TRIP INFORMATION

The Republic of Yakutia, called also Jakutia or Sakha / Sakha, located in north-east Russia (Siberia), is an area having the coldest winter of the northen hemisphere, featuring the lowest minimum tempertaures after Antarctica. However, this place is populated by about one million of pepole, living in small villages, as well as bigger cities. How is the life at -50 degrees centigrades? How the landscape changes during a so extreme cold winter? What happens to trees and animals? I've answered these questions during this amazing and unforgettable trip to the Pole of Cold, made during the siberian winter, when the temperature falls frequently well below -50. The expedition follows a route from Yakutsk to Oymyakon, via Tyoply Kluch, Tomtor, Ust-Nera and other villages, one way by airplane and one way by car. The itinerary includes also three nights in St. Petersburg, two nights in Novosibirsk (the Siberia's capital) and three nights in Moscow.

My sincere Thank You to TourService Centre Co., Ltd located in Yakutsk, for the excellent, top-quality services provided. If you wish to book a tour to Yakutia, please visit their website at http://www.yakutiatravel.com

SIBERIA PICTURES

Trip to St. Petersburg

Three days in St Petersburg are really not enough to appreciate the city and to visit the countless museums, so I have to limit my itinerary only to the Arctic and Antarctic museum, the Hermitage, the Church of Our Savior and the Krassin icebreaker, the ship that has saved the members of Umberto Nobile's expeditions to the North Pole. GO

Novosibirsk, the Siberia's capital

Novosibirsk is the Russia's third biggest city and geographical center, as well as the capital of Siberia. I hike in the city with a temperature going from -10 to -18 deg.centigrades, visiting the Opera theatre (the world's biggest!), the Transiberian railway station and the downtown, where ice sculptors were at work. GO

Yakutsk (or Jakutsk)

Yakutsk is the capital of Yakutia autonomous region (also called Sakha or Sakha or Jakutia) and has about 240000 inhabitants. The temperature was frequently around -40 degrees, both C. and F., as the two scales meet at this low value. I hike in the downtown main streets, visiting also the local museum, the dock onto Lena frozen river and the Permafrost institute. GO

From Yakutsk to Tomtor via Ust-nera

A flight of about two hours brings me from Yakutsk to Ust-Nera, a town of approximately 8000 inhabitants, from where the tour continues to Tomtor by car, crossing valleys, mountains and villages having the lowest winter temperatures of the northen hemisphere. This area is also sadly known for gulags and executions during the first half of past century. GO

Tomtor

Tomtor is a small town situated inside the "Pole of the Cold", the world's coldest inhabited place, where the January's average temperature is -50 degrees centigrades. I visit the old gold mine where nice ice sculptures are kept, and an hot spring where most water never freezes. GO

Oymyakon, the Pole of the Cold

Oymyakon is a village made of many charming small houses, where about 1200 people live. It is here that the lowest temperature of the northen hemisphere, -71,2°C, was recorded. I went on a frozen river with a fisherman, to see how ice fishing is carried-out, spending a few hours out at -52°C. I've also visited a nearby horse farm. GO

Drive from Oymyakon to Yakutsk via Tyoply Klyuch

The distance from Oymyakon to Yakutsk is about 1000km and requires two full days by car, with an overnight in Tyoply Kluch. Again, wonderful frozen mountains, valleys, lakes and rivers, taiga, where everything is white. A visit to a meteo station is also included. GO