TUMBLEWEED

AROUND MURMANSK

Teriberka

Териберка

This remote Arctic village on the Barents Sea coast was unknown to the world until the day when the Leviathan film crew arrived here to shoot the film. Teriberka instantly became a hit, just as Leviathan itself after it won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2015. But despite the fact that Teriberka started to attract travellers from all over the world, it's still a very remote place with poor transportation, lack of hotels, cafés and other facilities. In fact, Teriberka hasn't changed at all since its appearance on the screens. The ship graveyard is still there, as well as the dilapidated quay. The road winds between the hills that surround Teriberka only to end abruptly in the middle of nowhere. Although desolate scenes of a decayed Arctic village just as they were seen in the film attract some travellers, it is mainly the Arctic nature that stuns, amazes and scares at the same time. The Barents Sea (which is a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean) is only 2km from Teriberka. Climb the rocks to see the outworldly landscape of the shore, and Arctic seals, ducks, and occasionally whales in the water. In summer, you can also go and sea waterfall nearby. You can either walk to the Barents seashore, or take a snowmible taxi.  Currently, there's only one hotel located in the village of Lodeynoye on the other side of the bay from Teriberka. 

The only way to get to Teriberka is by a dirt road laid through the desolate Arctic tundra. It often gets paralised by the snowfall, sometimes for days and even weeks, and it's well worth checking forecast before you go. If it snowed the day before or expected to snow on the day - better not go. There're buses that leave for Teriberka twice a day but they're very slow, taking around 4h to get to the destination. Taxis are much faster, taking around 2h to cross 130km of tundra. Also, it's good to have an experienced local driver who knows the road and weather conditions, and will be able to help if you do get stuck. However, if you decide to venture there by car on your own, make sure you have a spade or two in the boot of your car and a rope pulling hoist. 

For snowmobile taxi around Teriberka and the Barents Sea, call Evgeny: +7-911-333-58-45, +7-921-514-22-83 (he speaks only Russian). He has a snowmobile, and a sleigh trailer on which he can take up to 5 people at the same time.