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58 Photos: Sacred Kihilyakh, Verkhoyansk Mountains, Yakutia/Siberia

Bolot — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:12:59 +0000

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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The photo exhibition “To The North” in Yakutsk, Yakutia/Siberia

Bolot — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 05:25:04 +0000

Last week I and my boys visited the famous Russian travel photographers, Anton Lange & Ivan Shakurov’s photo exhibition “To the North”. Certainly, it was dedicated to the coldest & biggest Siberian region of Yakutia. The event took place in the republic’s National Arts Museum.

Unfortunately, the visit was short. My sons wanted to research restrooms and continue strolling streets. Nevertheless, below are a few photographs.

By the way, please, stay tuned. The next photo exhibition dedicated to Yakutia will be held in New York. That will feature Nastya Borisova, Ajar Varlamov and my travel photographs taken during our friends’ journey to the world’s coldest inhabited place called the village of Oymakon. The event is arranged by Thomas Miller. Thank, Thom! Similar Posts:

Just another weekend off-roading near Yakutsk, Yakutia/Siberia

Bolot — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:14:09 +0000

I do really admire these pals. I mean Artyom and Katerina (see the above pic), the co-founders of the Adv.Yktv.ru Siberian adventure blog, and guys of the Yakutsk off-roading club “Mammoth” (http://off-road.ykt.ru/) with its chief Dima Khvatov. If to alter the text of the World Cup Coca-Cola commercial song, they might be always singing, “Give us a reason to off-road higher!” Right. They are easy-going. They are always striving for impassible terrains to go through.

Yakutsk off-roading fans are really lucky. They don’t need to ride on their 4wds, ATVs and motor bikes far away. They just need to get out of the city and make a turn from a road, and here we are. The famous Siberian taiga with lots of challenges is always near!

This time they had two reasons. First, that’s the weekend. Second, a strong wish to get dirty and have sauna inside a special tent with a heating furnace. The latter opportunity was provided by the Yakutsk-based company “Mobilnaya Banya” (A mobile sauna in English). Its director is in a red t-shirt in one of below-listed photographs.

You could see this commando-like guy in my previous post dedicated to 2010 Yakutia Open Off-Roading Championship. That event promised to be annual was also hosted by The Mammoth Yakutsk Off-Roading Club.

So… if you like these guys and their activity, please, do me a favor, spread a word about them around the world. They reall deserve such honour!Similar Posts:

Travelling the Buotama River estuary in summer 2010, Yakutia, Siberia/Russia

Bolot — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:38:28 +0000

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.

Compared to the previous extreme hike-n-raft experience, this year’s travel with the helicopter flight was simply a comfortable touristic journey, as Arsen says. He thanks a local business man, Alexander Skripin, for inviting him to join the Boutama River trip.

Arsen says, Buotama is an amazing place. With pristine wilderness, animals, fishes-rich spots at rough shoals, bewitching Gothic-type stone pillars, that provide fantastic landscape views. The Buotama River is a true natural gem of Yakutia, that, by the way, is located near Yakutsk, Arsen resumes.

Below-listed photos can hardly convey even a hundredth part of Yakutia’s nature beauty.

Resource: Arsen’s blog at Author.Ykt.ru

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Photos: summer in Kobyaj w/ amazing fishing, exciting rafting…

Bolot — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 05:32:35 +0000

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.

Crucian carps of Kobyaj are the best in Yakutia, Siberia

In Siberia’s Yakutia this area is famous for the republic’s best crucian carps (karas in Russian). They are big and tasty. All Yakutsk market sellers always say that their carps are from Kobyaj. This is a trick to ensure the high quality of their products. The title “Kobyajskyj karas” (carps of Kobyaj) is considered to be a local brand.

Because of the “karas” brand, we, Yakutians, tend to percept Kobyaj as the land of lakes only. As you know, crucian carps are fished in lakes. But… we forget that it is the perfect place for fantastic fishing, breath-taking rafting, unforgettable trekking, and even ethnographic researches.

A traveler is trying to ride reindeer in the Kobyajsky area of Sahandzha, Yakutia, Siberia

Yeah, Kobyaj is also a home for the Even reindeer herders, whose service center is the settlement of Sebyan Kyol.

So… Apart from carps, key phrases for Kobyaj are mountain fishing, rafting, trekking, and nomadic life.

PS. This is also homeland for the richest Yakut, a Russian parliament deputy, Michael Everstov PS2: Below-listed pictures were mostly taken in the Kobyajsky area of Sahandzha.

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Following the Even reindeer herders in the North (Arctic) of Yakutia, Siberia/Russia

Bolot — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 23:24:38 +0000

See photographs of the Even reindeer herders taken by anthropologist Florian Stammler in the northern part of the Verkhoyansk mountains in Yakutia, Siberia/Russia.

