RUST magazine: Rust#15

Late in the afternoon things lightened up with a visit to an
ice cave which illustrated for us permafrost underground. It’s
so cold that their sculptures of ice need no refrigeration for
preservation. Before preparing our bikes for the next day and
continuing our journey along the Old Road we had one last
tourist item to complete – a ride in a Russian military tracked
vehicle over what seems impossible bogs and terrain.
We left Tomtor heading west 156 kilometres to join up with
the New Road and the federal highway which eventually
reaches Yakutsk. We thought the Old Road challenges were
behind us given this section of the road was supposedly
maintained as the access to Tomtor. It wasn’t that simple.
Rivers still scoured across the road, some still very deep from
overnight rain and the sun wasn’t forthcoming for warmth.
There was slippery mud – a change from the stone and gravel
– and a couple of offs were inevitable. As we were about to
join the federal highway we were halted by a very wide and
fast flowing river. Locals were waiting both sides in their
Buhankas waiting for a tow through or for the level to subside.
We had been fortunate to cross all the rivers so far, which was
a good effort considering the recent rain, but this last river was
wide and continuously deep, well above air intake height.
Even the big Kamaz looked doubtful getting across with the
water covering its huge wheels.
Murphykov’s law
We had now completed the Old Road, the original Road of
Bones. For all the bike riders this was what the trip had been
all about. In that sense it seemed the rest would be a walk in
the park. All that remained for us was to follow the federal