After spending four years in Russia’s Yakutia, which hosts the coldest village on Earth, a Nigerian man decided to share his chilling experience online, calling his blog: “The Northest African in the World.”
This brutally cold part of Russia doesn’t seem like a good place for an African-born language teacher, but Mark Babatunde is enjoying his life in Yakutia, which he now calls home.
If you wonder how the man became the “Northest African in the World” than you should know that it’s all about love. He met a Yakutian girl, Natalia, when he studied in China and decided to perform a northward journey with her.
Mark confessed to journalists that he was shocked when he arrived.
“The cold was the worst thing. I wasn’t used to living like the people do here,” he said.
It’s no wonder as the average winter temperatures in Yakutia stand at minus 35 Celsius, while the winter lasts for a whole nine months. It’s also home to the village Oymyakon where a Guinness World Record of minus 71.2 Celsius was measured back in 1926.
But cheerful and expansive Mark adapted fast. He now has three kids with Natalia and a job as a teacher of Chinese and English at a school in village of Oi. His pupils absolutely adore him, saying that Babatunde is “a great teacher and person.”
A local delicacy called ‘Stroganina’ – slices of raw fish or meat served cold – has become one of Mark’s favorite treats. He also learned to speak Russian and his Yakutian is also improving by the day.
In the first episode, Mark is seen sporting a giant fur coat as he rides a local woolly horse. The blogger then feeds the weird-looking animals, but the cold gets to him at some point.
“My face is freezing. I have to go inside a car before I go down,” the man shouts as he flees to take shelter.
Mark’s video was pretty well filmed and included some breathtaking views of Yakutia’s scenery, so we’ll be eagerly awaiting his new clips.
Watch a video of the man below:
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