Can a Harley make it to Magadan?

[rtwdoug]

This was a restaurant


We went to the movie theater


I’d like 1 ticket please


Great. Another disaster flick!


Lenin isn’t looking very ‘cheeky’

[rtwdoug]

Its getting a bit late, & we want to get to Susuman by dark, so we hit the road.
It was a cool place to root around thru, & I’d like to come back when I have more time. I did find an old fur coat tho, so I’m gonna cut a hunk off of it for a seat cover, as my ass is killing me.
Oh, plus I found an old hammer. With a Harley, a hammer is always handy to have!

We got to the hotel in Susuman, only to find out its full. Now this is a huge building, but they only have 5-6 rooms for rent, & they say that they are usually full. Now its just me, but why not open some more rooms? Anyhow, Max found another place close by, it wasn’t really a hotel, but they did have rooms for rent, and it was a nicer looking place. They didn’t have bike parking, but we met a local guy, Oleg, who has a truck repair shop, & let us park inside. Then he drove us around to find something to eat. Theres 2 restaurants in town, but both were full with wedding parties. So, it was a night of doshirak (local ramen noodle type crap) It was better than eating mosquitoes in kadychan tho.

At Oleg’s shop

[rtwdoug]

Some more pics Max took










I look like I got bitten by the zombie…..
(it had been a really long day….)

[Yankee Dog]

Originally Posted by rtwdoug

I am wondering if isnt a clue as to why the town was abandoned. Personally I wouldnt go back. Too spooky if nothing else.

[pierce]

Originally Posted by Yankee Dog

I am wondering if isnt a clue as to why the town was abandoned. Personally I wouldnt go back. Too spooky if nothing else.

indeed, first thing I thought of reading that was, some sort of industrial accident upwind? but, no, probably just central (mis)planning run amok.

[slowpoke69]

You've got to wonder what the hell happened that they just shut it down like that, it looks like a pretty big ass town. Where did they all go? That's just freakin' amazing to think that everything just got shut down, 'You're ass is homeless now, L8R! BUH BYE!'

[asphaltmueller]

in 96 they could have just decided not to subvention the Town anymore, if the mines were not producing enough.
Then they would shut it down on very short notice to prevent the people to get theyr act together and maybe protest or such .

[motoreiter]

I am pretty sure that Kadykchan was shut down because of an explosion in the mine. No more mine, no reason for the town, see ya...

Here's a Russian wikipedia entry: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%...87%D0%B0%D0%BD
It says that there was a mine explosion in 1996, but is a bit fuzzy about what happened to the town. It does say that by 2010, the population had fallen to 2 (doesn't mention that one was a zombie, that guy was creepy)...

Yeah, no way was I staying in that place--besides being creepy as hell, it was the only place on the whole trip where the mossies where just out of control. The zombie encounter didn't help.

[Krashdragon]

A bit of reading on google...
Some more piccys to add to Doug's, and interesting conversations, scroll down past the ummm..."interesting" ads...
http://englishrussia.com/2007/10/04/...broken-dreams/

If anyone wants to go there's always...
http://www.koryogroup.com/travel_Itinerary_magadan.php

Unlike Doug, who likes to do things the hard, but VERY interesting way.... peeps can wuss out and fly!

Y'all take care and ride safe!
Mary

[Gas Hog]

Zombies..don't hate on a good Zombie
Real men would have dusted off some mattress..chopped up some fire wood and spent the night
Gary

[Ford_Prefect]

One of Walter Colebatch's reports has some wonderful information about this place.

One of the things that I recall is that the power and the heat were government controlled, and they literally shut everything off over night. Thus people were forced to make their own way back to Moscow, or what have you. Those without a car, or truck, or a ride on one were just stuck there. Beyond that they railroads were also controlled by the government and so there was no need for them to ship them goods anymore either.

That had be a very scary experience for the folks living there. In truth I am very surprised there are not simply loads of dead bodies around.

[Patrick46]

Originally Posted by Ford_Prefect

One of Walter Colebatch's reports has some wonderful information about this place.

One of the things that I recall is that the power and the heat were government controlled, and they literally shut everything off over night. Thus people were forced to make their own way back to Moscow, or what have you. Those without a car, or truck, or a ride on one were just stuck there. Beyond that they railroads were also controlled by the government and so there was no need for them to ship them goods anymore either.

That had be a very scary experience for the folks living there. In truth I am very surprised there are not simply loads of dead bodies around.

WOW...even a f*cked as our government is, I'm glad I live here!!!

[motoreiter]

Originally Posted by Ford_Prefect

That had be a very scary experience for the folks living there. In truth I am very surprised there are not simply loads of dead bodies around.

Well of course there are no dead bodies lying around, the zombies see to that!

But in fact, I don't think it was quite as dramatic as you make out; this happened in 1996, not 1956! One of the linked articles (in Russian) says that people were allowed to stay in the city after the mine had shut down, but oddly enough, most did not want to, since there was no work, now money, and finally, no heat. The heating eventually stopped working as a result of the shut down of the mine.

[dcwn.45]

Still enjoying the report, and looking forward to meeting Doug at the moto show.

[Dekatria]

That's a truly awe-inspiring set of photo's from Kadychan - sorta reminds me of Chernobyl