Hello, my name is Ilya Kovyakin. I live in Magadan, Russia, and am ready to answer your questions about my homeland
Short answers to short questions from blog visitors:
1. Is it possible to get to Magadan by train?
No. The railroad to Magadan was not constructed. To get to my place is possible by plane or sea or on your own vehicles.
2. Is it possible to load a car on a ship, that goes to the U.S.A.?
We don’t have ships sailing directly to Alaska. Mostlikely, it’s better to ship vehicles to Vladivostok and then to Alaska.
These Romanian guys had a great motorcycle ride from Romania to Magadan last year. They made it through the Road of Bones and installed the memorial tablet dedicated to the Romanian exiles repressed in the time of Stalin’s regime. Good fellows! Not so many devote their expedition to the victims of GULAGs.
Here is a video done by Dan Popescy, of Romanian Motorcyclists Asociation. His website: http://euroasia2010.amoro.ro/
First questions are received via AskMagadan.com’s contact form. Great! It means the website started bringing results. So, here are questions:
«I need some information.. which is the better way to reach butugychag? from susuman or magadan? is it possible to find accomodation in susuman? from susuman (i’ve read there is a public bus to magadan) does it start every day? at which time?»
Answers:
1) It’s easier to get to Butugychag from Magadan. The point is that the camp is located on Tenkinsky Road considered to be the alternative to the Yakutsk – Magadan federal highway. It’s harder to reach the camp from Susuman. By the way, Tenkinsky Road looks much better.
2) It’s much easier to reach Butugychag, if you find (rent) an off-road vehicle with a driver as a guide. This year the rate for such a car was 300 USD per day. The price included a car rent, fuel, and food. I have good friends among guides, so you are welcome to ask about it.
3) There is a regular public transportation working between Susuman and Magadan. The way takes 14 hours and a bus is small (a minivan). Departure is at 11 am.
4) Two hotels work in Susuman. One is located near the bus station, the other on the territory of the training center of the Susuman gold processing factory. Not hard to find them.
Butugychag, Stalin Death Valley. Magadan Oblast, Russia.
This is the 2nd part of Alexander Perelygin’s trekking story about Butugychag Gulag Camp in Magadan Oblast, Russia.
The first one was Butugychag, Gulag’s most preserved labour camp in Kolyma. Part 1.
From the interview with H. Niyazov:
- I was not in Butugychag, God saved me. We considered them as a penal camp.
- How were convicts buried?
- They did nothing special. Just bestrewed deads with corpses with sand or snow, if they died in winter, and that’s it.
- Any coffins used?
- Never. No one thought about coffins.
- Why were dead convicts buried in coffins in on one of three Butugychag cemeteries and why were corpses’ heads cut off?
- That’s because doctors cut them…
- What for?
- Among prisoners, there were some rumours about experiments as a part of training.
- Was it done at Butugychag’s or somewhere else?
- In the Butugyachag camp only.
- When did you learn about experiments?
- Approximately in 1948-1949, just in the form of small talks to scare us…
- Maybe, when they cut off heads, convicts were alive?
- Who knows… There was a big medical camp. There were even professors among workers…
..Friday, local mass media reported that the Tenkinsky highway was washed out again and the Russian Emergency Ministry didn’t recommend any driving on the road. But I was already determined and there were no wish to step back…
I departed in the early morning around 6 am… That time I decided to go alone, as it would give me more speed up.
Yes, there is such a chance. You can leave your transport (vehicle or motorcycle) on outdoor parking lot or in a secure heated garage in Magadan, Russia. Next year you can come, take it and continue your road journey.
The only inconvenience might appear with the Russian custom service. International visitors are allowed to import their own transports into Russia temporarily for 6 months. So, if you wish to leave for the period longer than indicated in the law, you will need to notify the custom service and pay some additional fees.
When I’ll learn more details, I will write more on this topic.
Doug Wothke and his Harley Davidson in Magadan, Russia
Today’s hero of the world’s motorcycle news is Doug Wothke!
[CNN World Report]
Today, the first Harley Davidson has made it to Magadan, in NE Russia.
BMW GS riders worldwide groaned in disbelief, as they watched the drama unfold on laptop computers from the relative safety of their local Starbucks.
When asked how he felt after reaching the end of the Road of Bones, Doug replied
“I’m wore out like a 2 dollar whore on nickel night!”
The morning temperature in July might be at 15C.
Solnechnoe Lake (Sunny Lake, if in Russian) is located in the depth of Tenkinsky region.
Lake and the way to it are very picturesque. It is possible to get to this place by a truck or well-equipped 4wd vehicle.
On the way to the Butugychag gulag camp
This is not my personal story – This is a story of my friend named Alexander Perelygin. His blog: www.avp-life.com
At the place of Butugychag, 380 thousand people met their death. It is more than the total population of the mordern Magadan Oblast. It is the very place, where highly secret experiments on human brains were conducted. Indeed, it used to be the top secret spot on the map.
..I’ve heard much about this place, saw many photographs. I was pretty much eager to see it myself. So, in September 2010, I had such a chance.
We departed from Magadan in the early morning. By a lunch time, we already reached the 223 km of the Tenkinsky Highway. Picked our backpacks, checked and took still & video cams, and headed on the only available trail, where we eventually lost in 100 km. We didn’t stop, when we lost the trail, but continued our way, as we knew we would get back on the road in a ravine between bald peaks. It happened the way we expected.
Jack London Lake in Magadan Oblast, Russia
Jack London Lake & Lake of Dancing Graylings are one of the most visited travel destinations in Magadan Oblast. They are a part of the chain of high-mountain lakes. Located in the Oblast’s Yagodnoye area (Ягодный район).
Jack London Lake is located at a height of 803 m above sea level and is situated in the deepest basin of Annachag Mountains, Magadan Oblast. Its length is 10 km, the depth is 50 m. It is one of the most beautiful exotic lakes in Russia’s Far East.
The most remarkable peak is Pik Aborigen (2586 m above sea level). Located in the area of Jack London Lake. See the lake on the map.
There is a road leading to these lakes, but it has not being repaired since the 1980s. So, it’s not so easy to get to Jack London Lake & Lake of Dancing Graylings. Major obstacles are the absence of bridges and the existence of many brooks and mountain rivers, especially in the rainy season.
