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Yakutia or the Republic of Sakha as it is alternatively called, is the only region in Russia where the indigenous population makes up about 40-45 percent of the population. Indigenous groups are made up out of Yakut, Even, Evenk, Yukagir and Chuckchi. While the majority of Yakut live in the larger cities, the Even people tend to still practice reindeer herding in the tundra. This summer, we managed a trip for Geographic Expeditions in this interesting region. Our small group of explorers enjoyed a wonderful experience organized by Dima of www.travelyakutia.com who handling overall management and German and his wife from www.arctic-travel.com our host in the reindeer camp on the Buotama River. Following our Yakutsk experience, we took the road less traveled to hospitable Neryungri, where we found ourselves the first American visitors. Then we were off to Tynda, where we boarded the BAM for a scenic journey to Komsomolsk-na-Amur exploring the Komsomolsk Nature Preserve before returning to civilization in Khabarovsk. After a wonderful cruise on the Amur River, we returned to our departure city, Vladivostok. The airport of Vladivostok every Saturday and Tuesday in summer is bustling with the hardy travelers on the way to the adventurous unknown. We met our explorers among many others going different directions. The weather was great so as soon as we arrived and checked into Hotel Versailles located amidst the hectic pace of the city. Vladivostok is a beautiful city if you are a walker and like architecture. Some of the buildings have been beautifully renovated and closing your eyes you can imagine the beauty of the city during it hey days of the late nineteenth century.
Monday brought us back to the airport for our flight to Yakutsk. It was fairly clear on the way, but when we arrived in Yakutsk it rained steadily. After having checked into our hotel we took a walk through town. Yakutsk is a mixture of brand new modern office buildings and quaint wooden buildings haphazardly placed along muddy roads and angling downwards in the middle. It is almost impossible to think about what living in these buildings would be like. Our hotel the Tygyn Darkhan, the best hotel in Yakutsk, and mostly used by government officials was pleasant most of the time, until they starter to change the carpets in the hallways which went along with a very unpleasant smell and lots of hammering lasting till late at night.
Finally the day had come for us to experience life at the reindeer camp at the Buotama River deep in the forest. We were picked up at 9:00am and drove to a small rural airport where our small AN-2 was waiting for us. The plane was chockablock full with ourselves, our guide Dima (Yakut), the people who usually spend the summer in the camp (Yakut and Even), the people who managed the camp (Yakut and Buryat) and Dora and her cousin (Even) who were flying with us to acquaint us with the ancient traditions of the Even reindeer herders. Two Even men, live in the camp all year long and manage the reindeer camp. The herd consists out of about thirty reindeer. The plane flew first over the Lena River, broader in spring when there is lots of flooding. Already two small villages on the Lena River had been destroyed and our Even friends were anxious to see whether their camp was still in place. We heard a "sigh" and saw thumbs up as soon as we saw the Buotama River, still within its boundaries.
What happened next was indescribable; the plane passed by the camp at first and then slowly descended on the riverbank. After some rocking and shuddering, it came to a stop and we could not resist applauding the pilots. The weather by that time was glorious, but that also meant that the mosquitoes were attacking ferociously. Within minutes our packed away mosquito hats were on our head, we sprayed ourselves from out heads to our toes, because it turned out that the plane ride was just part of a larger journey. It appeared that we had to move to the camp by small boats that were brought over by the herders. Everything was unloaded from the plane and then loaded again in the smaller boats, which laboriously proceeded down the river for about thirty minutes.
The next day, we were up early because the dogs were being fed and since they were right outside of our cabin, we were part of am unwanted concert at that hour. A decision had been made to go look for the reindeer by plane. First it was the pilots alone, then we kind of asked if we could go and then we all went. It was great to oversee the vast forests out of the plane and low and behold, we found the reindeer. Back to the camp and our Even guides went off bringing the reindeer back to the camp. Not necessarily for us, but for the fact that they would be eaten up by mosquitoes by now and the camp gave them a safe haven by keeping the mosquitoes away by building large fires within their encampment. We were just having lunch when small tinkling bells announced that the reindeer were coming, they were shy avoiding us at all cost, or perhaps they were looking forward to the smoke that was awaiting them effectively killing the mosquitoes. We had a great time just observing and photographing them. We joined Dora and Princess a few moments later, to be part of the ritual welcoming the reindeer into the camp.
During the remainder of the day, the reindeer got used to us being there and started meandering throughout the camp. Later in the evening, we accompanied them down the riverbanks as they were going out again searching for food. We were thrust to lead them, which was great but also a bit discomforting. Since we did not know we were going to do this, we failed to put on our hats and mosquito spray and when we returned we were literally covered from head to toe with mosquito bites, not a pretty sight.
Later that afternoon, we stopped by the Even summer camp, called Diamond Park where Dora, princess and their families reside during the summer. Our welcome was incredibly warm; we now knew each other and embraced, as we were family. Dora insisted we stay a while and enjoy a performance of Even dances, and so we did and were truly captivated.
