White Nights Camping (2017)

Hi everyone! I’m still alive and well in Siberia, just haven’t had time to update the blog in a while. These pictures are from a boating and camping trip I took almost exactly a year ago with my boyfriend Gavriil; if the weather cooperates we’ll do a similar trip this year.

Starting out from Pokrovsk

We took a bus to Pokrovsk, a town about 70 km south of Yakutsk on the Lena River. The plan was to row back to Tabaga (the river flows south – north),  and camp on one (or two) of the many islands along the way.

Day 1: We got a late start, so the first afternoon we rowed out to some islands still within sight of Pokrovsk, explored around, did some fishing, and set up camp for that night. The weather was hot, and while the sun was out (about 21 out of 24 hours) the mosquitoes weren’t too bad, but for those couple of darkish hours, they were relentless and it did get kind of cold. Gavriil realised that he had forgotten the bag with his extra clothes and the sleeping bags, so we had to make do with what I had. Luckily the night is really short.. and the super long sunset – sunrise was stunning.

Gavriil gave up trying to sleep and went to do some more fishing, and caught a nice one at around 3 a.m. He wrapped it in foil and cooked it right away, so we had a delicious early (4 a.m.) breakfast.

Day 2: We were making good progress, when we saw some menacing storm clouds gather above us. Luckily there was an island in sight, because when the storm hit we had no control over the boat and just had to let the river wash us ashore. Gavriil pointed to some vegetation on the island and said we need to be where those trees are, now! We made a run for it, with the boat, then he quickly pitched the tent in the protected spot where we spent the afternoon waiting out the storm.

To make up for lost time, we took advantage of the abundance of sunlight to row until past midnight, enjoying the sunset as we went. We stopped at islands along the way for breaks; no luck fishing so we went with our back-up plan for food: Russian military rations. These are sold in a lot of shops, and really have enough food for two people for a day. They come complete with everything you need to prepare and eat the food.

Russian army rations

We stopped for the second night on a big island with a lot of vegetation. We quickly set up camp and got into the tent before the dark and mosquitoes descended. After that day’s storm, we didn’t have many dry clothes left, and I think it was the coldest night I’ve ever spent in the four years I’ve been in Yakutia. We finally drifted off to sleep, and 3 or 4 hours later woke up to a hot sunny and clear day.

First glimpse of Tabaga

Fairly early in the day, we spotted the cliffs and towers of Tabaga, our destination. I was relieved, but Gavriil cautioned me that it was actually several hours away. We passed through a big shallow area with a lot of sandbars, and Gavriil did some fishing. After stopping at a nice island for a rest and lunch, we made the final push, which was across a wide stretch of deep open water. After that, we just had to row along the shore until we reached Tabaga beach.

Lunch stop

At the far end of the beach, there’s a small tributary that meets the Lena river. Gavriil usually rows up that to get to Old Tabaga village, where the bus comes to get back to Yakutsk. Unfortunately the water level was super low at this time, so we had to get out sort of often to carry the boat. If I had known better, I would have called a taxi to pick us up at the beach. 🙂

Electrical towers

Tabaga cliffs

Shoreline

Sandbars for miles

All in all, it was a beautiful trip and I look forward to doing it again, and we’ll be a little better prepared (I hope). There were a couple of things that really surprised me:
First, the unpredictability of the water level – we would be going along in what I thought was deep water, and all of a sudden we’d run aground on a sandbar. It’s probably the case with most rivers, I just don’t have a lot of experience with it. The second was that during the three days we were on the river, we only spotted a handful of other people and boats. We weren’t that far from the city, and it was a weekend.. Although it can be scary to know you’re all alone out there, it’s also fun to have the islands all to yourself.