Man takes 13,000-km taxi ride to promote Russian tourism

A young man from St. Petersburg has paid $4,000 to travel across Russia in a five-week, 13,000-km taxi ride from his hometown to one of the country’s easternmost cities, Magadan.

Nikita Arkhipov, the intrepid traveler in question, is not crazy, in case you were wondering. His intentions were actually quite reasonable: the promotion of domestic tourism and, of course, eternal glory.

“I wanted to support the expedition and wanted my name to remain in history, as my taxi ride is set to make the Guinness book [of records],” Arkhipov told Russian media outlet LIFE News.

Although it is not yet clear whether record status will be granted, the young traveler is rather pleased with his trip.

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“I reached the destination with comfort, but for a few troubles […] I am quite satisfied with the route we’ve covered and believe an opportunity to call a cab and travel across the country, just like that, should be available everywhere,” he mused.

Arkhipov’s taxi, which he shared with a girlfriend up to a certain point in the journey, was one of six vehicles that took part in the trip dubbed ‘Up and gone to Magadan.’ Another taxi drove two more passengers part of the way – to Irkutsk – while six more people rode their motorbikes. Six of the initial 12 adventurers reached their destination in Magadan, but the rest were forced to turn back.

The epic journey was not without its difficulties, with vehicle malfunctions, extreme weather conditions and mud-locked roads getting in the way. The journey was almost called to a halt when a bridge over the Elga River in the Russian republic of Sokha collapsed following heavy rainfall. One of the drivers, a 63-year-old man, had to stay behind and live in his car for nine days while the bridge was repaired.

The expedition will result in a documentary on travel, depicting the picturesque nature and spots of interest of central and eastern Russia.

“The film crew is assembling a documentary about all the places, cities, and towns we’ve visited. The main goal is for people to see [all that] and come visit, for young people to travel more across their own country. Those in Moscow and St. Petersburg, for example, don’t know how their countrymen in Siberia live,” Pavel Kobyak, the leader of the trip, told Yakutia Media.