This expedition tour is special: we are going to the Pole of Cold in Yakutia by reindeer sleds. Together with local reindeer herders, you will travel in the land of austere mountains, endless tundra, and biting frosts (average temperature in January is -40C).
The Even reindeer herders, who inhabit Yuchugey area, stay away from the towns and modern tendencies – they carefully keep their traditions. During your stay in Yuchugey and Tomtor, and a 2-days reindeer sledding trip, you will experience their lifestyle, where every day is the struggle for survival, and get to know their culture.
Special requirements: good fitness level, physical and psychological resistance to the cold, preferably prior experience of winter overnight in tents, winter outfit for outdoor activities in low temperatures.
Day 1
Arrive in Yakutsk in the morning. Make an acquaintance with your local guide and have a transfer to the hotel. After check-in, take a bit of time to accommodate the jet lag. In the afternoon, the guide will take you for a city sightseeing tour. You will see the old town with its churches, the Tower of Tygyn (the first wooden construction built by cossak Pyotr Beketov, the founder of Yakutsk) and will visit the Institute of Permafrost to find out many curious facts about this natural phenomenon and to eye-witness it in the underground lab of the Institute, and the famous Mammoth Museum, the only specialized museum of unique paleontological exhibits (fossils of mammoth, mammoth fauna).
Today, your guide will check your clothing and outfit; there will be time to go to the local market to buy some missing things of your size adequate for the local winter (e.g., valenki – feltboots, etc).
Night in Yakutsk in the hotel.
Day 2
After early breakfast in the hotel, check out. Today we start our long way to Yuchugey, the settlement of reindeer breeders (890 km, 17-19 hrs). Leave by 4WD mini-bus. On the way, we will cross the Central part of Yakutia, heading northwards, across the Lena river and its right inflow the Aldan river. We will go behind the Verkhoyansk mountains range along the Kolyma Trakt, sadly known as The Road On The Bones built by the GULAG prisoners in the Stalin era. Stunning winter landscapes, high snow-covered mountains, swift rivers, and endless tundra will make you eager to stop all the time. Lunch at the meteorological station Vostochnaya.
Arrive in Yuchugey late in the evening or rather at the night. Accommodation in the local families to see and experience the conditions the locals live in.
Night in Yuchugey with the local family (wooden house, room for 2-3 persons, WC facilities outside).
Day 3
Today is the day of rest, acquaintance with the locals and introduction to reindeer sledding.We will stay in Yuchugey, an Even settlement with the population of 300 people.
After a walk around the settlement, you will undertake a safety briefing in reindeer sledding, practice managing the sleds and have a test ride. There will be also enough time to find out about the life in the village, Even culture, the household customs and traditions of the reindeer breeders.
Today, you will also borrow for the period of reindeer sledding the fur clothes and felt boots, which will be vital for survival during the next 2 days.
Meals and night with the local family.
Day 4
Today, we start our reindeer sledding expedition. The destination of the day will be Urduk Sis area located 31 km away from Yuchugey. If you think that this distance is insignificant, you will change your opinion while making your way in the cold on the reindeer sleds. You shall know in advance that reindeer are stubborn animals with a strong character, and mushing them is very different from mushing the dogs or riding the horses. After 5-6 hrs on the way, we will arrive in Urduk Sis, which in Yakut language stands for “high mountain pass”, as the place is in fact the highest point in-between Yuchugey and Tomtor settlements.
Accommodation in a tent, collecting the firewood and ice/snow for water, cooking the meal. Your local reindeer guide will tell you more about the life of Evens.
Night in the tent (size 4x4, heated by a stove, the floor covered by larch branches and reindeer skins).
Day 5Today we continue our ride by reindeer sleds to the Ulardyr area located 26 km away from Urduk Sis (5-6 hrs). This place has been known for many years among the local reindeer herders as one of the best and richest in food areas for free herding of reindeer.
In Ulardyr, we will say good-bye to our reindeer and herder-guide, and a minibus will take us to Tomtor settlement (7 km, 15 min).
Accommodation in the private hostel (rented apartment).
Night in Tomtor in a private apartment rented out to guests (DBL in 2-3 rooms apartments with WC/shower).
Day 6
We have a whole day for rest and acquaintance with Tomtor settlement, which argues with Oimyakon settlement located nearby the proud title of The Pole Of Cold. The majority of the local population (1000 people) are Evens. We will walk around Tomtor and visit its both museums. In the Museum of the Local Lore we will find out the history of the settlement and the area. In the GULAG Museum, we will learn about the construction of Kolyma road by GULAG-labour and famous writers and scientists exiled to Tomtor.
We will also go up Ebe Haya hill, from where you can have a wonderful panoramic view of the Oimyakon depression.
After lunch, we will try our luck in ice-angling. Depending on the season and fish, the location can be different: just nearby - on the never-freezing Kuidusun river alongside our accommodation, or on the Indigirka river (15-20 km away). Here, you can learn the local way of cleaning the fish and taste the freshest “stroganina” (just caught and frozen raw fish).After dinner, we will attend a performance of the local children dance group Eim to see the traditional dancing of the indigenous peoples of Oimyakon area. In the end of the evening, every tour participant will be awarded a certificate testifying the visit to the Pole of Cold.
Night in Tomtor in a private apartment rented out to guests (DBL in 2-3 rooms apartments with WC/shower).
Day 7
Today we travel by a 4WD minibus from Tomtor to Yakutsk, a very long way along the familiar road (950 km, 18-20 hrs). Arrive in Yakutsk late in the night, check in at the hotel. Night in Yakutsk in the hotel.
Day 8
After late breakfast, have a leisurely morning.
Today we will stay in Yakutsk thinking over the impressions received in Yakutia and exploring the city. We will visit the Treasury of Yakutia, the land famous for its reserves in gold and diamonds, and the Local Lore museum named after Yaroslavsky.
After lunch, have a transfer to the complex Chochur Muran, located just outside Yakutsk (20 min).
Visit the dog farm where Yakutian huskies (blue-eyed Alaska husky descendent) are raised and try out riding in the dog sleds, accompanied by a snowmobile, to the so-called Shaman-Tree. Upon return to Chochur-Muran, visit the Kingdom of Permafrost arranged in the glacier insides of the mountain, with an exhibition on Chyskhaan, the local Lord of the Frost. Take your time looking at ice sculptures - this kind of art is very popular in Yakutia, and Yakutian artists always take prizes in the festivals of snow&ice sculptures.
Farewell dinner of the national cuisine in the restaurant styled as a hunter’s hut.
Return to the city. Night in Yakutsk in the hotel.
Day 9
Early morning transfer to the airport and departure by morning flight to Moscow
