Riding the BAM Road – Crossing the Vitim River Bridge and Day 5 to Taksimo

Arriving at the famous Vitim River bridge sun rays were shinning through the clouds creating a dramatic feeling overlooking the daunting bridge. The Vitim Bridge is renowned to be one of the most dangerous road bridges in the world, about half a kilometer long and 15 meters high over the fast-flowing Vitim River. One of the major supporting pillars got washed away a few months ago, leading to the bridge officially being closed. There is no other way over and we were determined to take on the challenge of crossing the famous bridge anyway!

At first our plan was to camp at the river and cross the next morning, but locals had told us there was a bear in the area. Thinking that this time we would just ignore this and get on with it, we started looking for a place to set up camp.. and found bear poop all over the place. So we decided that it would be better to camp on the other side of the river and cross the bridge straight away. Probably better anyway – then we don’t have so much time to think about it!

There is a long cable down the middle and many big planks missing, leaving huge gaping holes in the bridge. So we decided riding over wasn’t an option for us. Starting out pushing both our bikes behind each other, we soon realised this was not possible, as the bikes kept getting stuck in the holes and had to be pushed over together. So we left one behind and started the long venture over. Looking out for holes and building supports for the bike to roll over, whilst trying not to loose balance was challenging. Kate was pushing and balancing the bike and Flo who was steering, had to jump over the holes whilst the bike was balancing on the planks. From one major hole to the other it was also possible to jump on the bike and ride a little. Finally after an hour both bikes were on the other side!

We set up camp near the river, made a huge campfire and tried to eat dinner whilst being eaten alive by mosquitoes at the same time. But we were too tired to bother!
The next morning relieved that we had tackled the bridge and happy that we had made it so far, we set out on the last challenging stretch of the BAM to Taksimo.
The area was very wet and swampy which meant crossing many deep and long muddy puddles. And yes, wet feet again! After another few very wonky wooden bridges (which did not really impress us anymore at this point) the road improved and we enjoyed the last stretch before rolling into Taksimo.