Bruce Parry (with a tripod) and his team in Yakutsk, Yakutia/Siberia

Hurray! Bruce Parry with his IndusFilm crew is in the Siberian town of Yakutsk! What’s he doing here?

Bruce Parry (born 17 March 1969, in Hythe, Hampshire, England) is a former Royal Marine instructor who is now a TV presenter and adventurer, known particularly for the documentary programme series Tribe (known as Going Tribal in the United States), co-produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel. Resource: Wiki.

I met Bruce Parry two days ago on Lenin Avenue in Yakutsk. Actually he and his team arrived early, on June 17th. They have already visited a village near the town, went for two celebrations of Ysyakh, Yakut national holiday. One was held in Gorny ulus (three hours by a car from Yakutsk) and Megino-Kangalassky region (just in the front of Yakutsk on the opposite bank of the Lena River). Yesterday they departed for Sakkyryr to travel with Even reindeer herders. On the day of the meeting, they visited Epl Diamonds’ diamonds-cutting and jewelry’s factories and drove around the downtown shooting general views of the city.

First, I would love to tell the story of how his arrival happened to be possible. Read the rest of this entry…

The new President of Yakutia Yegor Borisov in the middle between two ladies. A new PM Galina Danchikova on his left side, Deputy PM Feodosia Gabysheva. P.S. Click the photo to enlarge.

This picture was taken a few minutes ago. I was on my way back to work. When I was passing by the Sakha Theater, I saw many young people on stairs. As the banner above their heads says, these kids were gathered from the whole republic to celebrate their high school graduation with gold medals and excellent diplomas. Actually I didn’t see any officials at once. There was a huge crowd of photographers, parents and journalists. Through them it was hard to see anything. I raised my hand, took a pic on my mobile and after that only I found out that there was a new Yakutia’s president with his new government members. Wow! What a luck at my lunch time!

Poll results: the World Cup favorite teams in Yakutsk, Siberia

The Yakutsk-based news portal Ykt.ru is conducting the poll asking Internet users which one of football teams they support at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Russia didn’t make it to the final, so it is not in the list.

So… Poll results show that Yakutsk definitely loves Brazil. This national team is like a must to admire. By the way, I am among Brazil fans. In my case, I like their way of playing. They are artists, indeed. The town dwellers also support England and Germany… England? Because of Rooney, Beckham (though he is not in the team), Manchester United, Chealsea, Premier League… Germany? Well, easy to say “Just because”… But it won’t be true. Germans have guts!

If by any chance you would arrive in Yakutsk, start talking about football, but with guys, certainly. Ladies prefer Sex & the City instead When discussing the current team standings, please, make stress on Brazil, Germany and England, and recall Honduras and South Korea as well.

The Lena River, Tabaga Cape. It is the very place, where the railroad bridge is going to be constructed.

Last Monday I and my friends, Ekaterina and Artyem, managed to get out of the town for fishing on the Lena River. In the morning weather was pretty sunny, but by 2 pm, the time, when we set out for the settlement of Tabaga, 1 hr ride by a car south off Yakutsk, it got cloudy. When we arrived to the river, it was raining and a gravel road down there became slushy and muddy. It was hard to get through, and the army of hungry bloodsuckers met us happily. We experienced real extremes

On the bank we found many fishermen. We were ready to catch fishes as many as possible, but we appeared to be, damn, unlucky. High waters, you know. Irrespective of that state of being, it was extremely beautiful on the Lena River. Instead, we enjoyed beautiful nature. Why not?

Further, please, see 22 photographs I took in the area of Tabaga Cape. Read the rest of this entry…

Location: Yakutsk, Siberia/Russia.
Dates: Jun. 11-13, 2010.
Off-roading contests: sprint, GPS-orienteering, trophy.
Participants competed on 4x4s, ATVs, motorcycles, bicycles, trekkers.

More texts are coming. Meanwhile, see 64 photos of the real Siberian challenge. Read the rest of this entry…

Vyacheslav Shtyrov with his ex team in Yakutia, Siberia. Photo by Alexander Nazarov.

Last weekend, Vyacheslav Shtyrov gave an interview to the republic’s mass media. He talked about why he left the office of the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), what he is going to do, and what he achieved for his 8 years of presidency, and what the next president should do.

Read the rest of this entry…

A trivia question! Who were the first passengers of the first 3-hours Lena River journey on the cruise ship “Demyan Bednyj” on June 1st, 2010, the first day of official navigation? Read the rest of this entry…

In the picture: Ed Clarke, mayor Yury Zabolev, interpreter Nadya Noeva

Today two mayors of sister-cities, Yakutsk (Russia) and Fairbanks (USA), had teleconferencing. It was the first time, when Yury Zabolev (biography) talked live to his colleague of Fairbanks, Luke Hopkins (his bio). They talked about how they could reanimate the relations between sister-cities in the near future. Read the rest of this entry…

Vyacheslav Shtyrov. Photo by A. Nazarov

President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday accepted the resignation of the President of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Vyacheslav Shtyrov, RIA-Novosti reported.

Shtyrov quit “for personal reasons,” said Vyacheslav Surkov, Medvedev’s deputy chief of staff, adding that the Kremlin approved of Shtyrov’s work and expected to use his managerial talents in some other capacity in the future.

Yegor Borisov, Yakutia’s Prime Minister, was appointed acting president.

Shtyrov’s deputy, Yevgenia Mikhailova, resigned in May after Medvedev appointed her as rector of North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk.

Shtyrov, 56, was director of Alrosa, the state-run diamond miner, from 1996 to 2002, when he became Yakutia’s President.

Read the rest of this entry…