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, the plan was for us to take a left turn and head north all the way up to the village of Tiksi on the northern Russian coast up inside the Arctic Circle: no cakewalk – even with all the necessary vehicle customization, special other kit, experienced crew, and professional supervision. The plan was to then drive back down from Tiksi, albeit it by a different route, and take a right onto Kolyma again and back to Yakutsk.

Like I say, that was the plan we had – as we were all set at the “starting line” in Yakutsk for our ceremonial pic. More on how things didn’t go to plan and why, of course, coming later (still – we did make it to Tiksi, as the title of this series on our expedition hints at)…

Also coming up: why particularly this pickup and these jeeps were chosen for the expedition, how they were specially adapted for the cold and ice, how they actually dealt with that cold and ice, and in what state they were in when we arrived at the “finish line”. Patience, dear Watson…

With the temperature in Yakutsk that morning being a mild (!) -30°C, off we set on our road-trip north, full of optimism…

And straight away the fun began – for we needed to cross the bridge-less Lena river, on the left bank of which sits Yakutsk. Why there’s no bridge, and why Yakutsk is on the left bank – and not on the “correct” right bank with its connection to the main highway and railroad – is a long story, and the logistical suffering has been just as long-lasting: in the summer there’s a car ferry; in the extended cold period there’s driving across the ice of the river. And while the river’s just freezing over or thawing out – there’s neither; getting to the other side of the river is only possible by helicopter – hardly suitable for public transportation or moving freight. But that didn’t worry us: we were there during the extended “winter” cold period – in March…

Btw, hopefully there’ll be a bridge next time we want to cross the Lena. Plans are underway for the longest bridge on permafrost in the world!…

So off popped – toward the iced-over river. Just before our crossing our hearts lurched for a second when we saw a sign stating that it’s forbidden to cross on the ice either by foot or in a vehicle…

But then we saw that the ice road across had been cleared properly. Strange. Anyway – over we drove, with no problems ->

And anyway, we knew there simply couldn’t be any probs with the crossing since we had with us our lucky green mascot. Here he is waving his paw at us. He protected us the whole journey – all 8000 kilometers of it! ->

Still upon the frozen Lena, we were surprised to see runners jogging over it too – apparently training for one of the sub-zero sub–50°C marathons that take place in Yakutia. Upon seeing the runners, our expert guide for our expedition, Alexander Yelikov, mentioned how he’d once done a marathon (!) in… Oymyakon (!!) – the world’s coldest village (!!!). He said his life can be divided into two distinct parts – before that marathon, and after it. And he’s been crazy-cold marathoning ever since!…

We made it to the other side – to the town of Nizhny Bestyakh. Farewell Yakutsk – see you in three weeks!…

Here’s a selfie of our crew – and a whole lotta luggage, as you can see. In good spirts, cheerful, and ready for the adventure that lie ahead! ->

The first 400 kilometers of the Kolyma Highway – up to the village of Khandyga, plus the following hundred or so, are pretty dull, as I think I’ve already mentioned…

The first ~250km bring no astonishing views, no meditativeness; just a regular road – decently surfaced and fully cleared of snow (and with the occasional speed camera) ->

So we just kick back, turn some music on, and chew the fat for around two hours…

Then the road suddenly gets really bad – uneven and potholey, and a little later even the asphalt’s gone: it’s just smoothed-out gravel ->

And that was basically it for the first day – dull, then dull & bumpy, with the few obligatory stops to stretch the legs a bit and have lunch ->

There are plenty of roadside eateries along the way to choose from on this stretch of Kolyma, so we were able to take our pick. The one we opted for handily served the world’s largest chebureki. Yum! ->

Stuffed with chebureki, it was back onto the road. After a short distance the trees suddenly switched from dense furs/pines/birches to austere polar larches, which were to last right up to the arctic tundra. The road was smooth, meandering gently in-between lakes, while we engaged a lower gear occasionally for sharp turns in the road:

Next – ice road across the Aldan river. Apparently there are plans to build a bridge here too (two even – one for trains), but when that might be is anyone’s guess…

A little further, and we arrive at Khandyga. What’s to say about it?…

First – it’s not 450km to get there from Yakutsk. As the crow flies it’s 300km; by road – 415km.

Next – how do they live here? I have to say, it’s hardly gonna be like how folks in large cities live. Middle-of-nowhere, silly cold… Still – live they do, clearly…

A few of my observations:

Khandyga is a supplies/transportation hub for the Yakutian north. It has a small port and an oil terminal, which many Yakutian settlements rely on – right the way up to the northern coast.

The Kolyma Highway once started out here, after they began construction of it way back in the 1930s. It was constructed with forced labor from the Gulag, which labor was also used in the gold mines around here. The 20^th-century history of this part of the world (Khandyga included) is a terribly gruesome one – sometimes unbelievably so.

Today though Khandyga’s doing just fine and very much the lively village. There are new apartments blocks and shops and a seemingly jolly population (they sure were jolly when interacting with us, anyway). There’s even craft beer to be found in one of its shops – and nice it is too. See, life goes on here – no matter the Yakutian-taiga location!…

The boiler facilities/heating plants here are coal-powered; therefore there’s a coal taste to practically everything. Still – at least everyone’s got warm homes (crucial!), hot water, sewerage and assorted other comforts…

The old wooden dwellings are being pulled down, with new apartments blocks replacing them. Here are some of the old buildings back in 2022 when we were first here:

Btw, in among the outmoded wooden buildings, there’s a building that couldn’t be more incongruously avant-garde…

Check that out! Is it a flying saucer from another galaxy? It sure looks like one. And what’s it doing here in modest and down-to-earth Khandyga?! You won’t believe this, but it turns out it’s… the local “Children’s Aesthetic Center“! ->

So there you have it folks – Khandyga: full of surprises!

And that’s all for today; but I’ll be back with more – a lot more – from deepest Siberia and our road-trip through it shortly. After all, we’ve only just begun!…

The rest of the pics from our Yakutsk-Tiksi-Yakutsk expedition are here.