Intrepid Italian: Fantastic Winter Frosts

I visited Yakutya in January 1999. For me, it was the trip of a lifetime. I had started to read about Yakutya and its fantastic winter frosts almost twenty years before, but was never able to go there. Firstly the region was off-limits for tourists in the soviet times, then it became formally open but indipendent travel was impossible in practice without guides and an official purpose.

Recently, it has become not only possible, but also quite cheap to travel there. Expecially if you follow a few good rules, the first of which is travel with presents: there are no hotels outside Yakutsk, and if you end up staying with a family, it’s always good if you can repay them with some little gifts. Also, people are usually very curious to learn about the outside world, since travelling abroad for most of them is almost impossible.

Arm yourself with lots of patience (you’ll need whenever you had to deal with burocracy and delays), good humor (Russians love to have a good time, don’t we all), and a dictionary of some kind. Though English is now taught in the schools, for most yakutians this would be at least the third language after their own and russians, so don’t expect a lot of understanding -your best choice is often to speak to the kids. A minimum knowledge of russian would be desirable, but is by no means a reason not go.

If you do go in the winter, make sure you are warm. Forget all those fancy warm clothes that are sold in the west: unless you have a few canadian or alaskan winters on your back, you have no idea what it means to be in a real yakutian frost. The best would be to dress up as the locals do, with huge shapkas (hats) made from fox fur, thick coats, and reindeer skin boots. Since you can’t get this stuff at the department store next door, try to do the best you can, which is to dress really warm and in 2-3 layers. Pay attention expecially to your shoes, gloves, and hat. Don’t think that drinking vodka will suffice: in fact, though it’s mandatory to be a good drinker if you want to enjoy the company of yakutian (or any other kind of russian for that matter), it would be a mistake to think that it warms you body up. Expecially, don’t drink from the bottle if you have it with you outside: remember that vodka doesn’t freeze, and you don’t want to swallow something which is at -40C