April 9, 2018

Fifty Shades of Blue.

If ever there would be a movie called Fifty Shades of Blue – it would be set in Bora Bora. It’s one of the small islands of French Polynesia in the middle of the Pacific. If you like the color blue – Bora Bora is for you.

Unlike in Moscow – where there’s snow still on the ground in places – spring is in full swing here (not that winter here will be a frosty white-out, I’m sure… but still). Possibly the world’s most perfect climate, and possibly more shades of natural blue on the planet too: the ideal location for a quiet, meditative vacation.

Indeed, this is the perfect antidote to weather-induced blues back home. It’s basically the exact opposite. Maybe I shouldn’t be writing this, since I’m sure many of you are still suffering the bizarrely unusual winter hangover up there in the northern hemisphere. Oops. Ok; will stop. But I just have to show you the pics!…

Just a few more pics and that’s it for today folks; I’ve a Blue-Bols-containing cocktail waiting for me down on the beach. Eek! There I go again!… :)

Au revoir folks; till tomorrow…

April 25, 2024

Tanks aren’t afraid of dirt – or the Arctic.

I’ve been asked rather often already about the vehicles we undertook our road trip to Tiksi in. And that’s understandable – especially since they aren’t quite the instantly recognizable household-name vehicles like, say, Land Rovers or Toyota Land Cruisers… First off, I have to say that we didn’t choose the vehicles ourselves; we left that […]

April 22, 2024

Yakutsk-Tiksi-Yakutsk-2024: first overnight stay – Khandyga.

Hi folks! Herewith, another episode in my Yakutsk-Tiksi-Yakutsk expedition series… You’ve had my warm-up posts (about winter/ice roads, naleds, and the Kolyma Highway). Now’s come the time to climb behind the wheel and get going!… It all started in Yakutsk. From there we headed east/northeast along the Kolyma Highway for nearly a thousand kilometers. Next, […]

April 17, 2024

1500km on the R504: devilish cold; snow, ice and hoar.

There are many different kinds of roads and highways. There are straight and there are winding; there are smooth and there are bumpy; there are fast-moving and there are snail’s pace; there are ordinary and there are beautiful (rather: ordinary, pretty, beautiful, and mind-blowing). There are plenty of beautiful roads around the world – most […]

April 16, 2024

Water, outside, not frozen – below -40°C. How?!

Our friend, the Far North – even in winter (and up there, in northern Yakutia, even March is winter). The extended winter of the North is a kingdom of eternal snow and ice, extreme cold, and endless white expanses. All the same – and you won’t believe this – you can find H2O in liquid form […]

April 12, 2024

You’ve heard of a road trip. But what about an ice-road trip?!

You’ve had your intro posts already; now, if there are no questions from the audience, I’ll proceed to my next tale from the Far Northern side, which could have been titled “Yakutian ice roads heading north from Kolyma Highway“. But first, I think – an explainer… What is an ice road? And what’s a winter […]

April 9, 2024

My friend, the North. Yakutsk-Tiksi-Yakutsk 2024.

Hi folks! Last week I completed quite possibly my most mind-blowingly awesome trip up to the Far North – from Yakutsk in a northeasterly direction and then further north to Russia’s northern coast. You’ve had a few intro-posts on the expedition already; now for a (slightly) deeper dive… My regular readers will know well how […]