Wonderful last days in far east Russia
What a finale to this amazing journey. On Wednesday evening we finally left Provideniya, sailed out of the harbour and turned left/north. Over dinner we were warned that it would get a little rough from around 9pm when our course would change.
The Khlebnikov’s Captain and First Officers are wonderful – they change course so that we can eat in comfort, speed up when we’re asleep and slow down when we’re awake, change course when whales or other things of interest are sighted. And this was a great example – once dinner was over and people had drifted to the bar, the lounge or their cabins, they changed course and we bounced along the sea heading to our next landings.
The idea was that we would wake early (wake-up call at 5am), grab some fruit or one of the delicious pastries made by Wolfgang every morning, and head down onto the zodiacs and land on the shoreline. After a walk amongst whatever was there, we’d come back for breakfast, move to a new location, and head out there at around 10am.
We awoke on Thursday in a beautiful fjord with magnificent mountains, topped with low cloud and grey skies, no wind and gentle seas. We were in Penkingngey Bay in Chukotka, a recommendation from our Russian Park Rangers, Oxana and Natasha.
As we zodiaced towards the shore I could see what looked like very large cars on the sand and numerous tents – without anyone knowing until we landed, there were 10 or so reindeer herders, local people who come to this place twice a year to “harvest” reindeer – in a sense this is their farm.
Thank goodness for the Muck boots – it was very marshy, with wet areas that needed to be carefully walked through – the shorter you are, the deeper the water! All was well – we were all dry.
Reindeer were up ahead of us & were amazingly unafraid, even coming closer rather than running away – so some good photos despite the low level of light. We then walked back down and were invited into the camp – amazing to see how they live their nomadic lifestyle. I’m not sure who was more surprised – them by us walking around in our bright yellow Quark jackets, or us by the harsh conditions that they embrace.
While we were there one of the trucks had gone up to check on some reindeer in a valley away from the beach. This was no ordinary car – it was amphibious, and at one point was almost swamped by the water in the marshy areas as it crawled out on its Caterpillar-like tracks.
Our crew brought bags of flour, sugar and various staples ashore, including gear left by previous passengers – all was gratefully received, and before long we were back on the ship and heading out to our next landing site, a short sail away.
Breakfast was just underway when Dutch let us know that there were pods of humpback whales to port, on the bow and to starboard – some were breaching. It was breakfast time for them as well! So our breakfast was left to get cold & I raced up one deck to my cabin, changed shoes, grabbed the camera and raced down 2 decks to the outside.
As I was lifting the camera over the edge of the ship, a whale breached in front of me – magnificent! It really is extraordinary to see these huge mammals launch themselves out of the sea. I captured it in my brain, but not on the camera – 3 seconds too late!
There were spouts in all directions, tail slaps, pectoral fin slaps – a joy to watch with each one over in a second or two, and usually not where I was pointing. But it was a feast for our eyes and minds!
After breakfast we arrived at the small town of Yanrakynnot – this little village has around 350 Chukchi people, all are Inuit and speak Russian. We were taken through the village in small groups – children and adults loving the attention and photo taking! One man had been sitting on the steps to his house – a great photo. I showed it to him and then with a big smile he shook my hand, bringing me in closer and giving me a “kiss” from his nose against my cheek! Very special!
The town is well connected to the world via internet and visits (by helicopter) of people providing various services, taking them to Provideniya for supplies and so on. The school is a key focus, and we were the proud audience for a group of children who danced old Inuit dances in traditional costumes.
All too soon it was back to the ship, and we were on our way to Anadyr where the journey was to end on Friday.
At the evening drinks with the Captain, it was fantastic to hear him speak so proudly of where the ship has been (describing all 4 legs around the Arctic) and of course our achievement of the 17th ship (& first passenger ship) in history to take the route we did through the Northwest Passage.
We were briefed on the disembarkation process for Friday & told that there were contingencies in place if the weather did not cooperate. It was then time to finish packing. The next day was to be a long one.
And so on Friday (in Russia), we disembarked (group by group) onto the zodiacs to go across to a spit of land where Russian helicopters were to meet us. The zodiac ride was one of the bumpiest & wettest I’ve ever had. And the helicopter was an MI-8, a larger version of the MI-2’s on the ship.
Larger, noisier and definitely a troop carrier – we were lined up with 11 on each side, facing each other, and once in the air, the only way to travel was with our fingers in our ears. What an experience, fortunately only lasting about 15 mins. Once we landed at the Anadyr airport we quickly cleared customs and passport checks and were on the Miami Air aircraft for the 2.5 hour flight to Anchorage – where it was Thursday.
Our amazing 4 weeks travelling approx 4,000 nautical miles through west Greenland, the Canadian high arctic and through the Northwest Passage had come to an end.
And now as I fly towards Australia, I have time to reflect on all that we’ve seen and done. Stay tuned for the final post for this wonderful journey.