Drive carefully over Kolyma Ice River Road.зимник.RUSSIA

Most guidebooks and travel sites will tell you that the only way to get to Chukotka, Russia's most exotic, remote and northeastern province, is by air. This is not correct. In summer it can be reached by sailing up the Kolyma River from Magadanskaya Oblast and through northern Yakutia. In winter, a zimnik (ice road) cuts through the frozen surface of the river, and it is possible to drive directly from Yakutia to Chukotka. This route takes you through some of Yakutia's most beautiful mountain scenery, to villages thousands of kilometers from the nearest permanent road, and into arctic tundra inhabited by nomadic reindeer herders.

Linking towns:Ust-Nera/Bilibino

Most of Yakutia and Chukotka have no roads, apart from two or three in the southern and central parts of the republic. Most of this vast territory, almost the size of India, is roadless, and most settlements are only accessible by boat or air in summer. However, in winter a network of zimniki opens up: temporary winter paths on frozen river surfaces. Hardy long-distance truckers spend weeks or months on these icy roads, hauling goods to Yakutia's northernmost and most isolated settlements. There is a whole culture of ice roads, complete with rules of behaviour, etiquette, superstitions and rituals that stand out among those who spend much of their lives driving in the harshest of environments.

Head on the winter road towards the Momskiy Mountains, one of the most beautiful in Russia, the highest point of 2533 meters.

Continue on the winter highway through the stunning Momskiy Mountains, until you reach the village of Zyryanka, population 2,000, on the bank of the infamous Kolyma River, where all of Russia's most feared gulag camps were located.

Continue north, driving over the frozen surface of the Kolyma River. Cross the arctic circle. Arrive at the town of Srednekolymsk, population 3,000 Evenki, Yakuts, and Russians, founded as a fortress in 1643 by Cossacks exploring Siberia.

Continue north on the winter road to the indigenous herding, hunting and fishing village of Argakhtakh, population 400, located 300 km north of the Arctic Circle.

Continue north on the winter road to Andryushkino, a village of indigenous Yukagir reindeer herders and hunters, population 700. 30 km from Andryushkino lie some of Yakutia's most spectacular and least documented kisilyakh, spread over a vast area of tundra stretching as far as the eye can see.

Continue along the winter road to the Kolyma River hunting, fishing and reindeer herding village of Kolymskoe with a population of 700. Kolymskoe is the only village in Yakutia inhabited by the indigenous Chukchi people.

Drive north along the frozen surface of the Kolyma River to the village of Cherskiy, population 2,000. This is very close to the point where the Kolyma River empties into the Arctic Ocean, and Cherskiy has a large seaport called Zelyoniy Mys.

Cross the border between Yakutia and Chukotka, drive through spectacular mountain scenery and most likely see nomadic Chukchi reindeer herders along the way. Arrival in the town of Bilibino, population 5,000, in western Chukotka.

Aprox. length:1857 km

GPS:68.642412,161.264447

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