One Day with ancient Evenk civilization

Tours to the disappearing civilization: northern Ust-Urkima will show tourists the life of Evenks and herds of deer
“We have three hundred people living in our village, but such silence! You go out to the shore of Nyukzhi, look at the endless expanses and… you don’t hear anything. There is only one nature around, and taiga smells! ” -the head Veronika Drai tells about life in her native Evenki village of Ust-Urkima. A tiny settlement in the Tynda district will soon become the center of attraction for tourists who dream of wild nature. Several tourist routes will run through Ust-Urkima, rafting, fishing, hunting, climbing Mount Lukinda, picking berries and mushrooms, national food cooked on a campfire, Evenk souvenirs, reindeer and much more are waiting for travelers.
The north of the Amur region is an ideal place for the now fashionable “digital detox”. Travelers will get here a rare opportunity for a modern person to break away from civilization and listen to the ringing silence of the north, seasoned with views of the pristine taiga and its intoxicating pine smell.
The entire tourism industry of Ust-Urkima is now starting from scratch.
Many people have not heard silence for a very long time. There are sounds all around us in the city all the time. Psychologists say that the stress level of a modern person is very high. Silence is one of the ways to reach out to yourself, to find new ground under your feet. And for this you do not need to have any special knowledge and sit in the lotus position, you just need to come to the taiga. There is everything there: water, forest, comfort and silence.
It’s an incredible feeling when you stroke a deer! And what kind of taiga smells there, the same marsh bagulnik, are directly intoxicating. And what a starry sky! You get an unforgettable experience from a trip from Ust-Urkima to the winter quarters of Sivagli on an all-terrain vehicle! All this is very interesting. This is remembered, this is then not enough in the city. Such trips as retreats give an opportunity to understand yourself, to find out what you are capable of, how you adapt, what you can experience, and even have fun in these conditions.

“This is not a fake”
One of the main features of tourist routes in the Ust-Urkima area is communication with the Evenks, who have been leading a nomadic lifestyle in the taiga for many years. The most beautiful “flowers” of white yagel, deer wandering at arm’s length, a steaming somnin made of moss that protects from midges, a fire with a boiling pot. All these are “frames” of the everyday life of real Evenks.
Tourists will be able to get acquainted with the life of the Evenks, see their way of life, communicate, plunge into this environment and, if they are ready, even spend the night with reindeer herders. This is not all fake, people really live like this.
It’s not like the Indians in America-they came, danced, then changed their clothes and went to their homes. Everything is real here. Alexander and Margarita Makarov have no plans to build housing in the village, they have been nomadic, are nomadic and will continue to be nomadic. These people live at the expense of the deer — and in Ust-Urkim, too. There are real tribal communities there. In fact, it is a disappearing civilization, like the Sumerians once were.
You can get here in winter by car, and in summer – by a giant all-terrain vehicle that amazes the imagination of a citizen.
In the winter quarters, travelers will stay in an unusual house. From the outside, a log hut with deer antlers at the entrance looks quite familiar, but inside it is surprising that it is built on the principle of a yurt — the walls seem to go in a circle. Along them there are cots for guests, in the middle there is a stove, there is a red corner with icons..
The purest water from the Nyukzhi River is drunk by scooping up handfuls and saucepans.
Tourists can come to Sivagli at any time of the year, and from here they can go on a variety of trips. It all depends on your preferences — someone will like rafting on the Nyukzhe River, summer and ice fishing, someone will like climbing the Lukinda with a height of about 1 thousand 600 meters. And someone will be more interested in master classes from local craftswomen who will show how to make Evenki souvenirs. You can also organize a photo tour by coming to the taiga with a professional photographer and taking pictures against the backdrop of impressive nature.
In Ust-Urkim, you can try on national Evenk costumes and take photos in them against the background of the pristine taiga.
Food for tourists assumes a national Evenk flavor. Wild meat, fish, berries, seasonal mushrooms. One of the most popular dishes is pike soup. The trick of taiga food is that it is cooked on a fire.

Not far from Sivagli there are picturesque rocks, which can be reached by boat on the Nyukzhe. Those who like not only to admire the mountains, but also to climb them need to go to Lukinda. There is a version that this mountain is an extinct volcano mouth.

During the trip to Ust-Urkima, you will find: a trip on an off-road MTLB, a trip on a motor boat along the Nyukzha River to the Sivagli base belonging to one of the ancestral communities, a lunch of national Evenk dishes cooked on a campfire, a tasting of “gifts of the taiga”, a boat trip to the reindeer herders ‘ winter quarters, a meeting with reindeer herders, an acquaintance with everyday life, a professional photo shoot, an overnight stay at the Sivagli base in wooden houses, fishing on spinning: pike, lenok, grayling, photographing on the rocks, Russian bath, national games, a festive national dinner.

Location : Amur Region