Oymyakon, Siberia is the coldest village on Earth. It’s so cold there, that thermometers literally break. The freezing cold village reached a low of -62 degrees Celsius this year, but Oymyakon also holds the record for the coldest recorded temperature in history (outside of Antarctica): a bitterly chilling -67.7 degrees Celsius in 1933.
New Zealand based Photographer Amos Chapple traveled to Oymyakon, Siberia to photograph the everyday life of its roughly 500 inhabitants. He told weather.com: “I remember feeling like the cold was physically gripping my legs, the other surprise was that occasionally my saliva would freeze into needles that would prick my lips.”
Since Chapple traveled there, the temperatures have become even lower, and the citizens of the coldest village on Earth are still braving the elements. Though the broken thermometer showed the temperature at -62 degrees Celsius, locals say it was even colder, claiming the temperature to be as low as -68 degrees Celsius.
The temperatures in Oymyakon, Siberia are so low that it causes people’s eyelashes to freeze. This makes for stunning images but is probably quite uncomfortable.
The main sources of heat for the residents of Oymyakon are burning wood and coal. “people were very wary of the cold,” Amos Chapple told The Telegraph.
Chapple also said, “I’d expected that the locals would be accustomed to the winters and there would be everyday life happening in the streets.” However, they were usually empty.
The village itself is named after the Oymyakon River, which derives from the word “kheium,” meaning “unfrozen patch of water; place where fish spend the winter.”
People still need to drive in the freezing cold village, but their cars need to be stored in heated garages to prevent the engines from freezing. Outside, the cars must be left running.
While people still have to go to work, students in the coldest village on Earth are given a break, as classes are canceled when temperatures are lower than -52 degrees Celsius.
There is only one shop in Oymyakon, Siberia, but it can provide the 500 locals with anything they require, as long as they trek through the freezing cold.
Chapple told the Telegraph: “I remember watching a woman in the village store pick up a frozen sausage for a customer, then immediately warm her fingers against the palm of her hand.”
There is only one route that will take drivers to the freezing cold village. The barren and snowy road is affectionately known as “the Road of Bones.”
Upon entering the village of Oymyakon, visitors are greeted by this sign. It reads “Oymyakon, the Pole of Cold,” an apt description for the coldest village on Earth.
In Oymyakon, Siberia, most of the toilets need to be built outside. This is because the ground is frozen solid, which makes it unsuitable for indoor plumbing.
“The village felt abandoned…everything was happening indoors, and I wasn’t welcome there, so the only companions I had were the occasional street dog or one of the drunks,” Chapple told the Telegraph.
The brand new electronic thermometer installed at the village sign couldn’t handle the extreme freezing temperatures and broke down once they hit -62 degrees Celsius.
Amos Chapple began his journey in Yakutsk, the nearby major city. Temperatures there are also so low that merchants selling fish in the market don’t even need to refrigerate their wares.
The inhabitants of Oymyakon still manage to farm cattle, even in the extreme temperatures. They have to keep their cattle inside a heavily insulated barn during the night.
Amos Chapple told The Telegraph: “They were a tough people. I expected there to be human warmth there but I didn’t experience that at all.”
