Ust-Nera | Russia Travel Guide
Ust-Nera
Introduction
What's the weather like?
How do I get there?
What to do in Ust-Nera
Introduction
Ust-Nera is a tiny town in Yakutia (now known as the Sakha Republic) about halfway along the infamous Kolyma Highway, the Road of Bones, between Magadan and Yakutsk.
A very simple and very run-down place which, typical of northern Russian settlements, is either buried in snow and frozen to the core, or beset by swarms of mosquitoes!
Don’t let that put you off though, there are reasons to come here and things to do when here as well!
Ust-Nera is not a place many people would go to just for fun, it is a very harsh area indeed and there are limited reasons to find yourself here.
Most of the population are engaged in gold mining as that is the main industry of the region.
However, the town itself clearly has not benefitted from any great gold rush, being semi-derelict as it is and the population is less than half of what it was at its peak.
Streets in summer are clogged with mud and rutted with potholes, in winter they are all iced over and thus easier to pass (although slippery indeed!)
Founded in 1938, an inauspicious year, the original ‘settlers’ were victims of the repressions of the Great Terror, (gulag prisoners basically).
The city gets its name from being on the Nera River, although the larger Indigirka is the river that runs past one end of town and is a more notable geological marker.
Dudinka has very little to see and do but the chances are that if you find yourself here you are on the way from one place to another;
Or so hopelessly lost that you really don’t know what you’re doing at all!
Set between the Road of Bones and the Indigirka River the city is also ringed with precipitous mountains.
As a result, the area can be covered in mist and fog for much of the time.
When the skies clear though, the jagged tops fo the surrounding mountains look like something from the cover of a fantasy novel.
Spikes line the ridges like the spine of some imaginary beast, or the teeth of something massive and legendary that died from being sent to this remote and hostile place.
Visitors to Ust-Nera should note that there is basically no internet here.
Almost no signal can ever be gained from any of the Russian cellular providers, and going around asking for Wi-Fi would get some funny looks.
One may think this could lead the locals into a purer age of conversation, literature, and music, but if you walk the streets you can find a lot of people milling around with glazed eyes, driving too fast, and doing not a great deal in public.
They must leave the high-culture for indoors life we assume.
What's the weather like?
Awful.
In winter it is covered with snow and frozen over completely, and winter here is very long indeed.
Ust-Nera is just a few hundred km from both Oymyakon and Tomtor;
Both are claimants to being the coldest inhabited places on earth!
In summer the ice thaws and melts and damages the roads all over the place.
It can be hot, clear, and sunny then, surprisingly beautiful in fact (as long as you find some beauty in dereliction of course!)
How do I get there?
FLIGHT
What keeps this place alive and semi-viable is the fact that it has a very small airport.
Flights from here go to Magadan, Yakutia, and some other settlements too.
Delays are common due to the incipient mist and fog but this handy airport does make a trip to here by car from Yakutsk or Magadan possible in a day or two.
Then you can fly on for the second half of the Road of Bones.
The Airport itself is a single building, with a half-ruined plane parked outside
(not a great omen, look away if you hate flying!)
The only planes that use the runway are propeller ones, it is not big enough for anything larger.
No shops, cafes, or anything is here.
It is a proper local Russian airport, not Heathrow.
TRAIN
Nope, none.
BOAT
The Indigirka River is a large one, over 1700 km long, and Ust-Nera is the largest settlement on its banks.
However due to being frozen for most of the year and fast flowing for the rest of the time, it is not viable for passenger navigation, so traffic is limited to some fishermen only.
Fishing is the main industry here outside of gold mining and processing.
CAR
Zero roads link Dudinka with the rest of Russia.
Residents call anywhere outside of this area “the mainland” for this very reason.
All cars are imported by ship.
If you are in Dudinka and have a car you can get to Norilsk, Talnakh, and other surrounding villages, but not into the mainland of Mother Russia
What to do in Ust-Nera
There really isn't very much to do at all, but you are likely to be just passing through.
However, making the most of any destination is always recommended so be sure to get out there on foot (the town is very small) and tick off the following sites:
Dubious Lenin Statue
Ust-Nera’s main street is predictably called Ulitsa Lenina, it runs from the junction for the Kolyma Highway to the Victory monument at the riverside.
About 200m from the end, next to a small Orthodox Church, is a children’s playground with a small statue of Lenin standing in a bush.
It was built to look at if he has his hand in his pocket while gazing a playground it is a highly odd place to put such a monument and of course offers the chance at some juvenile comments.
But, when In Russia you need to see the local Lenin of course.
Victory Monuments
At the river-end of Lenin Street is a War memorial, made up of the usual tower, tanks, and various names of local folks who went west and never returned.
It's rather well done and well-kept too (the fact that it is next to a small military base is probably the reason for this).
Great views of the river and mountains around (mist-permitting) can be found here too
Accommodation
Just one place here, so not really an ‘option’ at all, the Hotel Solnechnaya is a very basic place with a small number of rooms.
Each has en suite but if you want a hot shower then you need to line up for the one that works.
The Hotel is on the top floor of a 3 storey building that also houses a few offices and shops as well as the only place to buy Ust-Nera souvenirs on the ground floor.
A good selection considering how small the town is; magnets, t-shirts, shot glasses, etc can all be found here.
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