Khandyga, Sakha Republic, Russian FederationFarewell to Susan. Farewell to Tomtor!
On our last morning in Tomtor, once again Olesya kindly phoned to check that everything was OK and to say there was no need to hurry as Yura would not pick us up until after 10:00 am. After living out of a suitcase for nearly one month, and with mostly just one-night stops at our destinations, it was quite a luxury not to have to rush our last breakfast. Or for that matter, to accommodate the furious eating pace of our guides.
During our Russian travels, we never ceased to be amazed at the astonishing speed at which our guides and drivers ate - before abruptly departing from the table, leaving us to fork our food down as best as we could. Like getting our cold weather clothes on, perhaps we were just a bit slow...?
Susan had been up early, apparently cooking for hours. Our last feast was yet another sumptuous affair with platters of meatballs with lashings of fresh sour cream from the local dairy, hot crispy potatoes and blini, berry jam - and more sour cream. Susan was justifiably proud of her meals. Each dish was carefully presented on traditional Russian country-style plates or spooned into crystal glass bowls. There were no plastic bottles or containers to be seen on our Susan's table. Even the brightly coloured serviettes were carefully folded and placed neatly into a pottery holder.
Although it was difficult to converse, we took great pains to relay to Susan - as well as my limited Russian would allow - that we had thoroughly enjoyed our stay at her guesthouse. We were sorry that we had not met Olesya in person but thanked her and Vasily for their care and assistance in ensuring that we had enjoyed our stay. And interestingly, we are still in contact today. We would certainly recommend Susan's Guesthouse as a very friendly and comfortable place to stay in Tomtor.
A Leisurely Start to Our Journey
We were indeed blessed with good weather. Initially, I had been slightly disappointed that we did not experience anything as cold as it can get in Oymyakonskiy. After all, coming all the way to the coldest village on earth and experiencing "balmy" temperatures of just minus 45 C was well, just a bit underwhelming! And I would have loved to see how water thrown into the air could freeze before it hit the ground. Even our friend Anders Biro had experienced temperatures down around a chilly minus 55 C.
Well, it was not to be. We did however, console ourselves that we had indeed experienced temperatures of around minus 60 C during our journey along the Bilibino to Pevek zimnik just two years before. And that was quite an experience - especially as our Trekol vehicle had broken down on ten occasions....
But on a glorious sunny day tiny Tomtor village only just awakening, looked at its very best; brilliant silver snow sparkling against a deep lapis sky.
As we drove out of town, Yura pointed out what is locally known as "Бабушка Гора" or Grandmother Mountain. Located right on the Old Summer Road, its large rounded cut face was heavily coated with a thick icy lacquer. A few road workers trudged in thigh deep snow around a small encampment. An occasional truck passed by. For all intents and purposes, Tomtor appeared to be in winter hibernation.
Our route for the day was the 510 km road journey back to Khandyga where we would stay overnight before heading off to our final destination of Yakutsk the following day. Once again we would be travelling from Tomtor on the Old Summer Road before re-connecting with the Kolyma Highway - or Road of Bones. This trip would include a visit to the Teply Klyuch Museum of Gulag History which was closed on our forward journey.
Initially, we had thought that perhaps the return journey to Yakutsk by car may have been boring. At the best a bit tedious. After all, it was another 1,000 km of the very same road through the very same country. Curiously however, the return journey felt and looked quite different. Perhaps it was the difference in light as of course we were travelling during different times of very short winter days.
Whatever the reason, our journey was still enormously interesting. And yes, revealed a very different persona from our incoming trip.
Bridal Arches of the Old Summer Road
If the scenery of our forward journey along the Old Summer Road from the junction of the Kolyma Highway to Oymyakon was wonderful, our return journey was nothing short of gob-smackingly spectacular.
