“The Hundredth meridian” expedition – is a global action, that was considered by the famous traveler Nikolai Rundquist. It is supposed to cross the Asia from the equator to the very northern point of it within 11 months. 11670 kilometers by bicycles, 3635 - rafting down the rivers, 375 – hiking and 705 kilometers – skiing. Via Indochina, Tibet, Gobi (desert), Mongolia, Baikal (Lake), down the rivers Lena and Kotui, then around Taimyr Peninsula towards the Cape Chelyuskin.
Below you can find the story told by Nikolai Rundquist how he has got the design of “the Hundredth meridian” expedition. “The idea of “the Hundredth meridian” expedition took its final shape in the February of 1998 after the project “Along the roads of Russia-97”, included crossing of Russia from the west border to the extreme eastern point (the expedition had started near Vyborg and had finished on the Cape Dezhnev). For the next voyage it was considered to cross Russia from south to north (from the mountain Bazarduzu in Dagestan till the Cape Chelyuskin on Taimyr Peninsula). Our regular participant Kostia Merzhoev put forward the “crazy” idea –to cross from south to north not Russia but all the Asian continent. Studying of globe gave us an unexpected discovery. It is proved to be that the southern and the northern points of Asia locate near the hundredth meridian of eastern longitude. And what is more, that meridian is the only on the globe along which you can reach the extreme northern point of continent from the equator by land.
The principle of choice of vehicles for “the Hundredth meridian” expedition is the same as for the travelling in 1997: while there are roads we use bicycles, the rest was “just anyway”- it means rafting down the rivers where direction was suitable, hiking or skiing”. Certainly it is a very complicated action in physical, financial and organizational senses. And if it was somebody other who designed all this you could say surely that nothing would happen. But it was the same “nothing would happen” when Rundquist planned to hike along the Ural; to cross Russia by motorcycles, by foot and by raft; to reach the North Pole without any polar experience… All these “crazy ideas” came true. The expeditions started and finished, they resulted in books, photo albums and movies. The team that will join Rundquist for travel along the Hundredth meridian is going into training now.

19.07.01