Our final trip in the Yakutsk area was to the Druzhba Lensky Museum, a trip that took us almost all morning. Part of the reason was the ferry over the Lena River, running only if sufficient cars had gathered. This was Sunday morning and most Russians do not rise very early, so it was time to negotiate and for at least one hour we leased the ferry. . On the other side, the flooding had erased the road, so it took us some time to find it. Other riders came by and asked us about the road as well; bemused after they found out we were foreigners. After about an hour or so driving through wonderful landscapes, forests and broad meadows with colorful flowers, we reached the outdoor museum. The museum is without a doubt worthwhile, made even better because we had an excellent guide. Our one-hour flight to Neryungri was on an AN-24, a small but safe aircraft. The sky was clear, which provided us a wonderful view of the territory between Yakutsk and Neryungri. Neryungri is a fairly young town settled when the first coal was found in the region. It is still very much a coal town, but the open pit operations are well managed and its impact on the environment is negligible, or so they say. We were enthusiastically welcomed at the airport by Tatyana and her daughter who served as our guides and interpreters during our short stay. Tatyana is an English teacher and she was a great source of knowledge and a wonderful hostess. Surprisingly enough, the accommodations were modest but modern and the hotel staff tried to do their best to make us welcome. Because is started raining, we spend most of the afternoon discovering the town, visiting the school and some stores to find postcards (there were none) and other souvenirs. The next morning, we visited the museum next door where our guide provided us with a lot of knowledge within a short time period. Part of a tour manager's duty is to make sure that things go smoothly and all though every one enjoyed the museum, I sat on needles and pin, because we were constantly running late. Next we drove to the coal mine, where we got the royal treatment, but that also took time. At around 11:00, an hour later than scheduled, we checked out of the hotel to drive to Tynda, a drive of 4-5 hours depending on road conditions. On the way we made a scheduled stop, a short stop this time, at another small Even village which houses a school for Even children from Yakutia. It is the only school in Yakutia where the Even language is still being taught. Of course, there were no students, this being the summer vacation. We also visited the community center where some of the local Even women welcomed us with their traditional ceremony and performed Even dance and songs. Most of the men of the village tend their reindeer herd about one hour away from the village, which can only be reached by helicopter. Many festivals are held in the village and it is also known for its dancing and singing group. After the performance we had lunch with a family of Even reindeer herders. The drive to Tynda was beautiful, showing us extraordinary landscapes of tundra, various shades of green forest, meandering rivers and crystal blue lakes. We had to hurry, because we spend too much time in the village and our train without a doubt would take off at 6:00pm. We were arrived about half and hour early which was lucky, because our train conductor found us a bit suspicious and took a long time to study our tickets. As soon as the train took off we gratefully settled in our compartments for the 36-hour or so ride. The BAM is a much slower train than the Trans Siberian and also its cabins are much more modest. Most of them are four berth cabins, but we settled on two people sharing instead of four. We had bought food at the station and hot water was available from our cabin attendant. All though our cabin attendants, there were two in the beginning glowered at us, why we never knew, as time continued they thawed out and actually became very helpful. Perhaps they thought we were spies. All though hardly believable as one of our explorers was over 80 years old. The time on the train went by fast, even though all we did was read, eat and sleep and watch the landscape go by the window. . Literally thousands of butterflies followed us as we traveled from the Amur to the Khabarovsk region. Every so often the train would stop take on more passengers and if the stop was long enough, we would disembark and see if there was something to buy within the station Early morning saw us disembark at the Komsomolsk station. Our hosts, this time the management team of the Komsomolski Reserve met us with our guide/interpreter and we went directly to our hotel for a nice hot shower. This time our hotel was typically Russian, small beds, a bathroom that had seen better days, but did have hot water and a view over the parking lot. After breakfast, we toured the town. Komsomolsk is actually a very pretty town with broad boulevards and the more beautiful of Soviet housing, beautifully decorated Stalin type buildings. What isn't widely known is that the town housed a number of Japanese prisoners after the Russia/Japanese war. We visited both the natural history and the art museums before we went on our way to the reserve. The reserve is located approximately one hour by road from Komsomolsk. It offers absolute beautiful landscapes to be enjoyed in silent observation with a guide pointing out interesting features. Regretfully, our transportation mode consisted out of small boats with very noisy motors and there was no one on board enlightening us on what we were seeing. So we had a beautiful boat ride, but did not acquire a lot of knowledge about the reserve itself, which was a pity.
