Right now I have one guy I´ve assisted, my friend Marcin´s Kolyma Expedition, who has had serious problems with the extreme cold and his equipment braking and he has changed his initial route, ending in Bilibino instead of Chersky. And it seems like he has been backed up by two friends most of the time in a vehicle, I am afraid, due to the cold. Still he is fast! But he is a true explorer, no doubt.
Christian Bodegren (see photo above) however, is planning his first Expedition. Travelling by camel from Egypt to Morocco, a great feat. He came to visit me today, we spread maps on the floor, chatted about oasis, where to start and we´ve been looking at what is waiting for him. Question is, he could do as good with a piece of sand paper. His Expedition though, is of great interest to me, since a crossing of the Sahara is part of my great Arabian project. Christian has dived into pretty much all books on the project and he is well versed of all existing routes through this great desert. As far as we know, the only crossing with camels of the Sahara desert by white people, was done by Michael Asher and Marieanetta Peru in the 80`s, but Christian would then be the third European to cross the lot and the first Swede in history. (There are some amazing ultra runners which have crossed it, supported, a reader told me, for example http://www.runningthesahara.com/ , but I consider this sport, not exploration of another culture. Still, what a feat!) Christian, though, is very eager to do it with 5 camels and wants to leave as soon as possible. His only worries are the visa regulations in countries like Libya and Algeria, stupidities is hindering every explorer worldwide, these ridiculous obstacles making life so much harder for the good of all human beings. Christian is also reasonably ambitious and sees the Sahara as a project of three big challenges in his life, which is a great thought and that makes me believe he will do it. No matter what. He is also very sensible regarding sponsors, one of the most frequent questions I get and I have always answered, first do a big Expedition, then ask for sponsors, when you have a better CV. Christian understands this, even if he comes from the south of Sweden.

However, he didn´t like my moose heart stew today, which makes me wonder how he is going to handle a casserole made up of local intestines mixed with goat testicles….

I immediately recognised the worries, the stress, that comes with just leaving for a big Expedition, when Marcin picked me up at the airport in Gdansk. Winter was here, lot´s of snow and relatively cold. His jeep was full of gear, two dogs, Brenda and Fidel, and I hardly got in myself, we headed immediately, after picking up his girlfriend Anja and a stunner called Grazyna who we also managed to fit in to the car, before continuing for the Polish bush, were we spent a great New Year Eve! An evening with great food, too much vodka and no sleep in a log cabin in the forest belonging to Daniel, a great fella who spent 30 years living in Canada, which he missed a lot. A soul mate, no doubt. I am so priviliged to meet these soul mates all over the world. We cruised a village by foot, full of vodka, meeting laughing and celebrating people everywhere and during the night Daniel lost all his horses in a runaway, due to the fire works. So we spent next day looking for them and didn´t find any, really, but I got to see some of the Polish back country and it reminded me of Russia. A distinct smell of coal, half ruined buildings, flat and undulating fields and a penetrating cold.

From here we travelled for a few hours to a Sports Center, who was sponsoring Marcin with the hotell, preparations and the press conference and we spent many hours pouring over the maps and the equipment he had. And I have a few small worries, because he will be travelling in total darkness, minus 50 degrees temperature and his equipment is quite used from other expeditions, but then again, he is after all Polish, and they´re tougher then other Europeans, and especially Americans. Follow his Expedition on www.zewpolnocy.com

Next day we went through all the equipment again and I felt more tired then in a long time. I could feel Marcin worries. It was like he was draining me of energy and of course, I immediately picked up a nasty polish flu, which bedded me immediately. I had a dream that night, that Marcin lost all his fingers and I was stupid enough to tell him about this, and it made him even more worried. the cold terrifies him, which I can understand. Grazyna seemed to be responsibel for my well being and she took care of me as good as it is possible. And that is my major feeling from this visit, the love of this great people.

The third was the day for the press conference and my lecture. Polish TV, radio, sponsors and others were there, plus a lady, Tatiana, who was born in Zyryanka and had spent a big part of her life in Seimchan along the Kolyma. A real Kolymanian! She told the group of her own experiences living in this coldest inhabited place on earth. Very interesting. She felt like a sister to me. I will tell you in a seperate article about the lecture and the response. Another visitor to the press conference was a famed Polish polar Explorer and a guy writing for National Geographic, Marcin Jamkowski, who just spent a long time in the Sudan desert travelling by camel!

Next day, the fourth, I left with Grazyna, early at 6 a.m, after no sleep at all, to travel by car, train and taxi to the airport. Then back to a grey stockholm, hit badly with the flu, but feeling very inspired indeed and with a great longing to return to the Kolyma area again. Marcin is very priviliged!