Florian Stammler is one of a few antropologists, who mainly studies the peoples of the Russian Arctic. He used to lecture in Cambridge. Now he teaches at the Rovaniemi University in the Finish Lapland. He has been to Yakutia many times. This time, a couple of weeks ago, he traveled to the Eveno-Bytantaisky region with Bruce Parry and his IndusFilms documentary team (wrote about them previously).

Florian is not a pro photographer. His photos are not of high quality. He uses them as illustrations to antropology lectures. That’s why they are pretty interesting. They show how the Evens live in that particular area of the Siberian Arctic.

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Bruce Parry in Yakutsk, Yakutia/Siberia

Bolot — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:08:11 +0000

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.

This is the picture the man with a camera (a program director) asked me to do additionally. He let Bruce Parry stand in the middle. I asked, What is the difference? He explained, Because he is the boss, and we are monkeys. But I and, perhaps, Mr. Parry think, the first one is better.

A month ago, I received a message via Facebook saying like that, “Please, get in touch with David, a IndusFilms producer.” I said, “Why not?” I wrote to David, “I was asked to get in touch with you, and that’s all what I know.” After I found out that he and his assistants tried to get in touch with me via my websites YakutiaToday.com and AskYakutia.com, but for some reasons they failed. I’ve got feeling that the mail service considered their messages as spams, but Facebook not

So… What is the famous Brit explorer and TV presenter doing in Siberia’s Yakutia?

David (the 3rd in the photo) explained:

“We’re doing a 5 part documentary series for the BBC with our presenter Bruce Parry in Greenland, Canada, Alaska, Norway and Yakutia. It’s looking at the Arctic region and discussing climate change, social change and culture from the perspective of the Arctic region as a whole. It is similar to the Amazon series we did last year.”

“It is the Yakutia episode we are working on. The main part of our shoot will be in Sakkyryr for the Ysyakh horse racing festival there and with the Evens, where we will stay for 2 weeks at an Even summer reindeer camp.”

I am really looking forward to seeing all five episodes of the Arctic documentary. Follow BBC’s announcements for the new season attentively. All what I can say is “This is fantastic!”Similar Posts:

Guess the 1st passengers of the 1st river journey on Demian Bednyj?

Bolot — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 08:34:33 +0000

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?

Right, you are. Certainly, kids on the Day of Kids Protection widely celebrated in Russia, including the Siberian river of Lena in Yakutia )

Photos by Mirakly & Werwolf.
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The Lena River cruise ship “Demian Bednyj” – preparation for summer travels. 64 Photos.

Bolot — Mon, 31 May 2010 06:55:24 +0000

Location: Yakutsk river port

Two days prior to the start of navigation on the Lena River, at the height of preparation for summer cruises to Lena Pillars, I went on a visit to the Demian Bednyj cruise ship captain Oleg Borisov. A very hospitable man.

When he saw me with a camera, he got perplexed, “My god, I am not in uniform. Not in full dress. Otherwise…” Yeah, indeed, why is the captain not uniformed daily, but only on a voyage?! “Now we are intensively preparing the vessel for navigation. Going through check-ups by sanitary-and-epidemiologic service, fire safety service, and others…” That way he was trying to explain, why he was not dressed up. Whatever it might be, I took a photo of him. He was in a casual checked shirt and slippers…

Frankly saying, it’s blogger’s habit to bring a camera along. Pictures may come to my help, when especially I have no wish or time to write… But in this case it is my great pleasure to type a few good lines about people, who love their work and live for it.

In winter the captain might be met at Yakutsk River Shipping Academy. He lectures three subjects. I will try to translate them correctly. They are navigation, shipping safety, and freight transport. In short, even in the time of extremely cold weather he keeps working for the common good. Summer… Oh, summer, it is like a beautiful song, like a long-awaited season… and the most thrilling.

This summer navigation will be Oleg’s 25th and his third one as a river cruise ship captain. “I had been working on the Kolyma River for many years,” he said with nostalgia. “Done navigations on a tanker. Worked on dry cargo ships and towboats as well.”

Oleg is the sixth captain of the river cruise ship built in Austria.

The first was Anatoly Poudinkov, the second Viktor Bogdanov, the third Alexander Logikin, the forth Vladimir Bankov, the fifth Maxim Nemkov. Regret to say, captains Puodinkov and Bogdanov passed away.

