18/12: Driving by Car through Siberia. Part 1: Ekaterinbug - Yakutsk (BAM)
Welcome to the first post from our "Travelogues" photo series. Here we will publish interesting reports and photos sent to us by travelers from all over Russia.
The first one in the series is an epic journey made by Eugen Belayev and co (check out Eugen's blog – it's in Russian, but has lots of pictures). They drove through the whole country from Ekaterinburg through BAM (Baikal-Amur Railway) to Yakutsk (that's in the middle of Siberia) and back to Moscow in winter(!). Here's the first part of their journey.
"Our expedition started in Ekaterinburg, went through BAM railway area, to Yakutsk and back to Moscow. You can't normally get to Yakutsk by car (sane people fly there), but we were up for the challenge. The most interesting part of the journey started when we reached the road that goes along BAM railway
Almost the whole day we've been driving through Kalabar mountain range. The road goes right next to the cliffs at some point and there are very few villages along the way – almost none.
Surprisingly enough, it's actually easier to drive at some parts of the road during the winter. As you can see on the photo above, the road would be quite bad in summer, but in winter because of the snow, it's quite manageable.
It gets dark early and we arrive to Novaya Chara in total darkness. That's a relatively big settlement with more than 2000 inhabitants. It should be easier to drive from here to Tynda along "Auto"BAM, as we've already passed the "wildest" part of the route.
We asked the locals whether there was a petrol station around – turned out that there's one 20 km away in Chara (another big settlement). We needed diesel, so went to Chara straight away even though it was quite late. The road was surprisingly good – asphalted and cleaned. Chara turned out to be quite interesting. There's an airport with regular flights to Chita, and petrol station is 1km away from it. At the petrol station they tell us that the road to Khani (our next destination) is covered with ice and that it's going to get colder (it's already minus 45 Celsius outside!) It's a pity we haven't got time – Chara has a regional museum and a sand desert with beautiful nature (check out the pics in this guide to Chara in Russian).
After Novaya Chara the road gradually turns into an offroad route and after we crossed Khani river, the ice crust that we'd been warned about has started.
Two hours before us a big 157 ZIL lorry has fallen through into the ice crust. The ice crust is a weird thing: seems like it' minus 40, but then an underwater stream doesn't get frozen and continues to flow under ice. You can't see it from the outside until you fall through. And the stream might get frozen at some points, but then the water gets outside, so you get a sort of layered 'pie' made of water and ice. The ice crust gradually increases its height, so that the whole car might fall through.
That's the kind of problem the lorry before us had. The two guys who were inside managed to save the car – chucked out all the load, ten 200-liter barrels with diesel, and somehow managed to drive out of the ice hole. By the way, it was 1 meter deep... Had they waited for half-hour, that would be it: they'd have to wait till spring. When it's minus 45 the car gets frozen in not just quickly, but very quickly....
But then they were stuck: you can't carry and load back 2 tonns of diesel in barrels on your own. So we joined in and helped the guys through all the barrels back into the lorry. They tried to ask us how they could thank us, but we refused to accept anything.
Finally we came to the agreement that they will just drive together with us, to make sure we get through ok. We planned the route, attached our Land Rover with a towrope, and drive along the side of the ice crust. Weirdly enough, even though we checked the depth half hour ago, our cars drove on top of the ice crust just fine. So the whole convoy went through just fine.
Finally, we're reached the road from BAM to Tynda
The bridge through Tazy river was completely broken. So we decided to drive over the ice.
(to be continued...)
The first one in the series is an epic journey made by Eugen Belayev and co (check out Eugen's blog – it's in Russian, but has lots of pictures). They drove through the whole country from Ekaterinburg through BAM (Baikal-Amur Railway) to Yakutsk (that's in the middle of Siberia) and back to Moscow in winter(!). Here's the first part of their journey.
"Our expedition started in Ekaterinburg, went through BAM railway area, to Yakutsk and back to Moscow. You can't normally get to Yakutsk by car (sane people fly there), but we were up for the challenge. The most interesting part of the journey started when we reached the road that goes along BAM railway
Almost the whole day we've been driving through Kalabar mountain range. The road goes right next to the cliffs at some point and there are very few villages along the way – almost none.
Surprisingly enough, it's actually easier to drive at some parts of the road during the winter. As you can see on the photo above, the road would be quite bad in summer, but in winter because of the snow, it's quite manageable.
It gets dark early and we arrive to Novaya Chara in total darkness. That's a relatively big settlement with more than 2000 inhabitants. It should be easier to drive from here to Tynda along "Auto"BAM, as we've already passed the "wildest" part of the route.
We asked the locals whether there was a petrol station around – turned out that there's one 20 km away in Chara (another big settlement). We needed diesel, so went to Chara straight away even though it was quite late. The road was surprisingly good – asphalted and cleaned. Chara turned out to be quite interesting. There's an airport with regular flights to Chita, and petrol station is 1km away from it. At the petrol station they tell us that the road to Khani (our next destination) is covered with ice and that it's going to get colder (it's already minus 45 Celsius outside!) It's a pity we haven't got time – Chara has a regional museum and a sand desert with beautiful nature (check out the pics in this guide to Chara in Russian).
After Novaya Chara the road gradually turns into an offroad route and after we crossed Khani river, the ice crust that we'd been warned about has started.
Two hours before us a big 157 ZIL lorry has fallen through into the ice crust. The ice crust is a weird thing: seems like it' minus 40, but then an underwater stream doesn't get frozen and continues to flow under ice. You can't see it from the outside until you fall through. And the stream might get frozen at some points, but then the water gets outside, so you get a sort of layered 'pie' made of water and ice. The ice crust gradually increases its height, so that the whole car might fall through.
That's the kind of problem the lorry before us had. The two guys who were inside managed to save the car – chucked out all the load, ten 200-liter barrels with diesel, and somehow managed to drive out of the ice hole. By the way, it was 1 meter deep... Had they waited for half-hour, that would be it: they'd have to wait till spring. When it's minus 45 the car gets frozen in not just quickly, but very quickly....
But then they were stuck: you can't carry and load back 2 tonns of diesel in barrels on your own. So we joined in and helped the guys through all the barrels back into the lorry. They tried to ask us how they could thank us, but we refused to accept anything.
Finally we came to the agreement that they will just drive together with us, to make sure we get through ok. We planned the route, attached our Land Rover with a towrope, and drive along the side of the ice crust. Weirdly enough, even though we checked the depth half hour ago, our cars drove on top of the ice crust just fine. So the whole convoy went through just fine.
Finally, we're reached the road from BAM to Tynda
The bridge through Tazy river was completely broken. So we decided to drive over the ice.
(to be continued...)
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