"
Mammoth hunter "
Many
people would like to see where the real mammoths used to live but
only few of them know that most of the mammoth bones can be found
in Yakutia. The layer of permafrost preserves thousands of unique
exemplars incomparable to any others in the world. The Yukagir mammoth
found in Yakutia not long ago is a demonstrative example and is expected
to be a hit of forthcoming Expo 2005 in Nagoya.
We are happy to offer you this program as a chance to visit one of
the unique mammoth graveyards on the Ulakhan Suullur Mountain in Verkhoyanskii
region, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) with no extreme or special problems.
You will have a great opportunity to take part in the mammoth bones
search. More than that, the organizers of the route can guarantee
your success 100%.
Date: July-August, 2005
Participants: 2 to 6 persons maximum
1 DAY Sa
YAKUTSK Arrival to Yakutsk. Representative of the TourService Center
Company and English speaking guide meet you at the airport, assist
you to collect your luggage and transfer in a comfortable microbus
to the Tygyn Darkhan Hotel or the Polar Star Hotel, both situated
in the centre of the city. After the check-in hotel, the restaurant
of the hotel offers you a dinner. After the dinner, if you wish, you
can take a walk to have a look at the city.
2 DAY Su
Breakfast is served at the hotel restaurant. During the sightseeing
city-tour in the microbus the experienced guide tells you the history
of Yakutsk foundation, one of the oldest cities in Siberia. You can
appreciate the architecture, cultural monuments, ancient and modern
buildings. Before lunch you have an excursion to the Mammoth Museum,
where you meet a paleontologist, an expert to accompany you. An amazing
exposition of ancient animals' remains is displayed in the Museum;
you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about mammoths. Than
you have a lunch in one of the local restaurants of the city.
After that you can visit the Permafrost Institute to find out what
permafrost is and how it influences on the way of life in the North.
You have a fantastic opportunity to spend some time 12 meters underground
and see the snow and ice with your own eyes while there is a warm
sunny weather outside. If you intend to spend more than 5 minutes
there, we would recommend you to take a coat or a jacket with you
as the temperature underground is about 5 degrees centigrade below
zero.
Next you visit a wonderful exhibition "Treasures of Yakutia",
a unique collection of national jewelry, clothing and production of
local handicrafts made of diamonds, gold, platinum, silver and mammoth
bone extracted in Yakutia. This collection is an ornament and pride
to our people and leaves a lasting impression. Then you can go boating
for a while and make sure that the Lena River is one of the greatest
rivers in the world. In the evening after the dinner in one of the
restaurants you have your spare time in the hotel.
3 DAY Mo
YAKUTSK-Batagai
At 9 a.m. after the breakfast at the hotel restaurant transfer to
the airport. Departure of your flight is at 11:05 a.m. You fly an
AN-24, 40-places plane of local airlines. The flight takes an hour
and a half, at 1:55 p.m. you arrive at Batagai, the centre of Verkhoyanskiy
region. Local time is one hour ahead. The settlement is situated on
the Yana River, in 60 km from Verkhoyansk, the world-known Pole of
Cold of the northern hemisphere, where the lowest temperature - 67.8
degrees centigrade - was registered.
At the Batagai airport a guide meets you with two off-road UAZ microbuses
perfectly fitted for this region. After the lunch served in a cafe
the same buses transfer you to Betenkes, a small village 46 km away
from Batagai. During the trip that takes about an hour and a half
you can enjoy spectacular landscapes of the Verkhoyansk Mountains
and attractive sites of wild nature.
In Betenkes village accommodation is provided by local families, one
or two persons in the room. People are very hospitable and are glad
to welcome you in the best houses of the village, tidy and clean.
There is no plumbing or water supply, like in every house in the northern
villages. So you have to use a washstand and go outside when you need
a toilet. If you are willing to experience a real Siberian bath the
villagers are happy to provide you this opportunity. Neat comfortable
beds are done for you.
You have an excursion to the local museum that exhibits the unique
findings from the area that you are to visit next day. The curator
of the museum can tell you many interesting stories about the Ulakhan
Suullur mammoth graveyards.
Having visited the museum you come back to the families where a slashing
dinner is served for you. It consists of some peculiar cooking like
piroshki, home-made jam and sour cream as well as other special recipes
passed on from generation to generation.
4 DAY Tu
After the breakfast in the families your group accompanied by the
local guides and a paleontologist leaves for the dig area Ulakhan
Suullur, that in Yakut means "a big crumbling mountain".
The trip on the two-seater motor boats down the quiet Adycha River
takes about an hour and a half. Ulakhan Suullur is a unique place
where the whole history of fauna development over a period of thousands
years is preserved. Native people got used to such outstanding findings
as remains of a prehistoric elephant, mammoth's progenitor; fossils
of bison or woolly rhinoceros that existed long before the woolly
mammoth.
People find it every now and then, especially after the spring flood
that reveals ice sheet and erodes riverbanks. So it will be easy for
you to find mammoth bones under the guidance of experienced specialist.
Right there on the riverbank you have your lunch provided by your
families - piroshki, vegetables, meat and fish, etc. Your guides make
a fire to prepare hot tea.
After the expedition you come back to the Betenkes village on the
motor boats and have dinner in your families. In the evening, if you
have spare time, you can watch a little concert performed by a local
folklore group.
5 DAY - We
After the breakfast in the families you go to the dig area on the
motor boats. Continue the mammoth remains research in Ulakhan Suullur.
Your guides prepare a lunch on the riverbank. In the evening you can
visit the horse-breeders' settlement where the ancient times way of
life still remains. Ancient buildings and constructions help you to
imagine how the ancestors of the Yakuts used to live hundreds of years
ago. Then you come back to the Betenkes village and have dinner in
your families.
6 DAY Th
Batagai-YAKUTSK
After the breakfast in the families you leave for Batagai on the UAZ
russian off-roaders. Flight departure at 12:55 a.m. Arrival to Yakutsk
at 1:45 p.m. You check in and have lunch in one of the restaurants.
Then you have some time for shopping in the gift shop where you can
buy souvenirs made of mammoth bone for your family and friends.
In the evening you have dinner at the "Golden Dragon" Chinese
restaurant and some spare time in the hotel.
7 DAY Fri
After the breakfast transfer to the airport and departure.
NOTE ! According to the existing customs laws in
the country it is forbidden to export any paleontological evidences
of scientific value unless authorized by the Ministry of Cultural
Affairs of the Russian Federation.
Order form
<<<<
Journey to Kolyma | The Moma National Nature Park
Yakutian gold rush at Indigirka river
