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| Siberia's Mighty Lena River |
Dine on Yakutian-style barbeque, visit with Russian families, relax in Russian saunas and steam houses, take in superlative views of Lake Baikal and shop at an open air market while you travel with us through Russia by land and water.
Travel aboard a spotless Russian merchant marine vessel on the Lena River. Over 2,600 miles long, the Lena is one of the world's major rivers, the longest in Siberia, draining an area greater than the combined territories of Britain, Italy, and Japan. With a delta that is 250 miles across, the Lena River is 30 km wide at its mouth, where it empties into the Arctic Ocean via the Laptev Sea at approximately 73 degrees North Latitude.
Since opening to foreigners in 1990, visitors to Siberia have the opportunity to witness the result of generations of a closed society. Many buildings remain stark externally and in disrepair, their purpose being purely functional. The starkness of the building exteriors, however, is belied by the warmth of the interiors and the people. In part due to the predominance of intellectuals who were exiled in the gulag system, the people are very well educated and artistic. They are also resilient, as demonstrated by their current efforts to create a new society under economic constraints that would devastate lesser personalities.
The tour begins in Moscow, the icon Capital city of Russia's west, and then on to the extreme remoteness, solitude, and independence of Siberia.. From Moscow, you will fly to the city of Yakutsk, the capital of the Russian Republic of Yakutia (Siberia). A city of approximately 300,000 people, Yakutsk is a major seaport on the Lena River. The population of Yakutsk is 30 percent native Yakut, however, the ratio of native to non-native or "white" Russian, increases as one travels away from the city and encounters a nomadic culture oriented to reindeer herding on the vast tundra. First established in 1632 by Cossack explorers, in 1932 this city became a place of exile for three generations of Russian revolutionaries and intellectuals, including Decemberists and Bolsheviks. Because of its remote location and extremely hard climatic conditions, it was known as the "prison without bars."
An unforgettable cultural journey awaits you.
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