ProloguePrologue
How to prepare for a trip to the Putorana Plateau
What it costs, how to get there, where to stay, what to bring and what to be ready for: everything I figured out in eleven days in Taimyr.
Destinations → Russia
PutoranaPlateau
Mountains in Taimyr, a few hours by hovercraft from Norilsk. I spent ten days here on a photo tour in September 2026: a climb onto the plateau, northern lights almost every night and not a single notification — there’s no internet at the base.
Russia, Norilsk, Putorana Plateau, Dudinka
- When
- September 2026
- How long
- 11 days
- Cost per person
- ≈ $5,380 + gear
- What to pack
- 30 items
Routeday by day
Each stop is its own chapter. Read them in order or start with whichever interests you most.
Days 0–1
Norilsk
Coffee with venison, houses on stilts, Golgotha and a mountain I didn't climb. Two days in a city often called the most depressing in Russia: and why I disagree.
Read chapterDay 2
The road to the base
Seven hours on a hovercraft, the internet vanishing after twenty minutes, and at the base: potato pancakes and a huge fluffy dog.
Read chapterDay 3
The first walk
A forest of moss and mushrooms, a view of Lake Lama, a hat full of berries, and my first northern lights, even if grey.
Read chapterDay 4
Khoisi
Rubber boots, a canyon with huge torrents of water, a "garden" of red blueberry bushes and a bear scare on the way back.
Read chapterDay 5
Waterfalls
After Khoisi they promised us an easy day, and they didn't lie. A cascade of waterfalls, an icon in a ravine and an aurora far brighter than the first.
Read chapterDay 6
Climbing the plateau
A thousand metres up a boulder field, an icy waterfall and the best cheese sandwich of my life.
Read chapterDay 7
Neralakh and Festivalnaya
A rushing waterfall, a pika among the boulders, birds of prey against a drone, and the best northern lights of the whole trip.
Read chapterDay 8
The last hiking day
The house-museum of the white shaman, a waterfall with a very odd name, a mysterious cabin in the mountains and a hookah on the Putorana Plateau.
Read chapterDay 9
The return
A last walk, blueberries you can never get enough of, tears at the landing stage, and mobile data I really didn't want to turn back on.
Read chapterDay 10
Dudinka
Mammoth tusks in a house of crafts, a laminated icon from a priest, an exhibition about Dikson and "A Dog's Heart" in the evening.
Read chapter
All stories about the Putorana Plateau
14 stories
Prologue
Chapter 1Chapter 1
Norilsk
Coffee with venison, houses on stilts, Golgotha and a mountain I didn't climb. Two days in a city often called the most depressing in Russia: and why I disagree.
Chapter 2Chapter 2
The road to the base
Seven hours on a hovercraft, the internet vanishing after twenty minutes, and at the base: potato pancakes and a huge fluffy dog.
Chapter 3Chapter 3
The first walk
A forest of moss and mushrooms, a view of Lake Lama, a hat full of berries, and my first northern lights, even if grey.
Chapter 4Chapter 4
Khoisi
Rubber boots, a canyon with huge torrents of water, a "garden" of red blueberry bushes and a bear scare on the way back.
Chapter 5Chapter 5
Waterfalls
After Khoisi they promised us an easy day, and they didn't lie. A cascade of waterfalls, an icon in a ravine and an aurora far brighter than the first.
Chapter 6Chapter 6
Climbing the plateau
A thousand metres up a boulder field, an icy waterfall and the best cheese sandwich of my life.
Chapter 7Chapter 7
Neralakh and Festivalnaya
A rushing waterfall, a pika among the boulders, birds of prey against a drone, and the best northern lights of the whole trip.
Chapter 8Chapter 8
The last hiking day
The house-museum of the white shaman, a waterfall with a very odd name, a mysterious cabin in the mountains and a hookah on the Putorana Plateau.
Chapter 9Chapter 9
The return
A last walk, blueberries you can never get enough of, tears at the landing stage, and mobile data I really didn't want to turn back on.
Chapter 10Chapter 10
Dudinka
Mammoth tusks in a house of crafts, a laminated icon from a priest, an exhibition about Dikson and "A Dog's Heart" in the evening.
Side storySide story
The northern lights on the Putorana Plateau
Almost every night we ran out to look at the sky: from a grey glow visible only in the camera to a "corona" across the whole sky.
Side storySide story
The peoples of Taimyr and what I learned about them
The house-museum of the white shaman, an idol that is fed butter, and mammoth tusks with the ornaments of five peoples. I'm not an ethnographer. I'm just telling what I saw and heard.
EpilogueEpilogue
What I took home from the Putorana Plateau
An Arctic city, majestic nature, a group that became friends and eleven days almost without internet. The takeaways from the trip: briefly and honestly.