Deadliest Roads | Siberia: Lake Baikal | Free Documentary

[Music] [Music] wow [Music] every spring the freezing mist of lake baikal signals the start of a difficult voyage for the men of the village of holotnya a journey to the high plateau of siberia to resupply the reindeer herders dimitri is the only driver willing to take on the impossible expedition he has to deliver 600 kilos of food as quickly as possible this year the winter has been so hard that the shepherds have been without fresh supplies for six months sugar rice everything to keep them going [Music] until otherwise the road will be impossible [Music] in a few days time the melting snows will turn the road into a swamp it's only 65 kilometers to the shepherd's camp but at 65 kilometers that could take several weeks to cover ahead of them the white hell of siberia [Music] he wants a good run-up he's mad [Music] along the way the snow forms a virtually impenetrable wall even for a six-wheel drive truck [Music] the trees could pierce the cabin up there here we go in the spring the warmer weather transforms lake baikal into a deadly trap he hasn't been able to get the car out stuck in the water [Music] [Applause] careful don't get close we get stuck here it's very risky when nature forces the men to get out another danger lies in weight there's a huge bear over there he's a tricky customer who's heavy what a beast it's only the events mountain people who spend the winter in this farm at the end of the world [Music] we'll return home when it's summer [Music] we'll be home and then we'll see the girls nature spares them nothing and even the toughest can crack i've had enough of this damn it i'll be back tomorrow with a snow tractor and more men i'm going [Music] dimitri's barely left the village when he faces his first obstacle i'm not sure how we'll get across the ice is like suspended here there's a gap between it and the water and the truck could fall through the waters melted the lower part of the ice in winter there was a thick layer of ice which has started melting it looks solid yeah the truck should be fine here [Music] you have to go fast [Music] dimitri's fear is that the ice bridge might collapse weakened by the melting snows it's just 80 centimeters thick hardly enough to support the weight of a one-ton truck [Music] the fact they get across without difficulty may be due to this tv set in siberia it's better to have a god glued to the tv screen rather than tormenting travelers by toying with the weather it looks like a dump yet it's one of the most sacred spots in this region the assortments of unlikely objects are offerings to the god khan it's a fountain of youth according to legend burkhan made this source immune from freezing to allow travelers to drink from it stop here to pray get washed and make some vows using some coins and notes you can drink this water it's never covered by ice it's a holy place after the men it's the machine's turn to be blessed to banish evil spirits yura fumigates the truck with sacred incense it's to make sure all goes well to make sure we get to where we need to go we pray so we won't break down or fall into holes this holy site is also a post office of sorts for a particular kind of mail local hunters drop off any animals that are too heavy to carry on their shoulders dimitri and his men will take them to the village this time it's a bearskin it's heavy what a beast the pores are really delicious the bear was killed several days before and the flesh has been preserved using traditional methods the hunters put the meat beneath the ice so it doesn't rot it's like a fridge often feed off the decaying corpses of other creatures and they become infected with parasites these could be fatal but the events appear to be impervious so they are amongst the few in the region that eat bare meat there are huge ruts in the road here for days is b this next [Applause] so far dimitri has rarely been going faster than three kilometers an hour and he's worried he might have to sleep in his truck if he doesn't reach the refuge before nightfall even in spring the temperatures can still easily drop to -20 [Music] further down the valley the frozen lake baikal as big as belgium provides enough fish to feed most of the region's inhabitants during winter the ice can be one meter thick and is safe to cross and many take their vehicles to go fishing [Music] but with the spring the ice becomes thinner and the lake becomes a deadly [Music] trap local tv coverage shows what happened to this car swallowed up by the lake a few hours earlier suddenly another car approaches and despite the cries of warning the driver head straight towards the thin ice of the two passengers only one will survive the glacial waters each year the lake claims a dozen lives [Music] anatoly's best friend was killed here three years earlier he's a nice guy a very good friend kilometers from the lakefront he wasn't able to free himself [Music] it's dangerous [Music] anatoly worked on the railways for 40 years he's not able to buy enough food because of a meager pension of just 200 euros a month to survive like many others he fishes the lake even when the ice is beginning to melt [Music] well today the local authorities have warned that the ice is too dangerous to go fishing nothing will stop dedicated fishermen like us we have to go out we're forced to take risks even if it's dangerous we still do it no sure once the sun's warmed up the ice you'll need to be very careful anatoly fishes for omu which is common in the lake [Music] there won't be a bite bro [Music] now they're biting well we got three or four [Music] but in my field there's no work going on i spend my time on bike fishing the whole year in the rivers here and in winter here on the ice unemployment pays just 150 euros a month come on yourself another question what we need are the communists back in power they would give everyone work all my life and i have 200 euros