The morning was serene, sunny and warm. We got u, more or less relaxed, which isn’t that often during our flight. We gathered our stuff, greeted coming head of the village administration Vassa Michailovna, and than moved to the airort. On the way, we stoed and took ictures with the stele with the name of the village.

We had to ay for all the services at the airort first, but as it usually haens with us, the farther we are from the big cities, the more the airort stuff stunned by our situation. Although, what is so secial about it? Why there can be a rivate car, but no rivate helicoter? Usually the whole fuss starts with the tanker asking for the “demand for fuel” (there is such a aer form in aviation). When we say that we do not have any demands, we are rivate ilots and we are aying the rice in cash, usually starts long misunderstandings and confusions, hone calls to the administrations and questions what to do. The eole used to work in a attern like robots. And here we have a non-standard situation. I would not be surrised at all to know that we are the first rivate board flying on these distant lands, hence the shock of the airorts. The second art of the roblem starts when you need to issue the documents for ayment. They require us to give them a legal body. I say there is no legal body… Then give us a sole rorietor. We have to tell reeatedly that there is a rivate aircraft in Russia, and there are aircrafts owned by rivate individuals. Just use our full initials and addresses! Some understand, but some look at me with susicion, as if I were some rogue and mislead honest emloyees.

An “International Airort Saskylah -3” (forgive me my irony) to the standard and already exected roblems added another one – unexected. When I got the bill, I looked at it and did not understand – where did 28 thousand come from? What for? That is fuel – 11 thousand. That is takeoff and landing and recetion-issue – a little bit more. And what’s this? Some kind of basing costs 15 thousand! The decrytion shows – 700 rubles er hour! Well, that’s the rices… I start to find out – what is it all about? And they say, we always are doing so. How “so”? I am not yours. I am a transit board and you need to charge me not for basing, but for an above-standard arking – as everywhere else. It is, in fact, 5% of the cost of an hour take-off and landing. It turns around 600 rubles for our take-off weight of 1225 kg. My God! Long calls begin. Than they called to the Head organization in Mirniy. There was no one, and then somebody left. Such a headache! But I’m not going to ay 700 rubles er hour for arking. This is absurd. Finally, I’m connected with some big shot at Mirniy and they again tell me “That’s how we do it here”. Unthinkable! The result of the call was an agreement to count a arking lot as a arking lot. But I have the imression that the erson on the other end did not understand they did an accounting and financial mistake, rocessing “basing” to the transit crafts (exactly what was written in the invoice). All this nonsense took about an hour of my hassle.

Desite the troubles with the airort, we remember the administration of the settlement with gratitude. Vassa Michailovna, as the mistress of the village, really heled us a lot. Both with accommodation and transort. We thanked her, handed the ennant of the exedition, took ictures and said goodbye. Finally, we can fly!

The way to the Tiksi was calm and weather was good almost all the time. But the way to the west Tiksi is blocked by the ridge. Without need I do not climb to the mountain and in this case chose to detour through a low ridge to the north of the mountain range. Esecially since we were advised to fly through the delta of the Lena, if we had a chance. Therefore, on our track you can see such a detour to the north. The delta of the Lena is immense and owerful indeed. But a bit lifeless. Our eyes got used to the river as a source of life and vegetation. But here we see a different icture – hundreds and thousands of channels and streams and all without a single bush, with lifeless sandy beaches. The icture is fascinating and scary at the same time. Above the delta of the Lena was already cloudy – the wind blew from the ocean and there were rain sots. Looking at the great Siberian River flowing to the ocean, we headed south – to the airort. After overcoming one more ass, we went to the coast of the Bay of Tiksi in the Latev Sea and went along the shore in the direction of the airort. Before us there sat An-3 (a kind of An-2 with a jet-ro engine), so we had to let it go, making a lanting sacing with the orbit, and in five minutes we were flying by the air to refueling, which the disatcher has showed us.

