MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. A young businessman, Tuman Kyryarba, dreams to organize an extreme route to the Oymyakon district in Yakutia’s south-east. It is Russia’s coldest area, where in winter temperatures may drop to minus 60 degrees Celsius. His ideas proved to be correct: many visitors, both from Russia and abroad, want to test themselves and to learn how people live in the North.
Most tourists arrive in Tomtor - a small village - the world’s coldest inhibited area. The lowest temperature of minus 67.7 degrees was registered there in 1933.
Tuman was born and grew up in the Oymyakon district. He enjoyed walking in the hills - in childhood he made short trips, and later on travelled further up the mountains.
Back then, probably, he realized it would be wonderful to share the scenic and gorgeous views with others.
Staying where you belong
"When in Yakutsk, I feel uneasy," he told TASS. "As if I remain motionless, while the time moves on."
At first, the young man offered tours to friends. On the way to pick up foreign tourists he was very nervous. "You can’t guess what people are coming and how to communicate with them," he said.
Presently, he is the Oymyakon Tour Company’s director, though, he says, this occupation is more of a hobby, which brings certain profit.
The business is focused mostly on foreign tourists from Asia and Europe. Every year, the company welcomes about 50-60 tourists, while the district’s 20 tourism companies serve about 800-900 people a year.
Extreme tours
"They do not care about comfort, they come here to feel the extreme," he said about tourists. "They arrive, and immediately go to the taiga or to deer herders."
Visitors must be prepared to endure the North’s extreme conditions. First of all, every visitor, planning a trip to the Pole of Cold, must consult a cardiologist.
Secondly, take care of warm clothes: high-quality thermal underwear, the unty - boots of deer skin - and a fur coat (deer fur would be the best choice), or a very warm dawn overcoat. These could be purchased at home or in Yakutsk, where warm outfit is available both in shops and at markets.
Traveling is not easy for visitors. At first, cars take them from Yakutsk to the Oymyakon district. The distance is about 1,000 kilometers. In winter, driving may take 16-18 hours, but in summer - about 24 hours. If ferries are delayed, the journey may take 30 hours.
"Emergency situations happen," he continued. "Sometimes, a tourist is unable to pass the route - the heart fails."
Three-day trips to heights less than 2,100 meters do not require medical staff, though any group carries necessary medications.
You never know what may happen during extreme trips. "Once, we take a tourist from Moscow and drive a Buran (caterpillar snowmobile - TASS), we get onto ice covered with water, and the snowmobile half-sinks, we had to drag it out. Imagine, this happened when the air temperature was minus 55 degrees, then it takes us quite a time to strike out ice from the engine. And later on, that very tourist managed to fall out of the trailer - and we notice it only 100 meters later. It’s good we’ve noticed him. He was walking towards us."
Luckily, nobody’s got frozen - tourists at all times are with local guides.
"Not so long ago, I was with tourists from Australia and Kazakhstan. I take them to the route along hunters’ paths - to check traps. It was very cold - minus 63. At first, they refused to continue, but later on, they warmed up in the hunters’ hut and asked me to walk on."
It’s impossible to put into words the tourists’ emotions, which Tuman sees. The excitement is in shining eyes and in exclamations. Those emotions, he saw after the first trip, proved to him the choice was correct. "After first clients, it was clear to me I’ve made the right decision," he said.
As a rule, organized tourists do not cause problems. "As for the ‘individuals,’ problems are quite possible. Some tourists negotiate a few companies at a time. Every company thinks it has a deal, and the client comes to those who offer lowest rates, without telling the others. As for me, my prices are not low, but what I offer covers them 100%," he continued.
Fans of the mountain extreme normally come to the district in spring. The Tas-Kystabyt mountainous system is a sacral and mysterious place. At first, climb the Algystaakh Mountain’s peak, from where a chain of rocks spreads in different directions. Available routes there are both for beginners and for trained travelers.
The best time to come for mountain trips is from March: it gets warmer, and the daytime is longer, the businessman said.
GULAG, Northern cuisine and hunting
Most tourists come in January-February. Gusts visit the residence of the local Father Frost (Santa Klaus) - Chyskhaan. They participate in a purification rite by the sacred Ebe-Haya Mountain.
The local culture is another attraction. A local history museum is in Tomtor.
Horse breeding is also interesting for tourists. "We have a unique breed of Yakut horses," he continued. "They can get food even in winter, from under layers of snow."
In neighboring Yuchgei, tourists learn how deer herders live. Visitors may choose to stay a guest house or in a traditional tent.
Practically every step stirs tourists’ excitement, Tuman said. Visitors are invited to taste the local cuisine: sliced frozen fish, boiled deer tongue, blood sausages, and sliced frozen stallion.
Some tourists want to have top-comfort conditions, which are not available yet. "This is why I tell tourists honestly what they will have," Tuman said.
Other tourists ask whether they may come across wild animals - bears or wolves. "I cannot remember a single case, big predators do not live there, they live lower, but anyway we always carry guns, rather to comfort our visitors," he said.
Recently, Tuman has rented a plot of land to make a tourist base there. He also plans to develop a new route - to still remaining GULAG facilities. The route may take about 300 kilometers of the old road.
Tuman loves hunting and fishing. In spring, he hunts duck, and in autumn - heir and wood grouse. He wants to use these skills to organize hunting routes.
"As for fishing, many locals would come," he said. "As for [hunting] snow sheep, deer and elk, those would be experienced tourists from the mainland or from abroad."
Life in the North
Another promising direction is the agriculture, namely cattle and horse breeding. He wants to start a small farm and develop it further on. Northern livestock farming in extreme conditions would be interesting to tourists, he said confidently.
Tuman enjoys living in Oymyakon.
"I cannot imagine living without Oymyakon’s nature for a long time," he told TASS. "I need the energy of mountains. In summer, I make long trips. I love sleeping in a tent. I enjoy hunting duck in spring, or heir and wood grouse in autumn. Haven’t hunted the cloven hoofed yet. In my opinion, it requires more maturity, when you feel you’re equal to the nature. This is why, I leave it for later."
Tuman has got a job, but soon he will devote his life to the hobby, as the interest to the world’s coldest area will only grow.