Travel Plan: Vanavara, Siberia: The Heart of the Tangushka Mystery Event

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(Vanavara town. Image source: Traveling Dunia)


Hi Traveller!

You are fascinated by remote and isolated destinations and not the type to shy away from the hardships of exploring distant terrains and cultures. This is the first travel note for you, in a series of travel plans you will surely want to read before you go off that beaten track. 


A Trip to Vanavara


Vanavara is the nearest human habitation to what was known as the Tunguska event. Now, what was the Tunguska event? Know your history or google it up. 


The incident happened in 1908. A meteor fell into the Taiga and burned and flattened a little above 2000 square kilometres of the spruces and birches growing there. This was the largest recorded meteor impact in history. And there are a hundred and some conspiracy theories about the event, a few even claiming that the explosion was supernatural. 


In the Subarctic climate of Vanavara, everything is white when it is winter. This place is home to the Evenk people, the reindeer herders, hunters and fishermen. Yet, Vanavara is known to the world because of the Tunguska event.  


The Taiga is a fascinating place. There is fur, and there is fish there. And there are reindeer and reindeer milk. There are Shamans and their spirit talk. You have much more to see here than thousands of square kilometres of charred trees. 


This is a culture, unique and remote. The ice-covered forests offer an ethereal experience.  


How to Reach Vanavara


Vanavara is a small town in the Evenkysky district in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Federal Subject of Russia.  


The first flight to take is to Moscow and reach the Sheremetyevo Alexander S. Pushkin International Airport. From there, you can fly to Krasnoyarsk Yemelyanovo Airport. The flight takes 4 hours and 20 minutes and covers 3323 kilometres. 


You can visit the Paraskeva Pyatnitsa Chapel and the Ethnographical Museum in Krasnoyarsk. 

From Krasnoyarsk Yemelyanovo Airport, Azur Air, KrasAvia, and NordStar have been operating flights to Vanavara. The flight distance is 740 kilometres. It takes 2 hours and 10 minutes to reach Vanavara.  


Remember, Russia is the largest country on Earth, with an area of 17 million square kilometres across two continents- Europe and Asia. 



The Tunguska event. Image source- spaceopedia.com


What You Want to See and Experience in Vanavara


The top destination in Vanavara is the forest where the Tunguska event happened. The meteor impact levelled 80 million trees. The impact occurred on the Podkamennaya Tunguska River Basin. 

Early in the morning, around 7 am, on the day of impact, the villagers saw a blue light moving fast in the sky and an intense flash accompanied by the sounds of an explosion. The night sky was lit up in many parts of Asia, Europe, and North America and remained so for many days after the event. 


The location of impact was so remote that only after ten years could a scientific team visit the site to study it. Leonid Kulik led the study team. There is a street in Vanavara named after Kulik. There is another street named Meteoritnaya. 


At the point of impact, the scientists could not find any crater formed. This intrigued the world for a long time. Later, it was concluded that the meteor might have exploded mid-air. No meteor particles were found at the explosion's epicentre.


The fallen trees formed a circular patch extending over more than 800 miles. 


Visiting Tunguska Event Spot


Tourists can visit this place by reaching the Tunguska Nature Reserve by boat or helicopter. A road leads to the Reserve, but it is difficult for vehicles to navigate. If you walk, it is 60 kilometres from Vanavara to the explosion epicentre. The trekking will take 2-3 days through the Taiga. You can take a boat only if the rivers are not frozen. 


May to September is the best time to visit. During this period, the weather clears to make this trip possible. The Directorate of Tunguska Nature Reserve is in Vanavara, and one must get permission from the director first. The Nature Reserve was established in 1995, decades after the Tunguska event. In the Director’s office, you can also talk to the scientists stationed there. 


The office can be contacted by phone (+8 3912-560952) and email (tunzap@vanavara.ru). There is a website, vanavara.ru, listed on the Internet for more details, but it is dysfunctional. The exact point of impact is 200 kilometres flying distance from Vanavara. Lake Cheko, near the impact point, is a scenic lake worth a visit on this trip.


The tour operator, Siberia Sayan Ring, runs a guided tour of 6 days and 5 nights to visit the epicentre of the Tunguska event. The tour begins at Krasnoyarsk. 

The helicopter ride from Vanavara to the epicentre stops in Pristan, where a hut built by Leonid Kulik is open to visitors. Here, the tourists are also taken to visit the traditional Evenk huts- the chums built with Birchwood and the tree's skin. 

While trekking to the epicentre on day 3, the tourists can visit the Churgimsky waterfall and swim in its bottom lake. After hiking a few more kilometres, you reach the ‘telegraph forest’, the burnt forest where only the tree trunks stand. One can also visit John's Stone, a huge boulder weighing 10 tons, and the Suslov Funnel, a swamp where the meteor pieces are supposed to have fallen and sunk.  


Climate


Vanavara has a subarctic climate. The average temperature in winter is -29°C, and the maximum summer temperature averages 18°C. The village and the surrounding forests are a part of the Taiga and have long, harsh winters. 



 (The Evenk people. Image source: Traveling Dunia)


Where to Stay


Vanavara has a population of about 3000 people. There are shops and hotels there where you can get accommodation. 


There are many indigenous tribes living in Vanavara. Each tribe has a shaman who speaks to the spirits and reports to his/her people what the spirits are saying. The shamans also heal people of diseases. It will be worth one's time to visit a shaman and attend the ritual of speaking to the spirits. 


The Evenk villagers are known for their hospitality. There is an Evenk word, ‘Andam’, which means share what you hold dear with others. It is believed the name Vanavara evolved from this word. 


What Else to See


There is an Evenk Museum in Vanavara. The museum displays many important pictures and documents about the Tunguska event and the local culture. There are also many stuffed animals of the Taiga on display. 


The Evenks have only two livelihoods- hunting and reindeer herding. Each Evenk clan keeps a communal fire unextinguished. You can spend a day or two with the reindeer herders to learn their interesting way of life. You can also watch them trimming off the reindeer horns and collecting the pieces to export to China, where they are used in traditional medicine. 

The Evenks are animists. They believe every tree and everything in Nature has a soul, and the spirits live in them. The Evenks sometimes identify a sacred reindeer from among the herd and tie special ribbons around its neck. This reindeer gets special treatment and is allowed to enter the house. They believe their ancestors' spirits reside inside this reindeer.     


(Reindeer herder. Image source: Traveling Dunia)

In the centre of Vanavara city, there is a Tunguska monument. In summer, water tours and hiking trips are arranged for tourists. 


Inside the Tunguska Reserve, wooden houses are available for rent. These houses are called Izbushkas. 


Things to Note


Every consumer item available in Vanavara is airlifted except watermelons and lemons cultivated here in the summers. Hence, the prices are quite high. 


For more travel plans to remote and fascinating destinations, visit - https://www.brokenbangles.com/2024/10/magnificent-orthodox-churches-russia.html

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