(OBLAST BY OBLAST)
Yakutsk + Lena Pillars
yakutsk – якутск
Founded in 1632 Yakutsk is one of the oldest cities in the Far East. For quite a long time Yakutsk served as a base for expeditions to the Pacific coast. Famous Russian explorers Vitus Bering and Semen Dezhnev started their expeditions from there to discover the Bering Strait and Dezhnev Cape.
The year of foundation - 1632.
Cossack Peter Beketov the founder of Yakutsk.
Cossack Beketov is looking at his doing.
Lenin is greeting visitors to Yakutsk.
The statue of Platon Oiyunsky - a famous Yakut writer, poet, revolutionary and public figure in 1920-30s.
The famous Russian explorer Semen Dezhnev and his family.
The Yakutsk Seminary.
The 1845 Transfiguration Cathedral. Restored in 2001.
The 1852 St.Nicholas Church.
Replica of old Yakutsk.
Truly old Yakutsk.
The central department store in September 2012.
In March 2020.
The Muus Haiya restaurant. The right place to taste the national cuisine.
The Azimuth Hotel.
The opera and ballet theatre.
The statue of Alexei Kulakovsky - a famous Yakut writer and poet.
The WWII memorial in the Victory Square.
Streetscapes of Yakutsk.
The Yakutsk Circus.
The old barber shop.
The bust of Ivan Kraft the governor of Yakutia in 1907-13.
The bust of Alexander Pushkin the most famous Russian poet.
The permafrost research institute. Visitors are welcome to go underground to see permafrost from inside.
Besides the permafrost institute in Yakutsk there is an underground permafrost gallery named The Permafrost Kingdom. Several colorfully illuminated tunnels cut through permafrost with ice sculptures and traditional Yakut music. Freezing temperatures all the year round. Therefore, have a warm jacket and a hat even in summer.
The avid traveler Harris Legome from the USA enjoys his stay in the permafrost kingdom.
A short video of the Permafrost Kingdom with a piece of Yakut music.
Foreign tourists like to visit the Peasant Market to see and to picture frozen fish and rabbits.
Venison is 7 USD/kg. Foal 8 is USD/kg.
Rabbits are 20 USD a piece.
The Yakutsk river port stays frozen 7 months a year.
The view of Yakutsk from the nearby hills.
Yakutsk is located on the left bank of the Lena River. The road from the mainland runs along the right bank. Therefore, to get to Yakutsk by car in warm season travelers take a ferry. In cold season the Lena is crossed by ice road.
Rodny Russ the founder of The Heritage Expedition is making notes in his diary while waiting for a ferry.
The ice road across Lena.
lena pillars – ленские столбы
Yakutia’s top natural attraction is the Lena Pillars – peculiar rock formations located 200 km south of Yakutsk along the Lena River. Jagged spires and picturesquely crumbling fronts look like ancient ruins. A traveler can reach the Pillars by car only in winter by the frozen Lena River. In summer, access is by boat only. On July 6, 2012 the Lena Pillars Nature Park was inscribed on the World Heritage List. As of March 2020, a small entrance fee of 300 rubles is to be paid in order to be allowed to walk a trail up the Pillars and to enjoy an aerial view of the Lena River. A walk takes about and hour.
Views while walking the trail.
Views from the top.
Gina Morello Mitchell from Texas, USA has just reached the top of the Lena Pillars.
Avid travelers Arno Bader (Germany), Maryam Sultan Abdullah (Kuwait), Grzegorz Sadowski (Poland), Michael Runkel (Germany), Carolin Rasch (Germany), Gina Morello Mitchell (USA) on the observation site on top of the Lena Pillars.
In winter Pillars can be white ...
... semi-white ...
... or not white at all.
Views from the opposite side of the river.
The ice road on the Lena can be a bit wet.
In summer the access to Lena Pillars is by boat.