as a pension if you see what all the politicians around here get well the governor of bacteria well he gets a pension worth eighteen thousand euros [Music] the ice slowly melts as the sun gradually warms up in a few days it will no longer be possible to walk here the men will have to wait for the thor before they can head out to fish for omu in their boats [Music] while waiting anatoly and his friends will need to hunt for something even more dangerous siberian grizzly bears dimitri and his truck are also victims of the warmer weather as the snow softens the truck gets bogged down leaving man and machine facing walls of snow and ice that can be two meters high the only way is driving through them which is exhausting when you're in the snow deep like this you need to reverse quickly but if you get stuck even just for a second it takes hours to prize a few kilometers off the mountain dimitri's had enough if he carries on at this rate he'll never make it to the refuge by nightfall there's only one way to get round the wall of snow and that's to use his truck like a [Applause] bulldozer the trades are a problem they might rip the brake tubes apart and they'll smash everything that's under the truck they could even pierce the cabin i've seen it [Music] [Applause] as each kilometer drags past the difficulties increase the road gradually wears men down dimitri and his co-pilot euro begin to argue because of the stress they disagree over what route to take as you can see we'll get blocked and we'll never get through go right go right no no left [Applause] i'm telling you it's this way you're not listening this time the truck is well and truly stuck [Applause] it's completely blocked and it's resting on its axle the front of the truck is stuck in the mud to get it out it needs to be pulled back with a winch out here we have a slogan which goes forward for the motherland and forward for stalin [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] there's one problem after another until well into the night [Music] at 10 30 destiny plays a fateful blow and even the gods of the events seem to have abandoned them [Music] the truck has become trapped a second time and a tree is lodged below the [Applause] [Music] chassis by 11 pm the winch is no longer useful it's now minus 10 degrees the snow has hardened again and the truck is wedged tight in the mud and ice [Music] god damn it also at midnight the thermometer has dropped to 20 below there's nothing for it but for the exhausted team to spend the night in the truck everyone that is apart from europe listen dimitri at least the engine works you can turn the heating on i'll be back tomorrow with a snow tracker and some more men so go on dimitri get some rest to get to the refuge yura has a 10 kilometer walk among the bears and wolves god only knows if i'll make it i might have to sleep in the open in the forest after five hours in minus 20 degrees euro finally reaches the shelter but no one wants to risk going back in the middle of the night the men will leave when it's daylight the reindeer herders village is another 35 kilometers away and the daunting prospect of the bayer mountains that lie in between the spring sunshine gently awakens nature an unspoken signal to man and beast that it's time to return to the forest bears and humans have spent the past six months in enforced hibernation [Music] anatoly and ivan have teamed up to go hunting bear two 1950s rifles are 30 year old russian four-wheel drive and they're in business they also have 60 kilos of rotting fish as bait for the big siberian grizzly we'll see who will buy the basket if the meat's good it'll fetch a good price too well we can only hope and especially pray to the good lord the jangling noise of the old vehicle speaks volumes about the road ahead yeah all the parts are twisted my dear you see my old horse that's slow but it's irreplaceable [Music] bears are protected by law so hunting permits are rarely issued and only to a hand-picked few who then have the right to shoot 10 or so bears annually yvonne is one of the few permit holders and has been hunting for more than 20 [Music] years i'm the one who's basically made this road by using this track so often ivan doesn't spare his old vehicle which in turn makes him pay dearly everything else is fine they'll still need to be able to change gears though and make sure the ancient clutch can deal with so much abuse [Music] oh crap the clutch has gone too now the first hurdle on the bear hunt will soon get the better of the two men's friendship [Music] oh i don't understand what happened well we need to reverse no no no definitely not if you go in reverse we'll have serious problems while we're on the bump we should try and go forward i'll try and free up the back wheels so you can grip the ground you need some stones down here [Music] [Applause] what are you doing hey and don't touch anything all right and trying to stop the car moving backwards we'll wedge some snow under the wheel that will help [Music] [Applause] the bear hunters got off to a bad start after a few kilometers ivan stops the car he's still upset at the accident on the river and heads off without waiting for anatoli [Music] soon the two men lose sight of each other it's a dangerous thing to do if there's a grizzly roaming in the area [Music] it will take them more than an hour to find each other but the tension does not ease up [Music] what were you doing you crazy yeah well that's not an answer well what do you want me to tell you then we're here to hunter pick up women okay so i made a mistake i missed the path because i was looking for signs of the bear on the ground there will be a laughingstock if we go back empty-handed after a two-hour walk ivan arrives at what he calls his bear's playground to get the animals used to coming here he leaves food and toys like this canister ivan uses the technique to kill at least one bear a year at this spot we'll put the