If we put in any internet search engine «which are the most unusual destinations to travel», without a doubt, Oimiakón would be among them. The reason is very simple: it is the coldest habitable town on the entire planet, and I have my serious doubts about "habitable". I could not!
This town has been featured on the news several times, not because of cases of violence (which I don't really know about), but because it is the town that reaches the lowest temperatures on the entire planet. And the thing is that just thinking about it is making me colder. If you want to know a little more about this unusual place and know how the people who inhabit this town live, if they do,, keep reading a little more with us.
At -50 degrees
If the question is: Can you live at -50 degrees? The answer is yes, but it depends. It depends because it is living with great difficulty ... Oimiakón, is a town located in the Northeast Republic of Sakha, in eastern Siberia (Russia). It is also located next to Indigirka RiverPerhaps this fact makes it even colder if possible.
This town was in the news on one occasion for reaching the unusual temperature of -71,2 degrees ... And if it was only a day or a short season then great, but no, there winter lasts no more and no less than 9 long months.
Some data The ones that the people who inhabit that place have to deal with are:
- The gasoline in the car's tank freezes if the engine is turned offIt is for this reason that either those who remain on the street or park in heated garages do not stop.
- Fish freeze in just one minute, just like milk, water and almost any liquid ... So it hardly needs a freezer. These foods are usually stored in the basement of the houses, which remain cool enough to preserve these products.
- The animals survive as long as stay in stables During the night and dogs usually have a thicker and oily coat of fur that allows them to ward off the cold.
- Can't use pens because the ink solidifies; therefore, the normal graphite pencil is the one used for painting or writing.
I do not personally know anyone who has been there but we have the experience of the photographer Amos Chapple, who resides in New Zealand, and who told the Weather page about his experience on such a site:
“He was wearing thin pants the first time we went outside, at -47 ° C (-52 ° F). I remember feeling how the cold physically clung to my legs, the other surprise was that sometimes my saliva froze to needles that pricked my lips.
The worst thing about this place for this photographer was not to feel the cold on his skin but it was practically impossible for him to carry out his work in conditions since the zoom and focus of his camera was blocked, thus preventing him from taking all the shots and photographs required. Of him are some of the photos that we attach in this article. He also tells that the only fact of breathing became almost unbearable when the cold was so intense, that they were like
In spite of everything, it is said and believed that it is there in that town where there is one of the lowest mortality rates and where people live a greater number of years than the rest, due to this particular cold. Is it true then that the cold conserves while the heat deteriorates?
What do we find of interest in the coldest inhabited town on the planet?
There are few things of interest that you will find, if you are adventurous and risky and decide to visit it:
- Runway from World War II.
- Un only hotel with 10 rooms and with hot water in all of them (the inhabitants of the town do not have hot water in their houses).
- Milk factory which closes from October to March.
- Una school.
So is it worth traveling to such a place to feel the most icy and polar cold that you will ever exist in your whole life just to see these little things? I better choose another destination ...