Pictures From The Road Of Bones

You’ve likely experienced some pretty bad roads in your days of driving, but that’s nothing compared to some of the roads in Russia and east Asia – particularly one that connects north and southern siberia. Dark Roasted Blend gives us a visual tour of the Russian-Siberian road to Yakutsk (as well as some other bad roads and trails).

The absolute worst of the bunch, however, is the Road Of Bones, which is a rough mud road that turns into soup when the rainy season hits, trapping miles of cars and their passengers.

This ‘road’ is a 2000 mile stretch which connects Yakutsk to Magadan, and is notoriously bad. It was built by political prisoners under Stalin’s rule, who were often imprisoned at gulags. Many of these people died trying to construct the road, and their bones became a part of the fixture.

The road is in a state of disrepair and is untraversable by standard road vehicles because of washed-out bridges and sections of road reclaimed by streams. During winter, frozen water actually helps river crossings.

Incidentally, the Ewan McGregor produced short series “Long Way Round” featured Ewan and his buddy Charlie trying to traverse the Road Of Bones on their motorcycles.