# A Very Special Vacation Opportunity **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546 "2015-01-22T02:39:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/21 "2015-01-23T22:21:54Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > My advice: don’t stick anything out unless you’re absolutely sure you can get it back in again. :eek: :eek: :eek: We won’t think about that. We are _not_ going to think about that. > [@Spiderman](#): > > Is it like that with cold? Will it freeze before it hits the ground & travel up the stream to ice your junk? Freezing would be bad enough. Can you imagine, you’re pissing and you hear SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! and when you’re done there’s a pile of piss cubes at your feet. Actually I’m sure that they mean not that you do your business outdoors, but that you have to cross the outdoors to get to the facilities, such as they are. Warmth within the facilities, I suspect, is generated by decomposition of earlier deposits. Which is better than nothing, but not exactly . . . comforting. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/22 "2015-01-23T22:55:14Z")
Count me in. I’ve always wanted to do shopping of the equipments. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/23 "2015-01-24T04:06:29Z")
> [@h.sapiens](#): > > Do Not Lick Pole of Cold. Can you still lick a Russian of Cold? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/24 "2015-01-24T05:02:18Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > I can’t get past the word “Yakutsk” without thinking that I should attack Irkutsk or Kamchatka. My reaction exactly. And now you’ve reminded me about an old Risk-playing buddy of mine who couldn’t say Irkutsk…he called it Irktoosk. The rest of us, being twelve-year-old boys, pointed and laughed. Oh well. I’m definitely in on the trip. I actually wrote a short article about the community last summer as part of a language arts program for reluctant readers. The editors wouldn’t let me put anything in about bathroom behaviors, however. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Holdsworth_Effect)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/25 "2015-01-24T06:03:36Z")
When my DH worked on The Slope he would say stuff about needing to take a leak and having on 8 inches of cold weather gear and… I think more people should take this kind of vacay. The cruise ships are way too overcrowded. The coldest I have ever been was sleeping out in -30 F, and I only had one dog. And yes, it would have been nice to have Three Dogs. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2015, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/27 "2015-01-24T21:48:52Z")
I love that the bottom of the page specifies that the price excludes “all expenses due to weather conditions” So what, in the middle of the trip the water pump freezes up on some shitty Soviet troop transport and we have to pony up $200 each to get it fixed so we can get back, oh and it’ll take 4 days to get the parts so everyone is on the hook for an additional $100 a night for accommodations until we can get the fuck out of the ninth circle of hell? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/28 "2015-01-25T02:39:37Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > Is it like that with cold? Will it freeze before it hits the ground & travel up the stream to ice your junk? :eek: Meh. Been there, done that. Just leaves a neat little yellow hole in the snow. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/29 "2015-01-27T01:52:30Z")
> [@The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](#): > > When my DH worked on The Slope he would say stuff about needing to take a leak and having on 8 inches of cold weather gear and…\ My response to your hubby is, “WAAAH!” You think _guys_ have it tough, peeing in cold weather?!? I can’t see myself going on that vacation - if I want to experience even stupider cold than what I already experience, I’ll just drive straight north. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/30 "2015-01-27T02:55:27Z")
CBC recently posted some fascinating [photos](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/oymyakon-russia-the-coldest-place-on-earth-1.2928146) of the place. In the captions for those photos, it says that cars have to be kept running all the time to prevent them from freezing/breaking down. Also, the town only has one store. And people run from one place to another to minimize their time outside. And there’s a farmer who manages to keep cows there. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/31 "2015-01-27T03:02:47Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > And there’s a farmer who manages to keep cows there. I’ve always wondered where frozen meat comes from. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/32 "2015-01-28T06:09:47Z")
A couple of posts up, **Cat Whisperer** quoted **The Holdsworth Effect** thusly: > [@](#): > > When my DH worked on The Slope he would say stuff about needing to take a leak and having on 8 inches of cold weather gear and…\ While I have no problem with you wanting to redact **THE** ’s post for the sake of brevity, **Cat** , I should point out that we guys don’t tend to talk about that part of the body and “snips” in the same sentence. (Am I the only one who winced at that?) ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/33 "2015-01-28T07:45:56Z")
Just a reference point: The airplane (an Ant of some type) used compressed air for starting. Because, in Siberia, batteries get too cold for the chemical reactions to occur. Cabin heat was provided by a wood-burning stove in the cabin. Russia still made rotary aircraft engines into the 90’s, and maybe to this day. Find out what airplane they use for these “Tourists”. A trip from Moscow to (wherever) on the Trans-Siberian Railroad might be fun - anything smaller, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2015, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/34 "2015-01-28T10:46:05Z")
Adding up all the travel distances and using a 40-50 km/hour speed based on their estimate of travel times for day one gives 27.7-34.6 hours in the back of the van. At 16 waking hours and seven days on ground (8 basically a travel day) that’s just over 30% of the time I’m not sleeping. What I did on my winter vacation - ride around in the back of a minivan. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/35 "2015-02-07T17:31:21Z")
Hopefully, Dopers have taken advantage of the vacation opportunity in Oymyakon (time’s a wastin’, it was -49F in Yakutsk today but winter won’t last forever). If however this was too long a journey to undertake, there’s a wonderful winter experience awaiting you this weekend in Ohio, with the Sandusky Arctic Ice Festival. The annual event features “ice skating, ice carving, ice harvesting, ice boating, ice fishing (weather permitting), and even ice-diving demos.” And of course, there’s a wintry cook-off. The Sandusky Arctic Ice Festival runs until 4 p.m. today and from 10-4 tomorrow ([here’s a map](https://www.google.com/maps/@41.44894,-82.70796,9z?hl=en) if you’re driving). If you can’t make it, don’t miss out on Kurentovanje next Saturday in Cleveland, described as “sort of a Slovenian Mardi Gras”, with food, drink, cultural performances and “an appearance by many, many fuzzy Kurents” (enormous mythical Slovenian monsters which scare away winter and welcome spring). The theme for the 2015 Kurentovanje is “LOVE in every sLOVEnian!” All in all, it is a joyous time in northern Ohio, don’t miss out. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/36 "2015-02-07T19:23:22Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > In Russian vehicles? Fuck that. Second that! ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/37 "2015-02-07T20:13:27Z")
I think I’ll pass this round… I’m currently enjoying a balmy 34ºF here in northern Wisconsin and have opened several windows in my house this afternoon to freshen the air in here. AHHH! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546/38 "2015-02-07T21:06:10Z")
I see that there is a sort of suburb near Yakutsk with the unfortunate name of Alas. No thanks, I would rather visit Irkutsk, to see Lake Baikal – at least the towns in that area have honest names, like Зима. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-very-special-vacation-opportunity/710546.md?page=1)