cathedral, the Cosmonauts Square, the monument to Lenin, the memorial complex "Memory Knot", the monument to E. P. Berzin. Outside the city center there are the Deer sculpture and the Magadan Stella - a city limits sign. On the Krutaya Hill, a 15-meter monument “Mask of Sorrow” was erected in 1996 (Sculptor Earnst Neizvestny). A magnificent view of the city, between the Nagaevo Bay and the Gertner Bay, where the city itself is built, opens from the observation deck offers. Next stop is the Gertner Bay, from there you can get a great view of the three islands - the Brothers Islands, the Widow, the Koni Peninsula.
Day 2. Magadan - Talaya Resort (260 km). The trip starts early in the morning in Magadan continues to Stekolny Village, thereafter to Palatka Village, tin mine Heta, finishing at the health resort Talaya. In the village of Stekolny there is an exhibition - a workshop of the famous Magadan stone-cutter Vladimir Gartvik. The master’s collection contains a large number of pieces cut from minerals - crystal, agate, jasper, chalcedony, which amaze with their beauty. Next stop is the village of Palatka. The name of the village Palatka derives from the Chukchi or Yukagir word Palya-Atkan, which means "a rocky river." There used to be three labor campsites in Palatka, including a female one. In recent years, this village has been transformed, it stands out from other villages. It even got fame in the Russian Book of Records as a village with the largest number of fountains per capita. The center of Palatka is decorated with various installations, interesting sculptures and structures, lanterns in the form of tulips and carnations, many fountains, a beautiful playground with sculptures of animals, etc. In the center stands a large Church of Christ Transfiguration.
Heta Tin Mine, founded in 1938, is located at a distance of 230 km from Magadan. At the campsite you will witness the barrack foundation remains as well as many scattered objects - window bars, stoves, pottery, utensils and everyday objects of prisoners. A guide, in his story about the mine, will transfer you back in time to those days when labor camps were full of prisoners, describe each building and life of prisoners. The camp did not exist long, only until 1945, but tremendous work done by prisoners with a shovel and kaylo will impress you.
You get a boxed lunch on your way. In the evening you arrive in the Talaya Resort. The resort is located on the northwestern Kolyma Range in the Magadan Region, at an altitude of more than 700 meters above sea level, right on the slope, - the only resort in Russia located in the subarctic, in the zone of permafrost. The main attraction here is the silicon thermal mineral spring, which allows for balneological treatment of many diseases. Check-in at the resort into double rooms, dinner is at 18:00.
Day 3. Talaya Resort - Susuman (480 km on the Kolyma Highway) After breakfast at the resort - departure to the north-west along the Kolyma Highway to the town of Susuman. On this day, you cross the Kolyma River in the vicinity of the Debin Village, the bridge across the river is a complicated engineering structure, the largest bridge construction in the entire region. Further transfer to the village of Yagodnoye and a visit to the museum of Ivan Panikarov “Memory of Kolyma”. Lunch in Yagodnoye or at a roadside cafe. Next is a transfer to the town of Susuman. The route passes through a mountainous, extremely scenic area - it either plunges into the mountain taiga or flies over the passes, runs along wide valleys and narrow gorges. Arrival in Susuman. Accommodation at the mining hotel, dinner in a cafe in Susuman. Day 4. Susuman - Ust-Nera Distance ~ 394 km, ~ 11 hours, including stops. Departure from Susuman early in the morning. Lunch in the box because of absence of road cafes along the way. On this segment of the road trip you see: - Kolyma-Indigirka Mountain Pass; - Kadykchan, a large mining ghost town abandoned in the 1990s. Here a 30-minute stop-over for shooting is planned; - The abandoned village of Ozernoye, a former gold processing factory during the Gulag era. Another stop-over for photographing; - The border crossing between the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Magadan region; - A weather station and a commemorative stele. Here you can have lunch ordered at Ust-Nera cafe at our own expense; - The remains of the Gulag power plant; - The small village of Artyk - a base location for road workers.
You arrive in Ust-Nera (Yakutia) late at night, have dinner, overnight at local hostel or an apartment..
День 5. Ust-Nera - Tomtor - Oymyakon Distance: ~ 435 km. 1. From Ust-Nera (hotel) to Kyubyum (gas station with a cafe) - 240 km at a speed of 60 km / h. 2. From Kyubyume (gas station with a cafe) to Tomtor (gas station) - 150 km at a speed of 50-60 km / h. 3. From Tomtor (gas station) to Oymyakon (guest house) - 41.2 km at a speed of 40 km / h. On the road from Ust-Nehru to Kyubyume, you will stop at the mountain passes: Uolchansky (height 1170, length 10 km) and Bryungandinsky (height 1020 m). The views from the passes are fantastic, even in the moonlight. Lunch at the Kyubyume cafe. Passing the rivers Suntar, Agayakan and Tireh-yuryakh you will see old wooden bridges. Tomtor has its own airport, operated in the summer, as well as a weather station.
