(Photo: Martin Hertel) Impressions from flight Moscow -YakutskFriday, 5th of July 2013

 

We will set up our site this summer after working on this project for nearly one and a half year. To be well prepared for such a remote area with harsh climate conditions, it took quite some time but almost all the fundamental work has been done when we started to Cherskiy.

 

The departure was scheduled on the 20th of June at first, so everyone was ready for the trip. Four days before the start, we were informed that our boxes would not arrive on time, so we shifted our trip by one week.

 

Before the 20th, we were so prepared physically and emotionally, but on the real start day, we were not very excited or could not feel anything special. We started our trip on the 26th of June in Berlin, flew to Moscow, to Yakutsk and to Cherskiy. The flight itself was almost 13 hours but the great nature outside the window never made us too exhausted. Thanks to the polar night we didn´t have any restrictions on sunlight and could see everything even if the flight was over night.

 

(Photo: Martin Hertel) Impressions from flight Yakutsk-Cherskiy. Fanny was especially fascinated by the huge rivers because she could really tell which river she was flying over. Min was sleepy most of the time, and hardly looked through the window because she was sitting in the aisle – it could be good sometimes, but not for this trip.

The station where we are staying is amazingly nice. Our "home" right now is an old radar station with a huge antenna on the roof, which was used for receiving TV signal before.

 

It was transformed for accommodating researchers all over the world, and we can also exchange our techniques and knowledge with others. The facilities are also very nice. For example, we have a huge kitchen which can be also used for meeting, having meals, and spending some time with others.

 

Hot water is running for 24 hours, and the Internet and electricity are also available all the time, which is fascinating in such a remote area. So it is not very different from the life we have in Germany. Some may say it is even better because we have a cook and get 3 meals a day, at 9 am, 2 pm and 9 pm.

(Photo: Fanny Kittler) Our new home, the old radar station. The only negative thing we found so far is that all our boxes with all the equipment we are planning to install are still on the way.

 

It is a little bit frustrating right now because we were very motivated to start our field work but without our boxes we have to wait until they come and change our plans completely.

 

But we are staying positive and trying to find out what we can do before they arrive. Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

 

 

Written by Fanny and Min