This year Demian Bednyj is to celebrate the 25th Anniversary. And there is onboard one person, whom colleagues call as a history keeper, a man of great honor. His name is Alexander Kovalsky, he has done all 24th navigations on the Austria-built cruise ship. He will work this summer as well. Here he is:

He is able to tell never-ending stories about Demian Bednyj. It was him, who accepted the just-built vessel in Moscow in 1986. The Center decided to pass the ship to Yakutia instead of ‘Rodina’ (homeland in Russian).

“And the story was like that,” Alexander started narrating. He is the senior electrician. In winter he works as the captain of a Novosibirsk Water Transport Academy training ship located in Nakhodka. He recalled, “At that time Yakutia requested the thorough repairs of the moto ship ‘Rodina.’ The overhaul was delayed for uncertain time. As a result, the Moscow administration of the state-owned Rechflot company decided to give the region the new ship ‘Demian Bednyj,’ that was just built as well as other four similar boats in Austria especially for river cruises along the Gold Ring…”

In a word, Alexander might be listened with delight to. Ad notam, his seniority consists of 35 navigations. Three years on a towboat, eight years on a tanker. As he says, it was his April Fool’s Joke. On April 1st of 1986 he said to his tanker crew, “Since now I will work on Demian.” He works on this ship till nowadays. “To be honest, I didn’t want to leave the tanker. There was a fantastic, very good crew. Eh!” Still I think, he didn’t regret doing it.

Here his smallest son, Pashka. A man of sailing, as he calls him. “He can’t be out of ships…” From that very moment, I started listening a new story about the Kovalskys, the dynasty of sailors.

I wanted to finish writing about the man of history, but remembered that prior to the 20th Anniversary of Demian Bednyj, five years ago, Alexander planned to invite the ship’s godmother, Elly Heiden, but failed. That’s the woman, who broke a bottle of champagne against the ship board in Korneuburg, Austria.

The godmother with first captains…

..and her wish in Russian.

Here’s the major mascot – the statue of Cossack Demian Bednyj. The captain looks for it himself. He ‘feeds’ him. For winter he leaves three chocolates so to sweeten his being in the time of extremely cold weather.

The portrait of Demian Bednyj.

Next to him, we can see the view on the Lenskie Stolby (stone pillars on the Lena River).

Strange… Wanted to make a post about the ship’s preparation for the hot summer season, but small features came out.

About preparing the vessel for long journeys.

Some facts:

The renewal of the moto ship appearance requires 60 kg of white paint for board, 120 kg of the same color for the exterior of cabins, and 120 kg of blue for decks, 20 kg of red for underwater parts.

The maintain repair of six engines takes 2 months, but the main part of work is done in May.

Happy sailing!

P.S. It’s hard to believe, but 10 days ago it was like that. All vessels were surrounded with ices.

More information on the Lena River cruises.

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A Siberian Documentary: The Winter Road. The Land of Fierce…

Bolot — Wed, 05 May 2010 05:46:38 +0000

The Winter Road Documentary Poster

This is the video preview of Nikolay Evstifeev’s documentary “THE WINTER ROAD. The Land of Fierce…” about the sever work in Siberia’s Yakutia. Here you can see how hard ordinary people’s work can be in the toughest part of Siberia.

The documentary film won The Best Directing Award at The 17th Saint Anna Film Festival and The Best Cinematography Award at The 29th VGIK Film Festival. Btw, Anton Safronov was a camera man.

The documentary is about Yakutia, the sever land of truckers, gold miners, hunters, oil & other industry workers. Extreme conditions are revealed in every capture. Survival at minus 50 degrees Celsius, ice roads on rivers, people’s attitude to nature, wild life… and PEOPLE without false manners and any compromises.

Young documentary filmmakers traveled winter roads in Yakutia, Siberia/Russia. They met many ordinary workers, who appeared to be real heroes of daily life.

“This film is very sincere! This is a real big documentary!” said Michael Porechenkov, the chairman of the 29th VGIK Film Festival jury, a famous Russian actor.

One more thing

Nikolay Evstifeev is a Yakutian. He was born here. He tends to say about himself like this, “I am a guy from the remote province of Yakutia. I spent my childhood playing football with diamonds against bears.” The last sentence must be considered as a joke.

In the video

The interview with a Siberian/Yakutian ice road trucker. He says that he doesn’t have high education, thus he can’t find a good-paid job in the city. Maximum non-educated worker may earn 15,000 rubles (500 USD) per month. To work daily for such a little salary is not worth at all. That amount of money is not enough for living. By working as a trucker, he can work much more. That’s why he prefered to be a truck driver.

Here on a winter road it is, indeed, tough, unsafe and risky, everything can happen to a driver on the way, but it pays. He can raise pretty much funds for one ride and afford himself to buy any food he wishes, etc.

P.S. Thank a friend of mine, Slava Petrov, for letting me know about this documentary with real life depiction.Similar Posts: