The roadto the base

Except for public figures, the names of people in this story have been changed for privacy.

The second chapter of the Putorana Plateau trip. This was the day we finally left Norilsk for the Bunisyak base, from which we later set out on all the routes.

Seven hours on a hovercraft

In the morning we met the group. Cars took us to a landing stage on the Norilskaya river, and there we transferred to a “hovercraft”, a vessel on an air cushion. It’s about 165 kilometres by water to the base on Lake Lama: along the Norilka, Talaya and Lama rivers and across lakes. An ordinary boat would quickly run aground or smash on the rocks: the river has a lot of shallows.

Inside: seats along the sides, suitcases at the back. Twenty minutes after setting off, the internet disappeared. Completely. The journey to the base took seven hours with three stops.

In that time we got to know each other: everyone turned out to be very different. Besides us tourists, a local travelled with the group, Misha, a professional photographer: he has long lived in Norilsk, photographs the city and northern nature (here’s his Instagram) and has been to the plateau more than once. Somewhere in the middle of the journey we opened the doors and started filming right on the move. The first views, the first photos and Misha’s “Content’s rolling!!!”, that’s how the trip began.

Who met us

At the base we were met by the guides: Nikita, the manager of the base and the son of its founder, and Denis, a guide with a lot of experience hiking in Siberia and a mountaineer. We also met our cook. We immediately surprised her with our vegetarian quirks. It turned out I wasn’t the only vegetarian in the group!

And the local dog: Hannibal, aka Genya. Huge, fluffy, very kind and playful.

In general the team at the base is big: besides Nikita and Denis there were other guides, and staff who keep the whole base in working order.

The base on the shore of Lama

We arrived around 3 p.m. The tour description said we’d be staying two to a room, but we were put in separate rooms, a pleasant surprise 🙂 At 4 p.m. we sat down to lunch: the cook quickly adapted and made us potato pancakes 🥹

Then we went to get to know the base. The facilities are outdoors, and I was already imagining going out at 3 a.m. 😅 We looked at the banya. And most of all, the place itself: the base stands right on the shore of Lake Lama, opposite Shaitan Mountain, which was considered a place of power. The views are simply stunning. You step out of the house, and the plateau is right before your eyes. There are pretty benches all around, the base itself and the rooms are very cosy, and being here is especially pleasant.

In the evening Misha suggested shooting some content, and we filmed our first reel. And by 9 or 10 p.m. I was out like a light.