And it was a brilliant day. Laden with a night's fall of heavy snow, the larch were even more contorted; their exaggerated, elegant long limbs bowing ceremoniously, often just kissing the steep hills on the opposite side of the narrow Old Summer Road.
Such was the beauty of our surrounds, we almost forgot about its dreadful history; the agony, suffering and despair of its terrible gulag past. In fact it was almost impossible to reconcile. The intense beauty and the terrible sorrow.
And I could not stop taking photos.
Into the High Country Toward the Kolyma Highway
Just before the intersection with the Kolyma Highway, we entered once again into the high country. Travelling at some 1,000 m certainly made huge difference to our surrounding landscape; sparsely scattered larch being totally coated in thick ice and snow.
Unlike our forward journey however, the sun had not yet risen above the surrounding mountains making for a dim and almost forbidding environment. The insides of our windows froze, testament to a severe drop in the outside temperature. And being not yet fully light, the cold road Yura told us was incredibly slippery and dangerous.
Back into the flatter lower taiga region and not far from the intersection onto the Kolyma Highway, a more relaxed Yura began practising his English with me. He actually understood and spoke much more English than we originally thought. Sitting in the passenger seat was also an ideal time to practise my Russian.
It's amazing what a difference a bit of confidence makes when learning and speaking a language. On the first leg of our travels, I was so intimidated by my mistakes that I had stopped even trying to speak Russian.
Practising one-on-one with Yura however, was fun and certainly improved my confidence. From here on in, Yura spoke in English while I tried to speak in Russian. My language skills improved exponentially. But then again, my ability had come from a distressingly low base....
Here is a video of our drive along the lower taiga stretch of the Old Summer Road, chatting with Yura's exotic Yakut music playing in the background: https://youtu.be/nKaDCVfEkvE
"A Man Who Smiles and Laughs for no Reason is a Fool"
Near the junction of the Old Summer Road and Kolyma Highway we stopped for a short break at the comical container-built Kafe Kuba. And despite our hearty breakfast at Susan's somehow we managed to scoff down a number of potato piroski and several cups of coffee.
The waitress who had been more than a bit offhand just days before, greeted us like long lost friends, even listening carefully to my slowly spoken attempt to order in Russian. I recalled that on the last occasion when I had asked in Russian for milk with our coffee, she had snapped back in English "Oh, you want milk do you?"
We laughed to ourselves at how often this happened in Russia. After all we should have been used to the initial offhand - come mega friendly change in the Russian approach to foreigners. I was reminded by comments made by our Swedish friend Anders Biro when he was travelling on the Trans-Siberian Railway just before our travels:
"Having
spent almost a week on a train it occurs to me that with only one exception
where a person knew basic English, I have in all this time not properly
verbally communicated with a single passenger, yet experienced a rather
welcoming and inviting atmosphere.
That
might be seen as a contrast in that Russians are not seen as immediately
approachable people, but I was told that a Russian proverb goes that a man who
smiles and laughs for no reason is a fool. That is, you are not being showered
with smiles for no reason, but in return you can count on smiles and
friendliness as genuine.
I
guess it is a matter of preference, if you rather prefer an all smiling and
inviting tourist experience and do not mind it being as shallow as a pretty
postcard it could be a problem. I
personally prefer to keep things real though, and see it instead as an
advantage in order to learn".
Goodbye Oymyakonskiy. Welcome Tomponskiy Ulus.
"Where you can Hear the Stars Whisper"....
After our short break, we began our long drive back through the remainder of the Oymyakonskiy Ulus and into the Tomponskiy Ulus and the magnificent Sette-Daban Mountain Ranges. I have described the coming journey through this region in detail. But on such a magical day, I just had to insert some more photographs of this beautiful drive.
Interestingly, we saw very few other vehicles on our journey. It was surprising as after all, this is the only highway from Yakutsk in the Sakha Republic to Magadan Oblast in the far east. Here is a video of our travels through the Sette-Daban ranges: https://youtu.be/oqWTvVZLIFY
If anything, the light was even brighter than our forward journey, intensely illuminating the snow-covered, picture-perfect massifs of the Sette-Daban.
