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MeIn late February 2022, Charlie Walker set off on a mountaineering holiday in northern Siberia. In temperatures as low as -50C, they wanted to travel a thousand kilometers north along the frozen waters of the Lena River, then cross the frozen Laptev Sea to the port of Tiksi, before flying home to London. He wrote: “The plans were easy to understand. A journey through a region infested with wolves and bears and centuries of terror, in a country about to invade one of its neighbors: what could happen?”
On Thin Ice is Walker’s third tour. Previous trips have included cycling 43,000 kilometers across three continents, a 1,000-kilometre solo trek through the Gobi desert, and a river trip to the Congo in a dinghy. When he’s not performing amazing feats, according to his website, he speaks to business leaders on topics such as “taking risks” and “the line between boldness and recklessness”. Reading his recent works, it is clear that he knows the distance on both sides of the line.
Arriving in the Siberian city of Yakutsk with his skis, sled, tent and “big sleeping bag,” Walker is busy delivering food as the full-scale invasion of Ukraine begins. It is the Foreign Office advising on travel to RussiaIn short, he decides to abandon his plans. But, considering that “Yakutsk is closer to the Alaskan city of Anchorage than to Kyiv”, he insists.
“The trip would have been different now,” he wrote. “As one of the last Western visitors to Russia, I was given a unique opportunity … to write down the thoughts and feelings of ordinary Russians, not the military or politicians. Being far from the front line, their diverse perspectives can provide insight into the vast majority of the 144 million silent population.
Armed with a shotgun, a can of pepper and a knife for protection against wolves and bears, Walker spends weeks walking the icy roads – mine – during the day, shivering in his tent at night, and sometimes experiencing the extremes of Siberian hospitality. The lorry drivers they meet mine leave photos, share coffee and talk. One criticizes him for pitching his tent on the road: many drivers drink vodka, while others watch television while driving. They give him local food: roast horse ribs, moose pie, sausage made from old horse blood (“a pool of boiled blood came out of his horse intestines and smeared it on the roof of my mouth, settling quickly like ungodly flies”). Sakha women put a penis amulet around his neck and give Bayani, the “lord of the taiga” pancakes to protect him.
Most people they meet are eager to talk about Ukraine. “Ukraine is a corrupt country ruled by the Nazis,” said a boy from Sakha. “Ukraine his in Russia.” Even in areas where barren trees struggle to grow, the Kremlin’s disinformation is deeply entrenched.” “I heard that President Putin is saving the people of Ukraine and I am happy to know that he is being helped.” Eveni’s lone butcher told Walker over a meal of roast beef.” Almost everyone believes that the 90’s affair with Russia saved people in Russia. very good. a million Russian casualties later – how the story turned out.
More than pancakes, more than knives and fire, it soon becomes clear that the survival tool Walker needs to carry is the business card of a talented local attorney. It is not the bears that follow him on the ice, but the FSB, which is very interested in the mysterious Englishman, especially where he is going, Taxi, and the military base. Accused of “practicing journalism”; to be a spy; the people he meets are harassed, some rush to inform about him. He risks insanity, recording his “anti-Putin rants” on a Dictaphone – while anti-war journalists face 15 years – and signing the agreement without first translating it. He was then imprisoned, where he spent a miserable month awaiting deportation. Reflecting on his choice, he remembers an old Russian proverb: “You saw what you bought, so eat it, even if you choke on it.”
At the beginning of his journey, Walker hoped to see another part of Siberia. There are moments of beauty – the aurora borealis, a rare burst of heat in the community – but almost everywhere else is horror and corruption. Rivers are rising, towns are decaying, streets are littered with the bones of prisoners. who died building it, the “black wasteland” of Belgium left by wildfires. Walker evokes everything with a masterful touch. No one, after reading this book, will rush to buy tickets to Siberia, especially from its author, who is now banned in the country.
