Hi Kiwi

These days, in summer, the highway between Yakutsk (or rather Nizhny Bestyakh, on the right bank of the Lena) is not the great adventure that is once must have been. The highway is well levelled, widened and graded with good bridges; it's about as good as an unpaved highway can be. There are fairly regular fuel stations and a bit of traffic. There are no water crossings.

March would be perhaps the best time in the whole year to make the trip; you will see the road in winter, when I would say it is at it's most beautiful and will add an extra dimension to your trans-Russia trip. I think the temperature would be around -25 which should pose no problem for a well-maintained Japanese car, though make sure your battery, radiator hoses and engine belts are in good condition. You should bring warm clothes; the temperature is not so low (-25 when sunny and still is lovely), but if there is wind you can still easily get frostnip. There is plenty of traffic on the highway between Yakutsk and Ust-Nera and between Susuman and Magadan. Between Ust-Nera and Susuman there is less traffic, but it's by no means deserted. Driving in the warmer winter months (e.g. November, March) is safer than in summer as there is no dust; a contributing factor to many accidents.

I think RUB 1000 to 1500 per head is a rough price for accommodation in basic hotels there, though I have no idea whether they would charge the kids.

The one piece of kit which I valued most on my winter trip (after the car) was my Eberspacher cabin heater; I found that below -10 it helped keep the interior nice and warm (and the windows ice-free), and below -40 it stopped the interior getting too cold. A second windscreen stuck onto the windscreen meant I never had to de-ice or blow hot air onto the windscreen to keep it clear.

EO

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EurasiaOverland a memoir of one quarter of a million kilometres by road through all of the Former USSR, Western and Southern Asia.