Mostly treeless, at an altitude of some 1,200 m they appeared however, to be devoid of any animal life that we could see. Occasional arctic fox paw prints made random patterns in the deep snow and every now and then we would see an eagle or a partridge. I imagined most other creatures were in hibernation or indeed, too sensible to be spotted by raptors during the daylight hours.
Winters in Oymyakonskiy are renown as the severest winters in the world, lasting for a full seven months of the year. Well known for its "winter silence", there are in fact very few animals in Oymyakonskiy which do not hibernate, saving their energy during the freezing months.
And when temperatures drop below minus 50 C, it is said that in the silence of a winter's night, you can hear the "stars whisper" as the air a person exhales rustles as it momentarily freezes in severe cold.
At a steep graded incline to our right, Yura suddenly turned our car across the road. "Good photos" he grinned. I looked at the incline thinking we would have to walk to the top. But no, in no time Yura had gunned our little Toyota at full pace up the steep embankment. Where we became hopelessly bogged in deep soft snow.
Yura was right however. The top of the incline was a great place to take photographs. Leaping out of the car wearing just my t-shirt and trekking trousers was perhaps not a very sensible idea in this region. But it was so good to be free of heavy clothing and the extraordinarily steep climb up the embankment certainly warmed me up. But although it was brilliantly sunny, the temperature was around minus 25 C - far too cold to entertain just a light outfit with no jacket, gloves or hat.
Giggling like school children Yura and I happily took photos while a more sensible Alan stayed warm in the car.
One would think I had learnt about the intense cold in this region by now and soon reality set in. While Yura backed his car out of the bog, I stumbled on foot down the incline. Flopping into the car, numb with cold and shivering violently, Alan just looked at me sadly shaking his head. Again, a stern reminder even on the most brilliantly sunny day that hey, this was not Australia and it can be crazily cold even when the day looks so glorious. "Slow learner" I heard Alan mutter....
A Visit to Teply Kluch and the Museum of Gulag History
In the late afternoon, we arrived at the small village of Teply Kyluch where we were scheduled to visit the Museum of Gulag History.
Initially the visit had sounded like a good idea as we are both interested in Russian history, particularly that related to this region during the last century. But in all honesty, I don't think Alan's or my enthusiasm for visiting the museum was quite what it should have been. Tired from our long travels and arriving quite late in the cold of a Siberian winter's afternoon, I shamefully recall hoping it may have closed for the day. And it nearly had. Thanks to Yura's persistence however, the museum staff agreed to stay until we had arrived. And reluctantly we left the warmth of our car and shuffled inside the austere museum building.
The museum staff however, were delightfully welcoming and took great pains to explain about the museum exhibits; of which they were justifiably proud. Although mostly signed and described in Russian, the museum from what we could see was divided into the gulag history and the role Russia played in the Great Patriotic War (World War II). And of course, the role little Teply Klyuch played in both parts of these inextricable strands of complex Russian history.
The village of Teply Klyuch has a rather fascinating, if somewhat dark history. Like Khandyga, it's reason for existence lie in being another hub for the building of the Kolyma Highway. Construction of the village began in 1941 when the settlement was used as a camp point for prisoners and staff as part of the Dalstroy led forced labour construction effort.
There are apparently, many remnants of the camps and camp cemeteries in the area, as well as the airport which was initially built to service the Lend-Lease Scheme of ferrying aircraft and arms from Alaska, USA to the eastern front during the Great Patriotic War.
Today Teply Klyuch (meaning "warm key", a reference to its thermal springs) is the administrative centre for the area, and also serves as an air transport facility for the township of Khandyga, some 70 km west. The village boasts a population of around 550 inhabitants.
