The story begins on roads so rural that Jeremy’s car feels like a UFO dropping into a village of a few thousand souls. He jokes about the Singapore and Malaysian plates sticking out like sore thumbs among crumbling apartment blocks. What looks abandoned is actually alive, with laundry flapping out of broken windows. This is Russia’s far east reality: rough towns, long stretches of nothing, and endless railway crossings slicing right through the journey.
The group trudges further toward Skcoordino, a place you’ve probably never heard of, because almost no one outside Russia has ever been there. The relentless rain soaks everything, making the drive gray and heavy, until finally a double rainbow shines like Siberia’s way of saying “sorry for the weather.”
He points out how deserted the routes are: no fuel stops, no cafes, no truck stops until you’re hundreds of kilometers in. The Russian government barely bothers with road maintenance here because traffic is so minimal. To call it isolated is an understatement. Along the way they spot the oddest thing ever: a Thai Airways aircraft sitting mysteriously in the middle of nowhere. Siberia strikes again with its random absurdities.
Finally, civilization appears in Neryungri, a town that somehow balances “desolate and remote” with “strangely modern.” After nearly ten hours of driving, Jeremy’s crew is stunned to see big jewelry stores, banks, and shops in what looks, from the outside, like another forgotten Siberian outpost. Despite fuel shortages, inflated petrol prices, and the terror of running on fumes for 400 kilometers, the town delivers more than expected.
The hotel they find is the biggest surprise, modern, comfortable, and at a shockingly fair price. Jeremy can’t resist poking fun, marveling at how a place tucked away in the Siberian wilderness delivers far better rooms than anticipated. Then comes the quirky nightlife: a bar blasting loud music, urinals recycled from beer kegs, artsy walls, and friendly locals who chat, DJ, and share drinks as if long-lost friends. Jeremy even leaves a Singapore dollar bill behind on the wall, the first of its kind there, symbolic proof that his car really did make it into the beating heart of Siberia’s obscurity.
Between abandoned-looking flats with hidden life, fuel-starved highways, rainbows after endless storms, and a nightclub straight out of a surreal painting, this trip is impossible to forget. If you want to see what happens when Singapore collides with Siberian wilderness, watch this episode now!