On our way to Khabarovsk by bus, we encountered a bit of a problem as the bus kept breaking down. I had chosen the bus, after a research journey brought it to my attention. The bus I took, however, was modern and had luxury seats, etc. The one we ended up with was a much less comfortable kind and obviously had its problems. Finally about half an hour out, the bus driver gave up and we flagged down a bus going back to Komsomolsk. Regretfully, there was no train, nor other bus going to Khabarovsk, at that time of the day. So after some negotiation, we boarded our private taxies for the 5-hour or so drive to Khabarovsk, arriving at 2:00at our hotel. The drivers amused us by their hour-long conversation about our drive and what they were going to do in Khabarovsk, a city that they had not visited before. A beautiful morning greeted us in Khabarovsk. First we went around town, walking most of the way. Khabarovsk is a beautiful city with its broad tree lined boulevards and renovated buildings. After lunch at a local cafeteria we boarded one of the regularly Amur River vessels taking Russians to their dacha or the beaches along the Amur River. It was a great afternoon, having conversations with local people, enjoying the scenery and in general relaxing a bit after our drive of the previous evening. The next day, the weather changed but we were set to visit the Bolshekhektsirsky Preserve where we were met by Sergei, the manager, who gave us a tour of the small museum that is used an educational tool for the local children. Then we proceeded to the part of the preserve that is open for visitors where he showed us the beginning of a small visitor center and a system of walkways surrounding it with signs explaining about its flora and fauna. After a free afternoon, we boarded the final leg of our journey back to Vladivostok on the Trans Siberian Express. Our final evening in Vladivostok ended with dinner at the Nostalgia restaurant with Konstantin Zgurovsky of WWF, who explained to us the programs WWF/US is implementing in Russia. The next morning we found the airport full of departing travelers. Every one seemed happy, our travelers too, they said they enjoyed learning more about Russia and it enticed them enough to promise to come back. Learn more about the Yakutia Region
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The next day, we left early in the morning for our drive to Dr.Victor Yudin's Tiger Preserve nearby the city of Spassk. Olga of 
Since Yakutsk is not necessarily a tourist town, we ended up having our city tour lead by the head of the Yakut Culture and Ethnography Department of the Yakutsk University. Eremey Ganyshev. Decked out with a Lenin type head covering, he lectured us on the entire history of Yakutsk while slowly moving from one point to the other. He also was our guide during the visit to the museum and by the time we were through, we probably knew more about Yakutia than most of its inhabitants.
The camp was located at a beautiful point at the crossing of two rivers. Camp was set up within literally moments. We occupied two small wooden huts, with beds made of wooden slats on which were spread out sleeping bags and linens. We used the water boiled over the campfire for washing purposes and the WC was an outhouse, away from the living quarters. All the other people in the camp slept in tents which floors were carpeted by fresh pine needles. One tent was erected for our dining purposes, mostly to keep the mosquitoes out, while we dined on delicious food cooked over the campfire. Dora and her cousin who was quickly called "princess' for her poise and charm were welcoming us to the camp following Even traditions. "Princess" followed with a poem delivered with such sincerity and passion that we were totally captivated. The afternoon went by fast exploring the area and spending time getting to know each other. Our pilots became part of our small community all of us trying to communicate in a humorous mixture of English and Russian. No reindeer though, we had frightened them off with the noise of the plane. So the evening found us with our Even guide tracking them through the wilderness. It started out with just a walk, we thought, but it turned out this was our lesson in tracking, over muddy river beds, through small fast running rivers, climbing steep hill sides and through the forest and on we went. Of course, not wanting to be left behind, eventually I just moved without thinking. Two hours or so later, without ever having seen even a hint of a reindeer, we were back at the camp. Boy, that night I did not need anything to fall asleep. Even though my bed was tiny and not so comfortable, I was in dreamland before I hit whatever it was that served as my pillow.
On day three we decided to take the boats down the river for a while and hike onto the riverbanks. Our host also invited us to his cabin and showed us where he stored his food, how they went hunting during the summer and his collection of books about the Even people. Later on he showed us the great honor by presenting this book to one of our travelers. In the late afternoon, we packed everything up again, loaded it into the boats and boarded our plane for the return journey. Upon our return to the hotel, we all enjoyed nice hot showers and went out for pizza that evening.
The next morning, we were supposed to enjoy the Ysyakh festival a large celebration that takes place in Yakutsk where all the various tribes come together. However, our tour operator had not mentioned to us that this festival was postponed this year, because a larger celebration was taking place later in July. However, small villages still celebrated the festival and so we went off to the Nemuginzy settlement to join the celebrators. It was more like our 4th of July, all though some of the elders in the family wore their national costume. Every one was enjoying games, sports and song and dance performances.
The next morning before we departed for Khabarovsk, we visited the small village of Nizhni Khalbi, a Nanai village located on the shores of the Amur River and only accessible by boar. Again we boarded our small boats and after about an hour or so, arrived at the village. The village consisted out of a collection of wooden buildings connected by a wooden walkway. First we visited some of the classrooms and the library in the school. This school also hosts children from other nearby villages who are taught in the Nanai language. Afterwards we visited the beautiful small museum.