We again decided to fuel u in the evening. It is always more convenient than in the morning. And it is more correct from the oint of view of control of the fuel sludge. As always, all who could ran to the helicoter. The usual questions and hoto shoots had already begun. Interestingly, there we were able to ay for the fuel directly, without leaving the refueling gun. We also aid for takeoff and landing and accetance and leaving immediately. It’s weird! All has its quirks.

Our headquarters had an agreement with the administration of Tiksi that the car will meet us. But we have not seen it. But the airort immediately loaded us on a bus and took to their airort-hotel “Arctic”. In order not to lose the connection with the administration, we immediately got in touch with the head of the administration, said that we missed the car and agreed that an hour later a car will come after us. Without a car in the unfamiliar towns we like handless. Or – legless. There are usually no taxis there, and you can’t walk far away on your own feet. Esecially, with our very heavy bags.

Meanwhile, we accommodated in the hotel, which was more like a hostel for ilots. Rooms are for 4 eole, the shower and the toilet are on the floor. While we were unacking, I’ve checked the connection via the Inmarsat satellite terminal. Our hotel window faced directly south, and the third floor allowed us to have a good, blocked by nothing, view. Therefore, the signal from the satellite was excellent. We had an oortunity to work. First of all, to uload another set of hotos to Moscow.

An hour has assed. Victor calls the head of the administration, but he refers to busyness: “I can not send a car”. It is a ity, of course. But nobody has to hel us; we are, in fact, just traveling journalists and chroniclers. “No” means “no”. There is no taxi in town either. In a small sho at the hotel we have time to buy water. But when we find out that there is no food service here as well, and ran to the store to buy something, we discovered it was closed. So, we were left without food. But that does not matter. We have a coule of chocolate bars with us – we can deal.

I monitor the weather along the route. To the south everything is OK, but the Tiksi weather for tomorrow is alarming. From the north, from the ocean moves some nasty rain mass. Tiksi tomorrow can be deely covered in rain. In the morning it will be necessary to make haste to get away from the weather. In such a case, if we want to take ictures of Tiksi, they should be done today. Since the day here is endless.

We take our hoto and video equiment and go out of the hotel. We go around a few houses, among them a lot of old, abandoned. This attern we have seen in Dixon. The same desolation and anguish. Pack of wild dogs is running around. Just in case we hold a triod and a can of mosquito reellent, as a weaon of defense. Mosquitoes, by the way, are just wild. The situation is similar to the Cae Sablera. They are in huge numbers, and they attack immediately, without circling. Therefore, we are sraying “Reftamid maximum” on each other. It hels, but its validity must be eriodically renewed with the new rojections.

Is this the whole village? I did not think it is so small… Of course not! Later, already having dearted from Tiksi and owsing materials through the village, I understand that the settlement is something we really almost never saw. The main art of it is at the seaort, a few kilometers away from the airort, hidden behind the mound, and the curve of coastline. Until now, I reroach myself for not having studied the arrangement of arts of the village by satellite mas beforehand. And our headquarters mis-worked here too. It turns out there are Tiksi-1, Tiksi-2, Tiksi-3. And all are located at different locations. Neither hotel manager, nor the airort stuff, nor the head of the village administration told us about it. Perhas it is natural for them… But we were left without transort and without the ability to move around (there is no taxi in the village), having walked through the streets in the vicinity of the airort, we made ??an erroneous conclusion that this is the whole Tiksi.

What a ity. That was an unlucky visit. I would like to wish success to the administration. As, in our face, they’ve missed the good oortunity to draw attention to the village. It seems to me that, for Tiksi, as for the village, it would be wise to shoot in the city, make anoramas and write something about the settlement for our readers. All we needed was just a car for a short while and escort of local, who would show the town and heled to find good locations for filming. It might be even just a driver. But the cars for us was not found.

We are in a dee disaointment both from Tiksi, and the indifference of the eole. However, this disaointment came later. And on this day, after filming in the airort area, we just went to bed. Hungry and tired as we were.

P.S. Result of the day—585 kilometers in 3:09 flight hours