The Yakuts consider Kihilyakh to be a sacred place. It is believed that stone pillars in the upper part of the Verkhoyansk mountains concentrate health-healing powers. People come to that place, pray to mountains’ spirits asking for having grace on them and giving blessing.

Take a look at Ajar Varlamov’s unique set of photographs taken in Kihilyakh in July 2010.

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These photos were taken by Arsen Tomsky and Maxim Prusakov during their 5-day Buotama River trip, June 10-15, 2010. Arsen has already floated the Buotama in July 2008. He remembers, how he and his three friends, Sherlaw, Marat and Maverick, spent three long days walking to the starting point for rafting. Loaded with stuff and rubber boats, they ovecame 30 km of taiga in order to reach the area of the Lena Pillars. The first day was so tough that he was forced to squeez a tooth paste tube to reduce slightly the weight of his backpack. Read the rest of this entry…

Kobyaj is located north from Yakutsk. It is the only place in Central Yakutia, where you can enjoy the amazing view of the Verkhoyansk Range from the Lena River

Breath-taking rafting is guaranteed in the Yakutian region of Kobyaj

Fishing in the mountain area... What can be more exciting?

I am pretty proud to present the region called Kobyaj. Below, please, find elected summer pictures (frankly saying, I have a lot of photographs, including winter ones).

Kobyaj is people’s name for the Kobyajsky ulus located north from Yakutsk in Central Yakutia, Siberia/Russia. It is the only region (see the map) that includes partly the Lena River and the Verkhoyansk Range. Read the rest of this entry…

A Czech photographer Pavel Kolinsky was lucky enough to travel across the Lena Delta with local fishermen. Here is another set of photographs taken during his fascinating journey to the Arctic part of Siberia’s Yakutia. Read the rest of this entry…

*Click pics to enlarge.

Bulus is the place famous for its never-melting ice. Read the rest of this entry…

The Lena River, the longest in Siberia, is so fascinating. In the course of one day it can look magically different. Watch 35 photos taken in Central Yakutia near Yakutsk between Pokrovsk and Elanka on July 3-4, 2010. Weather was awesome. Hot and windy! Fresh air and tasty smells of Siberian nature! Read the rest of this entry…

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 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…

On the way to Namzy. The Lena River's flood. Photo by Ajar Varlamov.

Ajar Varlamov is awesome as usual. When the Lena River flood started [it was on May 20, 2010], he travelled from Yakutsk north to Namzy. He didn’t make it to the final destination. He was stopped in the village of Tulagino. The rest part of the so-called Namzy highway, the 2nd existing asphalt road near Yakutsk, was totally flooded by high waters of the Lena River.

An unpleasant accident happened to Ajar. When he stood on the brink of the asphalt road in the area of the flooding, suddently the ground under his feet disappeared and he fell in cold ice snow water. Fortunately, he was saved. Praise god. So… take a look at his photos of the current flooding… Btw, two his Nikon cameras got broken

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More new photographs of the Lena River flooding in Yakutsk are upcoming with every update. Stay tuned. Check the last set.

The part of Yakutsk - Pokrovsk road between villages of Oktemzy and Tekhtyur is overflooded. May 19, 2010. Photo by 777.

2010 Spring Lena River Flooding. That’s a big event in Siberia’s Yakutia, indeed. We, all locals, follow the last flood information. Emergency and other services are on alert. The flood is already here. The river flows fast.

Yesterday, May 19, the part of the Yakutsk-Pokrovsk road between Oktemzy and Tekhtyur has been already flooded. It means the town of Pokrovsk is totally disconnected from Yakutsk for next two weeks.

Further, watch, how the Lena River flows through a live webcam. Check river pictures and the river map. In the course of the work day I will try to update this post with more flood information on the Lena River, the longest river in Siberia. Stay tuned. Read the rest of this entry…