The displays of gulag memorabilia were as always, chilling reminders of a terrible past. Comprising old tools, construction materials, prisoner clothing and other artifacts including a significant amount of barbed wire, they were well presented and well signed.
We had however during our 2017 visit to Magadan, seen a considerable amount of gulag exhibits and collections in its very impressive museum, part of which is devoted to its mining and gulag past. A detailed description of the gulag history and the exhibits of the Magadan Museum of Local Lore can be found in my travelogue Siberia and Beyond, There's Something Magical About Magadan, link http://v2.travelark.org/travel-blog-entry/crowdywendy/8/1496993939
Equally interesting were the exhibits dedicated to the contribution of Russia and of the air-based network of the Lend-Lease aircraft and arms distribution program in Russia. Exhibits displaying old maps of air bases, photographs and information boards were presented in both Russian and English. And despite our initial lack of enthusiasm, we found we were totally absorbed with the exhibits which again provided us with a Russian perspective of, and insight into the country's very significant contribution to the war.
And of course, that is one of the great values of travel. As we had experienced during all our Russian journeys, we had found it absolutely fascinating to hear not only about the war effort but indeed many world political and economic issues, from another perspective. And this was especially so with Russia, a country with which we had been at "Cold War" for such a long period of time. And one which at first felt so very foreign to us.
A Little About the Lend-Lease Agreement: "A Route of Courage and Friendship"
We were surprised we had become so absorbed in the war displays that even the museum staff were looking like they wanted to close up for the day.
One display in particular caught our eye. It was a four-page document about the Lend-Lease Agreement which was aptly titled "The Route of Courage and Friendship". It was written by I E Negenblya, a leading Russian pilot of the Lend-Lease supply route and well-known author.
The program seemed inconceivable. Here were the countries of the UK, USA and Russia collaborating in a massive joint effort against the fascist Hitler coalition. And assisting the poorly equipped Russia and other hapless nations by ferrying food, oil, arms, aircraft and other equipment and services all the way from Alaska across eastern and central Russian to the European Eastern Front. An extraordinary feat. Could such cooperation ever happen today we asked ourselves? Sadly, most probably not....
Negenblya begins:
"The decisive role of the Soviet Union in the victory over fascist Germany is recognised all over the world. However, it is of no small importance today to point out the invaluable experience of cooperation between the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.....
On the day when fascist Germany attacked the Soviet Union, the Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill, made a speech on radio addressing the British people. In particular he said 'Any man and any state supporting Hitler, is our enemy. Hence it appears that we will render our help to Russia and the Russian people'.
In early 1941, the US President Franklin D Roosevelt made public America's support to the Soviet Union in the war with Nazi Germany.... On 11th March 1941, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Lend-Lease Agreement...."
Lend-Lease supply receiving countries such as Russia signed an agreement in which all materials destroyed, lost or consumed during the war, would not be subject to any payment after the war had finished. Conversely, any materials which remained suitable for civil use were to be paid for in full or part, to the USA.
*It should be noted that at this stage, the US could technically provide assistance while still remaining "officially" neutral. Its final impetus to its formal entry to World War II was of course, the bombing of Pearl Harbour by Japanese military aircraft in December, 1941.
In all, Russia received USD 11.3 billion (or around USD 150 billion today), of supplies. They were not insubstantial. Supplies included more than 14,000 US aircraft, 44,000 American jeeps, 375,883 cargo trucks, 8,071 tractors and 12,700 tanks. In addition, the country was supplied with 1.5 million blankets, 331,066 litres of alcohol, 15 million pairs of boots, 106,893 tons of cotton, 2.7 million litres of petroleum products and 4.5 million tons of food supplies.
The allied assistance of goods and machinery was accomplished in several ways, including sea transport via the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Transport via these routes however suffered many casualties, especially for the more fragile and cumbersome aircraft. And so, in October 1941 a decision was made to ferry US aircraft by air from Alaska across the Siberian region of the Russian Far East.
