YDT3. Yakutia – Country  of  Diamonds

 

This is a review tour to get acquainted with main features of Yakutia without long tiresome drives and field overnights.  During stay in Yakutsk – the capital of the republic, you visit city museums as well as go to full day country excursions to see traditional lifestyles of the Yakutian aborigine peoples: the Yakuts, the Evenks and the Evens.

2-days boat cruise along the Lena River deeps you into Yakutian wild nature. You reach the Lenskie Stolby (Lena Pillars) - a masterpiece shaped by water, heat and cold. The Lenskie Stolby National Natural Park is a habitat for many rare animals and plants. It is a place where the remains of mammoth, bison and other fossil animals are still found.

Yakutia is one of rare areas on the Earth, where diamonds are mined. After visiting the Treasury and the diamond lapidary works in Yakutsk you fly to Mirny – the capital of diamond industry to see a huge diamond pipe and to get acquainted with mining and processing diamonds.

Type: Discovery
Tour duration: 10 days
Season: June - September
Recommended Group Size: 8 – 16
Mode of Travel: bus, cruise ship, airplane, on foot

Itinerary:

Day 1 (WED). Arrival in Yakutsk. Transfer to hotel “Lena”. Accommodation. Rest till noon. City tour of Yakutsk. Museum of Local Lore. Museum of Mammoth. Dinner with Yakut national cuisine. Overnight in hotel. (B, D)

Day 2. Full day bus excursion to the Evenk ethnographic complex “Bakaldyn”. Acquaintance with lifestyle and traditions of the Evenk reindeer herders. Lunch with elements of Evenk national cuisine. Return to hotel. (B, L)

Day 3 (FRI). Exhibition “Treasury of Yakutia”. Excursion to the Institute of Permafrost. Excursion to the “Diamond Park” cultural and ethnographic complex for acquaintance with culture of aborigines: the Yakuts and the Evens. Embarkation on a cruise ship (18:00) for a cruise along the Lena River to Lenskiye Stolby (Lena Pillars). Departure. (B, L, D)

Day 4. In the cruise. Disembarkation in Lenskiye Stolby area for ascending and walks around. Continuation of the cruise. (B, L, D)

Day 5. Return to Yakutsk. Disembarkation (19:00). Accommodation in hotel “Lena”. (B, L)

Day 6. Full day bus excursion to the “Druzhba” (“Friendship”) historical and architectural complex in Sottintsy settlement with stopovers in Uus Khatyn (place for celebrating the annual national holiday (“Ysyekh”), Tulagino (national Yakut village), Kangalassy (settlement of miners) and crossing the Lena River by ferry. Return to Yakutsk. Overnight in hotel. (B, L)

Day 7 (TUE). Excursion to the diamond lapidary works. Air flight (YM540 17:40) to Mirny – the capital of diamond industry. Accommodation in hotel “Zarnitsa”. (B)

Day 8. City tour of Mirny with visits to Museum of Local Lore and Historical Museum of Alrosa diamond mining company. Kimberlite Museum. Visits to the Mir diamond pipe. Acquaintance with mining and processing diamonds. Overnight in hotel. (B)

Day 9. Full day bus excursion through tundra and taiga to the Viluyskaya hydro electric power station – the unique construction on permafrost. Return to Mirny. Overnight in hotel. (B)

Day 10 (FRI). Departure from Mirny. (B)

Tour highlights:

  • Ethnography complexes Bakaldyn, Diamond Park, Druzhba
  • Lenskiye Stolby (Lena Pillars) National Natural Park
  • Mirny Diamond Pipe and Museums
  • Yakytsk museums of Local Lore, Mammoth, Permafrost, Treasury

Costs for individual tourists - on request

Included:

  • DBL accommodation
  • meals according to itinerary
  • excursions per program with entrance fees
  • air tickets Yakutsk – Mirny
  • all transfers incl. arr/depart
  • local guides/interpreters
  • subsidiary crew when needed

Not included:

  • air tickets to Yakutsk and from Mirny (available for extra fee)
  • international air tickets
  • insurance
  • visa
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