Road trip along the Kolyma highway
Yakutsk - Oymyakon - Magadan

Lena - Cherkekh - Aldan - Khandyga

Leave the hotel and set off to meet real adventures!

First, we will have a ferry crossing over the Lena, about 5 km after the crossing the asphalt will end and then, almost to Magadan itself, there will be only gravel roads of varying quality - from excellent to terrible.

So that the long road is not too tiring, after 240 kilometers we will stop at the Cherkekh Historical and Memorial Museum "Yakut Political Exile". It is located in the village of Cherkekh, the purpose of the museum is to show the life and work of the participants in the revolutionary movement of Russia, who served the tsarist exile in the 80-90s of the XIX century in the Yakut region. On the territory of the museum there are memorial and recreated copies of yurts, as well as unique historical and architectural monuments of the 19th-20th centuries. The main object of the museum is the Tattinskaya Nikolaevskaya Church, built at the beginning of the 20th century.

Then we have about 150 km to go to the ferry crossing over the Aldan River, on the other bank of which is the village of Khandyga, where we plan to spend the night in a hostel or in rented apartments.

Khandyga - Oymyakon

In the morning we will explore the village, visit the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and then continue along the Kolyma highway. Today we have to cover a little more than 500 km to get to Oymyakon - one of the main goals of our trip. Here we will stay overnight in a guest house.

Oymyakon - Ust-Nera

In the morning we will walk around the village, go to the pasture to watch the Yakut horses, talk to the locals, if we are lucky, we will meet Tamara Yegorovna Vasilyeva - the "godmother" of Oymyakon. She is a former school teacher who collected a lot of information and bravely defended in government and scientific circles the right of Oymyakon to be called the Pole of Cold. In the early 2000s, there were attempts by Yakut deputies to take this title away from Oymyakon and transfer it to Verkhoyansk, but Tamara Yegorovna went to Moscow, to St. Petersburg, visited the academies of sciences and proved that the coldest place is Oymyakon, and in Verkhoyansk the average temperature is 2-3 degrees higher.

Around lunchtime or a little later we leave Oymyakon and head to the gold mining village of Ust-Nera, where we will stop for the night.

Kadykchan - Susuman

We leave Ust-Nera and go to the Magadan region. After about 310 km of travel we arrive in the ghost town of Kadykchan, where we will walk for a couple of hours.

A district of multi-story buildings, a large school, a cinema, a community center, a swimming pool and many other buildings gape with empty eye-sockets. Once upon a time there was a coal mine, in 1996 there was an explosion, the fire was extinguished, but the coal continues to smolder to this day - the permafrost located above the coal seams feeds the smoldering with oxygen, as a result of smoldering carbon dioxide is released, for this reason it became impossible to work in the mine, the mine was closed. That same winter, the boiler in the boiler room that heated the city exploded, and the city was left without heat in fifty-degree frosts. Residents hurriedly left wherever they could, abandoning cars and apartments, often with all their belongings. A certain number of people who simply had nowhere to go continued to live here for many years, but they too were gone - someone could not stand it and left, many simply died. They say that there lives, somewhere in a garage, a single resident-hermit, tourists used to look in on him, but now they do not recommend going there - he is inadequate, and also covered in ulcers of unknown origin ...

After Kadykchan, we will stop by an abandoned GULAG camp near the highway, and then we will arrive in the city of Susuman - the second largest city in the Magadan region, where we will stop for the night in a hotel. If we arrive early enough, we will have time to have dinner in a cafe and see a little of the city, which looks more like a village, if not, we will have to cook food in the hotel, using camping equipment.

Starokolymskoe highway - Butuguchag camp

In the morning we will drive back along the highway for about 40 km to get to the Starokolymskoe highway. It would be easier and faster to drive along the main highway, but then we will miss a lot of interesting things...

Everyone knows that the Kolyma highway was built by prisoners in the 1930s as a road for the removal of large reserves of gold, silver, molybdenum, uranium, coal and other natural resources from this region, which were so needed by the poor economy of the young Soviet country. Initially, the Kolyma highway was laid south of the current branch of the federal Kolyma highway - not far from Oymyakon and went to the village of Ust-Omchug (there were most of the GULAG camps here), and from there to Magadan. After the war, geologists discovered huge deposits of placer gold north of the highway - in the area of the current settlement of Ust-Nera, and a new road was built there, and the old one, with worked-out gold-bearing areas, was abandoned. It still remains, but since no one looked after it, almost all the wooden bridges built in the 1930s fell into disrepair and today this road can only be driven by heavy equipment in special configuration, capable of fording deep, fast mountain rivers...

An exception in the Starokolymsky highway is the section that begins a little closer (to Yakutia) to Sasuman, goes along the passes to the settlement of Ust-Omchug and then, again, through the passes, comes out onto the federal highway near the settlement of Palatka. There are still large gold mining cooperatives here that maintain the road in working order, so you can drive along it without any particular extreme.