Not surprisingly, this decision presented huge difficulties relating to the extreme climate and remote tundra environment of far eastern Russia. In a mammoth effort, sites for air bases across the Russian Far East were selected, radio navigation equipment supplied and meteorological stations constructed. Flight maps were upgraded. Reconstruction of major aerodromes took place in Yakutsk, Krasnoyarsk and Kirensk, while new intermediate aerodromes were built in the Sakha and Chukotka provinces at Olyokminsk, Vitim, Teply Klyuch, Oymyakon, Omolon and Zyrenka.
The author continues:
"The desperation for construction was dictated by the needs at the front. The conditions were very difficult.
Work continued at night and through the (minus) 40-50 degree C temperatures. Work was accompanied in winter by winds and snowstorms and in spring by slush and impassable mud. Not only civilians and volunteers worked there, but the poor creatures from the well-known GULAG (prison) system as well. The local population, consisting mostly of women and children and old people, made a great contribution to the building...." The men of course, were fighting on the front.
In an amazing feat, an air route of some 5,000 km was constructed in less than one year. Casualties were enormous with some 44 air crashes along the Alaska to Siberia air route, in which 113 Soviet aviators perished.
We all understand that the war against Nazi Germany was ended in the Battle for Berlin when the Soviet Red Army burst into Berlin, capturing the city. It was the final step in ending the war. History however, tends to become distorted with time. And ask people today "Who won the war against Nazi Germany?" and depending on who you speak to, you will get a huge difference of opinion.
But there is no doubt that while the US gave much in terms of support for the war against the Nazi coalition, the Russians gave with their lives. In all it is estimated that a staggering 27 million Russians perished in the war, most of whom were men. The final numbers however, will never be known.
With regard to the Lend-Lease Agreement, there is still much conjecture in the literature about the US and Russia's views as to what was considered a reasonable payback amount after the war. Apparently, the US believed Russia should pay back USD 1.3 billion, while the Soviet Officials said they could only pay back USD 170 million. Whatever was appropriate, the resulting eye-balling stand-off caused great offence on both sides. And even today, there is much bitterness amongst Russian people about the Lend-Lease Agreement. According to one of our Magadan guides, it was only in 2016 that Russian President Vladimir Putin had finally made the last repayment back to the US.
Arriving Back in Khandyga
On nearly nightfall, we finally arrived back in Khandyga. Although it was only some days before we had arrived there on our forward journey to Oymyakonskiy, it felt like years.
Our Floria Guesthouse staff was like our experience at Kafe Kuba, amazingly friendly and helpful. We were even "upgraded" into the larger room which had been occupied by the highway patrol police during our first stay. I think however, that act of kindness may have had a lot to do with Yura's intervention as I had noticed him chatting intensely with the manager....
Dinner Yura assured us, would not be chicken hearts! We would be dining at a local Dagestani restaurant which he claimed was the best eating place in town. Apparently it had been booked out for a wedding the evening we stayed on our forward journey.
The Dagestani owner of the restaurant was extraordinarily friendly and spoke excellent English. He talked with us for some time how he and his family had "migrated" to Khandyga and had been very successful in their new venture of restaurant and wedding function centre. He was also very intrigued that we had visited Dagestan only some years before. It is a fascinating Russian province of the North Caucasus - well off the usual tourist trail, I must say.
Our meal was enormous - a huge bowl of chicken soup (no hearts) followed by a massive pie known as Chuba, a national Dagestani dish. The food was very good and we thoroughly enjoyed it - even if it was as usual, ridiculously rushed....
As we lay in bed that evening, we talked about the war, the Lend-Lease Agreement, Stalin and the gulags. It was all so contradictory and complex. But we knew our perspectives had changed enormously from our first visits to Russia. And although we had learnt an immense amount, Russian history for us was still a tightly held mystery.
We agreed you need to be a Russian to fully understand....
2025-02-16