How to visit the Nenets in Yamalia (Arctic Russia)

The Nenets are an ethnic group indigenous to Arctic Russia, a group of nomads and reindeer herders living in the extreme north of Siberia, in one of the most challenging environments in the world.

Despite living in one of the most isolated places on Earth, today it’s possible to meet Nenets, while staying in their camps.

This is the rawest and most authentic experience you will ever have.

This guide will tell you everything you need to know to visit the Nenets in Russia’s extreme north.

Remember that we have scheduled Nenets Expeditions on the following dates:

For practical information, check our Russia Travel Tips

In this travel guide to Yamal, you will find:

Introduction to coexisting with Nenets

Since 2014, I have been traveling in some of the remotest areas in the world.

From riding on top of an iron ore train across the Sahara to having all Djenné just by myself in Mali or reaching the Minaret of Jam by public transportation in Afghanistan; I have experienced endless raw adventures, for which I consider myself very fortunate.

However, a few days of coexisting with Nenets in north Russia reached a different level.

Just imagine a group of people living in what is perhaps, the most unknown and remotest region in the world: Arctic Russia.

This part of Arctic Russia (Yamalia, north Siberia) is not only extremely freezing, but it’s massively isolated, there aren’t any roads, and there’s absolutely nothing but endless frozen tundra.

Still, Nenets choose to live there out of a tent and a few hundred reindeer, that’s all they have.

The Arctic tundra is Nenets’ actual home, where they live and keep moving 365 days a year under the most extreme weather conditions, surviving from reindeer blood, meat and little else.

Coexisting with Nenets is an extremely uncomfortable trip, and the reason is that their life is really hard, but that’s precisely the point: to experience what it is like to live in the Arctic tundra of Siberia.

Trust me, nothing can get as raw as that.

Location: where are the Nenets?

Tundra Nenets live in the northern part of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, an autonomous region that belongs to Tyumen Oblast.

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