Magadan: The Cold

Everyone I talked to in Vlad was sure I was going to come back an ice cube, and they seemed to take great pleasure in telling me it was going to be fifty below. However, the temperatures in Magadan were quite nice. They were much colder at the beginning of the trip, an average of thirty below in Fahrenheit, but by the end we were roasting in minus seven or eight Celsius (19-22 Fahrenheit).

The first few days were a shock, the cold was intense. Being outside went something like this: first, you go out and feel just fine, because as long as there isn't much wind, and you have the right clothes on, it's not so bad. You start walking, and any tiny puff of wind slices right through any jacket you have and it literally takes your breath away. Your hands are the first to go; your fingers becoming stiff and white, even in the warmest gloves. Next, your toes start to go numb and you feel like there are five marbles attached to your foot. It takes longer for your face to freeze. Of course your nose instantly becomes the color of a tomato, but after a few minutes your cheeks are so cold they feel hot. Then your lips freeze so that your speech becomes a bit slurred and smiling for a photo looks like you're in intense pain. Perhaps the worst part are your legs, especially your thighs; they freeze within minutes and every time you take a step hot bolts of pain shoot up and down. Within ten minutes you are frozen solid, but the good part is that once you can't feel anything, it's all the same anyways. The longest we lasted outside was an hour. We had walked to the sea, to walk on the ice. On the way back we had to run from shop to shop, where we would warm up for a few minutes.The freezing process would begin again as soon as we stepped outside. However it seemed to get faster and faster each time. 

But, overall it wasn't as bad as I had thought, and the temperatures never seemed to keep anyone indoors. There were always people out and about. The city was so compact we went everywhere by foot anyways, so I spent quite a bit of time outside. 

Taking photos was a problem. Taking your hands out your gloves was a painful practice. Even if your fingers did work well enough to take the picture, the camera often died in the cold. On one particularly cold day there was a parade of people all dressed as Santa Clause. They marched through the town to the theatre, where a huge Christmas tree was set up (well, it was actually for New Years). There was a small marching band that played. I don't know how they played without their lips freezing to their instruments. However, they all had covers for their instruments. The tuba was all swathed in a wool bag-thing, with the golden horn sticking out. The clarinet player actually had a sock for his that he could put his hands into and play. The trombone slide was covered, and the trumpeters wrapped their hands up with their trumpet. It was quite funny to see.