Day 6. Oymyakon is the coldest place with permanent population on Earth You will spend a whole day at the world famous Pole of Cold in Oymyakon. You will learn how local survive in such extreme conditions. It is well known that the lowest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere is registered here - minus 71, 2 C. This is the coldest place with permanent settlements At 10 o’clock, you will go for a walk in the village. You visit “The Pole of Cold” monument, where Chyskhaan, the keeper of the Yakut cold, will be waiting for you to hand you the certificate. Then you visit the Yakut cow-breeding farm. This is a unique breed. Yakut cows are small, adapted to life in harsh climates.
After lunch, you will visit the Indigirka River to see traditional ice fishing. If you want to fish yourself, you will be given gear for fishing on ice. This mountain river is home to grayling and local fish species. The hostess will cook an “indigirka” - the famous Yakut appetizer of raw frozen fish. After a delicious dinner, there will be an evening of the Yakut culture at the Archa’s house iincluding a ritual of purification, osuohai (Yakut circular dance) and playing the khomus (harp, musical instrument).
Day 7. Oymyakon - Khandyga Distance ~ 514 km, ~ 12 hours (including stops for lunch and photoshooting)
At 9 am is the start of the trip’s final stretch. This part of the trip is long, but very picturesque. Built by Gulag prisoners, the Road of Bones, passes through the Verkhoyansk Mountains. Beautiful mountain landscapes surround you along the road for 200 kilometers; you can enjoy the views throughout the daylight hours. An average height of the mountains is about 1300 m, the highest mountain is Muus Haya (3000 m above sea level). The road is in good condition. During the day you will see the most famous places of the Kolyma Highway: the Tomoruk Pass with a memorial cross to the victims of the Gulag, Yellow and Black Clips, Hare Loop serpentine road, Swallow's Nest, East Khandyga weather station, etc. Photostops are pre-planned in the above-mentioned places. There is not a single settlement on this mountain segment, only some few road worker bases. Stop for dinner in a cafe in the village of Teply Klyuch. Arrival in Khandygu is in the evening. This is the administrative center of Tompon Ulus, currently in decline. In Soviet times, Khandyga flourished, coal and gold were mined here. Initially, the village was founded as a distribution center of the Gulag. It is here that the infamous Road of Bones begins, leading to Magadan. During the 2nd World War, near the Khandygi, in the village of Teply Klyuch (70 km from Khandygi) an airport was built.
In the evening you will be check in at a hotel or a guest house in Khangyga, where you can have dinner. Day 8. Khandyga - Yakutsk Distance: 432 km, travel time 10 hours (including stops for lunch and photoshooting) В 09:00 мы начнем наш завершающий этап автопробега. There are 2 stops at roadside cafes on the way. Lunch will be served before arrival in the village of Cherkekh. After driving for 40 km, you cross the Aldan River along the 5-kilometer winter road (the sixth longest in Russia, the length of the river is 2273 km). The stretch of road between Khandyga and Yakutsk is the most densely populated region of Yakutia. You will pass through 4 uluses (administrative regions): Megino-Kangalassky, Churapchinsky, Tattinsky and Tomponsky. Along the way, you will see traditional Yakut villages with small wooden huts, heated by stoves in winter. You will also observe numerous Yakut horses grazing around, despite the extremely cold climate, digging for grass under the snow. Tatta ulus is a so-called cradle of the Yakut culture. You will make a stop at the border of the ulus and, if there is time, you get to visit an open-air museum in Cherkekh. Here the traditional dwellings of the Yakuts, an old wooden church and a chapel with a bell tower are preserved in original state. In the city of Yakutsk, you cross the Lena River on ice. The width of the river at this place is 3 kilometers. The length of the winter road is 8.7 km. You will make a shortstop among the hummocks to take a photo of the group with a panoramic view of Yakutsk in the background. On the opposite bank, you will pass through the village of Nizhny Bestyakh, the most important transport and trade hub. Two federal roads meet here: the Amur-Yakut Highway leading to the city of Neryungri, in the south of Yakutia, as well as the Kolyma highway ending in Magadan. There is a new not functioning railway station in Nizhny Bestyakh. In the evening you will arrive in Yakutsk.
Day 9. Yakutsk Breakfast at the hotel. Free time or excursions of your choice. Sightseeing tour of the city with a visit to the museums: "The Treasury of Yakutia", "The Kingdom of Permafrost", the Mammoth Museum, the Khomus Museum. Be sure to get acquainted with the unusual and original culture of the Yakut people in the Atlasovs Estate. Yakutsk loves guests and treats them with its national delicacies of wild meats (venison, foal, horse meat) and white fish (chir, muksun, nelma) from the purest Yakut rivers. We invite you to enjoy Yakut cuisine in the restaurants of the city.
Day 10. Yakutsk. The end of the tour. Breakfast at the hotel. Airport transfer. Departure from Yakutsk. |
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