We have a nine a.m. appointment with Valerij, to prepare the snow-mobiles and load them with the luggage, instruments and supplies. The ride to Kytalyk lasts 2h 35 min covering just 37 km travelling north wards trajectory. We are a long convoy of 6 snow mobiles, sometimes snaking along the same path, at other times heading straight in parallel, rides over the sea-like tundra and its rapidly changing snow waves: sometimes iced and crispy, sometimes small and floury, others higher and curved like rolling waves.

 

Arriving in Kytalyk the first task is devoted to set up the camp including rearranging the space in our storage container in order to store our food supply for our next summer campaign. Then we attempt to free the large wind generator base, which is to be moved to a new site, from the permafrost which is still firmly frozen in place.

 

We soon realized it is not an easy task. Perhaps the new steam drill could be of some help. After the locals from Chokurdakh left us we begin the important tasks of arranged our personal luggage and sleeping bags inside the house, which is usually used as a kitchen in summer.

 

A "Buran" snowmobile is left so we can use it to transport equipment but when it is needed to transport wood to our accommodation it will not start, despite the numerous attempts by Roman to fix it. Therefore a new experience, and the last one of the day, me towing the sleigh loaded with wood and supplies from the container to the house, together with my colleagues, in a horse-like style.

 

Finally I chopped some wood and piled it against the wall close to the entrance door. My studies in forest sciences turn to be always useful.

 

 

 

 

 

Luca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaving Moscow behind we fly over the taiga, across the Urals and the west Siberian lowland where the river Ob and its tributaries draw sinuous lines in the ice. As we fly further east reaching night, the full moon lights up the Siberian landscape, still perfectly crystallized by winter frost.

 

The light is magnificent, the ashen moonlight of the cloudless sky is progressively strengthened by reddish beans of light. Looking northwards the sky becomes a gradient of colours, ranging from purples to oranges, which precedes the sun, just hidden behind the north cap. The scene is a privilege for whomever flies along these high latitude routes and it is difficult to remain indifferent to the scene, even after many trips.

 

Once over the Yenisey, the land is sufficiently lighted so we can clearly distinguish the details of the huge basaltic platform stretching over western Yacutia. The last electric lights of a village and a mining facility, appear like buoys in the middle of the ocean, sliding out of view. Then nothing more, no trace of any dwelled place or human construction, at least judging from a height of 10 km. Only the work of nature is on online casino blog view which began 500 million year ago during the Cambrian period, with a massive volcanic activity followed by years of erosion, creating the geological structure we see today. The particular rock stratification of this region causes the larches forests, the dominant tree species in this extreme climate, to grow in stripes appearing as contour lines of a topographic map.

 

 

Luca

 

 

As my train approached Cologne (Köln) central station, clearly not my scheduled destination of Düsseldorf, my faith in Deutsch Bahn was deeply shaken. At the travel centre a clerk explained, with some embarrassment, the reasons behind the chaos into which the regional train system had plunged this afternoon and I was issued a new ticket at no extra cost.

 

Fortunately I Pay Day Loans had adequate time to correct the Deutsch Bahn error and forty minutes later I arrived in Düsseldorf where I was to meet up with Ko (van Huissteden) and Ron (Lootens). Meeting Ron first we took a short walk along the left bank of the Rhine passing by numerous outdoor seating areas of bars where small crowds sat anticipated the arrival of a warmer spring. Ko joins us later in our hotel.

 

 

Luca