Nexus Expedition in Inchon, Russia

Dimitri called this morning 4/12/2007 and gave the following update.

Dimitri and Karl Bushby are presently in the town called Inchon,
at the GPS coordinates: N66 17.7816 / W170 16.686.

They arrived in Uelen after a 10 hr. Vezdehod ride (their 3 vezdehod caravan was delayed 3 hours for the repair of one of the vehicles) at about 8:30 pm Wednesday, April 12th (Russian Time). They spent the night in the police station, ironically the same place they slept upon arriving in Uelen April of last year after completion of the Bering strait crossing. Upon arising they met with the border guards, got their paper work approved and FINALLY began trekking.

They started on the trail at about 10am and arrived in Inchon at about 8pm, covering approximately 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) of terrain. Dimitri said the weather was good, about 6 degrees Celsius, and the ice was nice and solid. They passed a number of mushers along the way, commuting to Uelen or back for supplies. They also came across a few stray dogs which had apparently been let go from the sleds for being too slow. One of the passerby's happened to be the Mayor of Inchon in a vezdehod who graciously welcomed them and offered them a place to stay in town for the night.

Apparently their arrival had been pre-announced for a few miles outside of town they were greeted by a large group of very excited young boys.

They are planning to give a talk to the children early in the morning before they begin the day's trekking. Tonight (Friday-Russia) will be their first night actually sleeping on the trail. On the following night, they might sleep in a cabin that they have been informed upon.

The next village is about 3-4 days trekking and they may be slowed down a bit by a big storm that's supposed to be blowing in to their region in the next few days.

Dimitri sounded in high very high spirits and said it's been a good beginning, even though they were both definitely feeling the pains of adjustment as they drug their 240 lb sleds over two steep hills along the way. He likened himself to the 18 wheelers you see struggling to make it over the mountain pass - though he assured me that in no time at all they'd be trading up to race car shape.

He's a bit nervous of the weather conditions they will face upon arriving in Anadyr, but for now everything seems good.