fish in this can the bear is somewhere nearby not far away wandering about over there yvonne's right has the fur and a fresh paw print approved [Music] apparently after he's eaten here the bear stretches out over there so we mustn't scare him the smell of the rotting fish will attract him that's for sure yes she wants this if it's a lot you'll fall asleep it's close to nightfall and the two hunters will return the next morning to ambush the bear they plan to sleep in ivan's hunting cabin along the way something catches their [Music] [Music] eye it's a big grouse like a large pheasant [Music] dreamed of catching one and using the skin to make a sleeping bag on the day of the hunt by the road the bear arrived ah but only a few splinters hit the bear in the eye and growling he approaches the man [Music] just a t-shirt for the rest of my life and the bear does leave after all that i've almost forgotten this bird the next morning the two men returned to see if the bears being attracted by the smell of the decaying fish as they get close to the bait yvonne spots a print he doesn't like the look of they might have caught something let's go every year hunters lose some of their dogs in the forest left to their own devices the dogs quickly revert to instinct when they hunt in packs they often attack smaller bears [Music] [Music] uh [Applause] it's impossible to get rid of them all it's only hunters who shoot them perched on top of a tree frightened as the prey the dogs were after look what's up in the tree it's a sable i won't kill it it'll breed and that'll make the fur trappers happy this time of the year sables begin to malt so their fur is not much use winter's they return empty-handed but a week later they'll be luckier they'll kill a 400 kilo grizzly more than two meters tall [Music] euro and the rescuers head for dimitri in his trapped vehicle euro risked his life by crossing the forest on foot and all for nothing by the time he arrives dimitri has already managed to free the truck the weather is wonderful the snow has melted and so has the ice that had trapped the wheels the village is 35 kilometers away and the road still has plenty of nasty surprises we have to shovel our way out of here otherwise it'll be really hard labor later trees are too far away to reach them with a winch there good now we can get out [Music] why does dimitri insist on crossing the river at its widest point he'll speed across it he's nuts it's risky there's a gap beneath it a [Music] hole i'm not sure he'll make it here it can drop to almost 60 in the winter and with those temperatures the truck and the snow tractors will break down and within seconds the temperature does drop 10 degrees to minus 20. look 10 centimeters what do we'll cut out some branches and put them under the wheels dimitri and his team are stuck on the mountain slope and things look bad slowly slowly and get to the top well so far we've made just 50 meters there's still a long way to go once it took us three days three long days the truck had become bogged down and we had to winch it out took us three days to crawl up the slope [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] after two days of fighting the elements they finally cite the village we've made it i never thought we'd get here my nerves were gone i didn't think we'd do it it's a good job we paid homage to the god burkhan [Music] [Applause] [Music] a dozen men live in this camp at the ends of the earth [Music] [Applause] [Music] during winter they are isolated far from civilization they haven't seen any new faces for six months [Music] flour rice and sugar are stored up in a granary well beyond the reach of bears [Music] two shepherds are keeping an eye on them a generator produces electricity but to save on fuel it's only switched on for a few hours each day it powers up the emergency radio and also the tv set there's a picture but no sound other than the noise that seems to come from outer space [Music] it's not great but it helps pass the time [Applause] i only read good books novels about life alexei has never traveled further than lake baikal so books provide his only means of escape [Music] his whole life has been spent in the forests with the reindeer i could never have one alexa regularly takes supplies up to the two shepherds who look after the 700 reindeer in the herd [Music] the events raise their reindeer on the high plateaus of siberia where the animal staple diet of lycan is bountiful in both winter and summer after 20 kilometers alexa catches up with the two shepherds they're watchful as they know a bear is somewhere in the vicinity and has already killed one of their reindeer [Music] down there there's a small dead reindeer the crows are eating it now [Applause] there's also a bear over there from the forest he keeps coming and going he's huge and he's smart probably an adult do you bring yes i've brought some milk any flour or sugar or salt yes yes that's the important thing [Music] the cabin is tiny and the two benches double up as beds [Music] [Music] it's a wonderful place [Music] they have another three months before they're relieved for the summer [Music] when winter returns they will also return to this the middle of nowhere and that's the way it's been with the events since time immemorial [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Free Documentary

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Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, most dangerous roads, most dangerous journeys, worlds most dangerous roads, worlds most dangerous journeys, deadliest roads, deadliest roads in the world, dicing with death, deadliest journeys, dicing with death Siberia, most dangerous roads Siberia, deadliest roads Siberia, dangerous Siberia, deadliest journeys Siberia, Siberia, Lake Baikal, siberia lake baikal, siberia lake

Id: h32P68Ct248

Length: 50min 31sec (3031 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 07 2021