This is the section we are heading to today. Having traveled a little less than 300 km, we will leave the highway and travel another 3-4 km along a very bad road, after which we will make a 5-6 km hike (one way) to the abandoned Butuguchag camp - the most terrible GULAG camp. Depending on the weather and road conditions, we may have to drive less and walk more kilometers or vice versa. In any case, today will not be an easy day*, but it will allow us to see History in its most terrible form.

We will most likely spend the night in tents, since we will not have time to continue along the highway. A camping dinner prepared by the guides is included!


*participants who do not want to make the trek can stay in the cars and wait while others walk.

Ust-Omchug - Magadan

In the first half of the day we will reach the village of Ust-Omchug, where you can have lunch in a cafe, and then visit a small but unique museum, which is a mixture of archaeological, local history and history museums. Of particular interest are the stories and documents dedicated to the prisoners of Butuguchag. The museum is private, located in a school, has no working hours - it is simply open to those who wish on any day and at almost any time!

After lunch and a tour of the museum, we hit the road again. On the way we will stop in the curious village of Palatka, listed in the Guinness Book of Records for the number of fountains per capita. And all the houses there are painted in bright, festive colors, almost every yard has some very fancy, even for the capitals, playgrounds and original street lighting. All this, as locals say, was done with the money of a local oligarch, the owner of a gold mining concern with a strange name for these parts, "Arbat".

By evening we will reach Magadan, where we will stay overnight in a hotel or guest house. If time permits, we will take an evening stroll around the city and/or have a farewell dinner in one of the city's restaurants. After a meager road meal during the trip, such an end to the journey is very welcome 😀

Home!

In the morning we will have time to see the city a little, run to the market for fish and caviar delicacies, then - transfer to the airport and flight home. Goodbye Kolyma!

The tour does not require any special skills or fitness from participants and is suitable for anyone. However, it is very important to be prepared for early rises and long journeys (up to 400-500 km per day), including on bad, dusty and/or dirty roads. Sometimes journeys will take up most of the day. You need to be prepared for delays along the way due to transport breakdowns and the condition of roads/bridges.

Bad weather, time zone changes, and lack of a normal daily routine and food can add to the discomfort of the tour.

All overnight stays along the route are in hotels/guest houses/rented apartments, however, it is worth considering that some accommodations often do not have showers, and toilets are located outside. Overnight stays in comfortable hotels with amenities familiar to a European resident can only be expected in Yakutsk and Magadan.

Before signing up for this tour, you should soberly assess your capabilities and habits - the tour is an expedition and does not imply comfort, but it does imply many road adventures (tire service, car repairs, changing the route due to circumstances, the possibility of serious delays along the way and being late for the plane home), which are not always pleasant for most people.

If you are used to comfort and everything going according to plan, this tour is CONTRAINDICATED for you!

Yakutia and Magadan region are harsh regions and the weather here can be unpredictable and changeable, so we recommend that you take the choice of clothes, shoes and equipment for this tour seriously. You need to take the following set of clothes with you: membrane jacket + light down jacket (it can be very cool in the evenings), waterproof hiking pants, trekking boots and sneakers, thermal underwear, as well as a hat, gloves, warm socks, fleece. In addition, you will definitely need a camping mat and a sleeping bag, a headlamp.

The tour is quite active and eventful, therefore it requires discipline and personal involvement in the process from the participants.

During the trip by car, delays and unforeseen circumstances are possible - car breakdown, river flooding, road and bridge repairs and, as a result, the route may be adjusted depending on the current situation. Changes are discussed with the participants, but the final decision is made by the tour organizers, since they are responsible for the program and the safety of the group.

Meals are provided by the participants at their own expense in cafes along the route and / or in stores where you can buy something for a snack. When spending the night in tents (1-2 nights), hot camp breakfasts and dinners will be prepared for you by the tour organizers.

Arrival in Yakutsk and departure from Magadan earlier or later than the dates specified in the program are paid for by the participants themselves, including transfer to / from the airport, as well as accommodation in hotels / hostels on days outside the tour dates.

1. If you are interested in this tour, leave a request through the registration form on this page or write to us at WhatsApp, Telegram or by email, we will contact you and answer all your questions.
2. To reserve a place, you must make an advance payment of 30% of the tour cost. The advance payment is made through the website (section Payment) and is refundable 45 days or more before the start of the tour and non-refundable, unfortunately, less than 45 days before the start, if the refund is related to your refusal to participate (for any reason). If the tour does not take place due to our fault, due to the group not being formed, or due to force majeure, the advance payment will be guaranteed to be returned to you in any case.
3. The final payment is made on the first day of the tour. You can pay using the QR code that the tour organizer will provide you, in cash, or through the website.