Pole of Cold

Sometime ago, I remember watching this segment on 60 minutes and it was about the Pole of Cold. I have never heard of the Pole of Cold prior to watching this segment although I have heard of its location.

Wondering where the Pole of Cold is located?It is located in the Sakha republic better known as Yakutia in Eastern Siberia. The Sakha republic is about the size of India. Most of the residents in the Sakha republic are either Yakut or Russian. I will tell you some facts about the local Yakut people before going on any further. The Yakut people are likely to come from a mixture of Turkic tribes from the Altay mountains, people from Eastern Siberia and people from Lake Baikal. Traditionally, Northern Yakuts are well known for being reindeer breeders, fisherman and semi-nomadic hunters whereas Southern Yakuts are known for raising cattle and horses as well as engaging in animal husbandry. The traditional language of Yakuts is a Turkic language which belongs to the Altaic language family.

Back to the topic of the Pole of Cold. Not all areas of the Sakha republic are considered to be the Pole of Cold. It is mainly two villages which are Oymyakon and Verkhoyansk. These villages compete with one another for the title of the Northern Hemisphere's coldest place. According to the segment, if the temperature is above -55 degrees celcius, then the day will be good. If the temperature is -55 degrees or below, then it is considered too risky to leave the house as the risk of frostbites increase.

It would be an interesting experience to visit here someday but the journey sounds incredibly difficult. It takes about a couple of days drive on the Road of Bones to get to Oymyakon, one of the Pole of Cold villages. The Road of Bones was constructed by the gulags during the time of Stalin. Many slaves perished during the construction. The road goes from Yakutsk in the west to Magadan in the East. The cold would probably make the journey even more challenging and longer I'd imagine than it should be. However, I do not know much about the infrastructure of the road. If I ever go there, I'll find it out then.

I'd love to post some videos about Yakut culture and travel on here but it would be wiser if I had the video owner's permission before doing so. In the mean time, if you want to find out more about Yakut culture and travel then maybe these websites would be a good start.

http://yakutiatravel.com/en/the-pole-of-cold/pole-of-cold-expedition-oymyakon.html

http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/ethnoatlas/hmar/cult_dir/culture.7883

That is all for now. Hope you are all having a great day. Until next time.

Laura xx