Siberia, on the Road to the Gulags | Deadliest Journeys
In Siberia they call it the « highway of life »… and also the « highway of hell ». This is the M56, a 1200 km road route that crosses this region in the far Eastern part of the Russian Federation.
The M56 is an indispensable link for the people of the North of Siberia. Summer and winter long, thousands of trucks and hundreds of cars take this road to ensure supplies of food, drink and materials.
But this road to the other end of the world is also a real nightmare. First, because of its history: it was built between 1925 and 1964 by prisoners, "enemies of Communism" sent to the gulags, who never returned.
And today is still strikes fear. Driving conditions are particularly harsh. Here there’s no tarmac covering the surface, only thousands of rocks, far too big to drive on. There’s no car tyre that can resist them!
Dust, mud, vibrations, blizzards that can “overturn a truck” : when you take this road, you suffer! We accompany 3 truck drivers, among them, Igor, 42. He has three days ahead of him before he reaches Yakutsk, one of the most remote cities in Russia. He has to delivery his load of beer at all costs! Aboard his truck we discover the M56.
Director: Philippe Lafaix
With those workmen, the road will finish in the year 4023😅😂😂😂
I don't think I looked away from this video for even a second. These people experience more life in one day than I in a year. Total respect for them.
To all the journalists out there, this is how a documentary is supposed to be made.
After watching this I realize life only
This ended way too early and on a cliff hanger. I wanted to see more of the travelers on the tracked vehicles and see the vast frozen place that was their destination.
This reminds me so much of living in Alaska back in 1965 to late 1967. I was working on my masters degree at the university of Alaska. It was before they found the oil and was like the Wild West. In the summer the hippies would come and move into some abandoned place and space out for the summer. When the cold came in September, they were gone! I mapped the volcanic rocks in central Alaska and was out in the woods and hills looking for the outcrops of basalt. Yes there were bears, lots of them. When I could smell them I was safe because I knew the wind came toward me from them. It was when I heard them and could not smell them that I could be in trouble. I had no gun and a big pack to load the rocks into to take back and study. There were many abandoned places where once they dredged for gold. They also had hermits living in these towns. I woke up early one morning and one was watching me. They did not like civilization and people. The abandoned towns were like just moved out of. Even had table wear. I also think some of the men were nazi escapees from Germany hiding out there. They were mean and never allowed me to enter their property looking for the rocks. Learned allot and lover the university there. I was young and loved geology and it was a great country. A good place to be when growing up! Ratio of men to woman was 8 to 1 woman. Yes that is typical for the frontier. The summer of 1967 started with an earth quake, then there were the fires under the tundra and ended with a great flood. I was going on the Wilcox expedition but the army did not allow me to. It was the greatest disaster in North American Climbing. Seven of the 11 on the expedition died. The same summer the floods covered our little cabin, we lived in the basement of one of the dorms till the water went down. I married a fellow geologist and by the end of the fall was back in the army for three years. Great time in my life!
It's not a "Saiga", it's an SKS, and it wasn't designed for civilian use. It's just that in most countries it was deemed outdated shortly after it was deemed ready for service. There were a few countries that did use it for military purposes for decades after it's invention
I never heard of this channel before and I clicked on this video randomly just to use as background noise as I do other things around the house. I wound up sitting down and watching the entire documentary. It sucked me in within the first 10 minutes or so. This is a very well made documentary. Thank you.
I have high respect for these people who can survive under those extreme conditions. Difficult roads and terrains, but their spirit is high, and traditions are being kept alive. Brilliant documentary.
I live in Alaska in the mid 60s and the Alaska highway was like this. I had a plexiglass sheet that I had to over the windshield to protect it from what we called the “Yukon Rose”. That is a smashed glass spot from the rock hitting the windshield. We drove it in the winter when able. Was a good drive then, no dust, no bugs smashed on windshield, no mud, no rocks thrown up to hit windshield. But then at -40f/c there are other issues, like the steering freezing, ice build up inside on windshield, gas getting into the oil and trying to keep warm!
The guy who was stuck in mud at 25.09 mins was an absolute legend (we are victims to our own roads)
Hidup di belahan bumi ini semuanya keras bersyukur bagi anda yang mendapatkan hidup tanpa harus bersusah payah, big respect untuk para pekerja dan pemberi kehidupan bagi keluarganya ini salam dari indonesia anda orang hebat❤🇲🇨
My great grandfather was a german Mg-42 gunner at stalingrad and was captured and send to the gulags. He escaped later by train hopping back to germany through russia and then poland but his friends who flew with him were shot dead in the journey.
I saw this thumbnail on my homepage. I thought "how did I never see this one yet?" Then I noticed it was uploaded 3 minutes ago! Brilliant timing
The rifle fired at
I've been to Yakutsk when I lived in Vladivostok (1996-97) and remember January 1997 being VERY COLD for me (an American). I really enjoyed this video - thank you to the producers. <3
I love that places like this still exist. Living in the US in California is so boring. Dont get me wrong, I will never end up here in this place but knowing there are places in the deep places of the world that are still a wild west / mad max script makes the world more interesting. A desolate road full of truckers having to survive the wild, the elements, using random run down vehicle repair shops in the high way wasteland driving past road workers who have to hunt to survive with their SKS rifles praying to the old gods for protection, bears attacking people, wolves... haunted stretches of road from the old gulags full of spirits, highway bandits and then beyond the road is a never ending expanse of forests and mountains full of secrets and the unknown. Life is so boring and mundane working your 9-5 hearing co workers talk about sports, celebs and other NPC crap. It makes me feel better knowing there are still wild crazy places on the earth.
Pozdrav svim ovim ljudim, želim im :zdravlje,mir,radost i blagostanje. Pozdrav iz sela Donji Tavankut u Srbiji.
Definitely a ROUGH journey! God bless these guys that are trying to make living !🙏🏾❤️These guys still have a great sense of humor in spite of the battle they have to fight every day ! How could you not love these guys ? 😂❤️
These vistas are absolutely beautiful. There's something very real about it. It talks to me on a primal level. And I also noticed how most of these people had very close to a laugh about their situation. The amount of acceptance for life's challenges and still trucking on, literally, is truly inspiring.😢