mehnatBoth these formulations are very relevant for the southern person wanting to become a temporary or a longer term Siberian, and the second one is especially important during an essential initial stage of acclimatisation. Visitors from India will do well to remain indoors for a couple of days at least and observe their body's reaction to the changed weather, to local air quality including parameters like presence of unfamiliar microbes and/or contaminants in the air, and to a length of daylight period which is almost always different to the daylight period in India. Then they can start by stepping out for a few minutes and slowly increase the period of staying outdoors to a maximum of half an hour or forty minutes. Younger and physically fit people can adjust more quickly. It is also good to not get dehydrated during the flights from India to here via Central Asian cities (including a long transit wait) by drinking fruit juice, avoiding alcoholic drinks, and keeping eye-drops handy. Even in summer when there is no risk of hypothermia it is necessary to acclimatise oneself to the very long daylight period here.
If a person from a warmer country arrives here in the winter and is not properly clad or not acclimatised for outdoor weather conditions then he can get trapped outdoors in the cold due to loss of bearings. The cold can affect the brain and various groundless fears can start. It is very important to protect the forehead from hypothermia to maintain your powers of reasoning and to avoid panic attacks. Walking into the nearest building is sometimes not an option because all apartment buildings here have magnet activated locks. It must be added however that there is a facility within such locks to call the inhabitants of various apartments within the building and you can pretty much always rely on such help (if you have even rudimentary Russian) in order to enter the staircase at least, in order to adjust your clothes. If you are walking in a commercial area then you can walk into a shop or a supermarket for a moment for this purpose —just don't forget to thank the salespersons. Also remember to never neglect to sleep well, especially after reaching home or hotel after long times spent outdoors. Avoid very cheap accommodations and always sleep in a dry and warm bed.
Two woollen mufflers to keep your neck, the back of your neck, and the lower back portion of your head warm are necessary to avoid cold shock to your limbic system. Cold shock can disrupt the functioning of your medulla and cause heart failure. One muffler to cover your mouth and nose is also necessary, as is nourishing cream which is a special type of moisturizer for the face. Ordinary moisturizer will not work here in cold weather. In fact if you are fit and fortunate enough to visit far northern or tundra regions like Yamalo-Nenets, Yakutia (Sakha), or Chukotka, then you can see that locals in those regions apply deer fat or marine fat on their faces to avoid frostbite. The difference between the weather there and in southern parts of Siberia is that summer here is warm, and temperatures going below minus forty are not so common even in winter here; northern folk on the other hand have to constantly deal with permafrost and –in winter– with temperatures around minus fifty to sixty degrees celsius.
Moisturizing cream is used here in Summer. Some moisture is always necessary for legs and arms to prevent itching due to possible allergic reactions to long underwear. Regular showers are very important for the same purpose, as is the need to dry your skin completely before applying cream and starting to wear the innermost layer of clothing. Cotton is not a recommended material even for vests and briefs during winter, and cotton or woollen inners must be avoided. Inners should be of any material which is capable of absorbing sweat and then transferring it to the mid layers of your cold weather outfit instead of holding it within itself. This is because if they do not transfer any absorbed moisture outward then they can aid cooling of the body due to the presence of this moisture, since moisture is capable of sucking out heat from the body. Polyester and polypropylene are good materials for this layer.
Let me mention here that a good place to buy these warm clothes is Siberia itself if you are not able to buy them from the internet or in your city. Any one out of many Siberian cities can serve as your gateway to Siberia —Novosibirsk being the most obvious choice due to its location vis-a-vis India and Central Asia. In Delhi you can try your luck at Yashwant Place but I am not sure what is available there.
The next two or three layers of cold weather clothing can consist of woollen or fleece jackets or pullovers which need not be necessarily waterproof. Then there is the outer layer or layers. For this purpose there are many options ranging from custom seized cheap Chinese synthetic jackets right up to fur jackets whose price depends upon the provenance of the fur. Never forget to check the size, stitching quality and thickness of the hood in any jacket which you might wish to buy. It is necessary in Siberia to buy a jacket with a hood which has some sort of system for quickly fastening it at the front of your face. Make sure while buying that unfastening should be as easy as tying. An optional waterproof wind breaker made of material which is capable of breathing can be the outermost garment on the upper body. Always check zippers for their strength and smoothness of use. Even after buying clothes always pull zippers slowly whenever putting on or taking off clothes. A broken zipper or a stuck one can potentially cause a nasty experience in any part of Siberia.
For protecting your head from the freezing temperatures one or two woollen hats and a large thick hood –attached to the jacket of course– are sufficient. Ear warmers are also good. There is a thick padded contraption which some people wear here around their neck. It looks like a padded collar, and is probably for the purpose of keeping the back of the neck warm. Mufflers can be made to fall fore and aft to further protect the spine and the chest from cold. Long mufflers are better than short ones. Hats, socks and gloves should fit snugly. Hoods should be pulled down tight over hats, and fastened.
A couple of layers of woollen pants or warm track pants are required apart from the inner polyester pants. The innermost pants could be tucked into your socks —or the other way round, depending upon which gives the more snug result. One pair of thick woollen socks is better than two pairs of thin socks. A pair of waterproof and padded pants is necessary as the outermost layer of clothing on your legs. Women can find many varieties of warm inner and outer wear like designer stockings and hosiery, wool lined trousers, fur hats, fashionable warm suits, overcoats, designer mufflers and thigh high boots etc. here which they can either not find in many parts of India or not find in any part of India up to a quality which has been developed by Siberians over hundreds of years.
People who wear glasses need to buy a special liquid and to apply it to their lenses to prevent droplets of water from constantly condensing on them and causing an inability to see the view ahead. This may not be necessary for contact lenses but remember that spectacles provide an additional protection from the cold to the area around your eyes. A small soft cloth to periodically clean your glasses is necessary.
Ankle high boots –with no woollen or fur lining– purchased in India may be good for the journey from Delhi to your accommodation in Siberia but it is necessary to wear boots with an insulating layer here, and such shoes should be purchased as soon as possible once you reach here. It is good for people from warm or hot climates to always have boots which are higher than ankle height than otherwise. If you accidentally step into thick snow then there is a lesser chance of snow getting into your boots in such a case. Siberian men do not usually wear boots higher than ankle height unless they work outdoors in winter. Thick soles are essential for all types of winter shoes. For some reason extra thick soled men's boots are considered a sign of non-traditional sexual orientation. You can buy 7 to 8 mm thick insoles here to replace the thin insoles in your Indian boots, but there is no available way to get fur or wool sewn into your shoes. Cobblers are fairly common here due to the importance of shoes in this climate. They sit in tin huts with Ремонт Обувы, transliteration Remont Obuvy, translation Repair (of) Shoes written in big letters on the outside.
Always be careful when walking on the pedestrian pathways. The snow turns to ice on such paths when people walk over them. Slipping on ice is always a real possibility, and can lead to death if someone slips, gets knocked out, and then does not get rescued. So always walk very slowly on the ice. You can go to a cobbler and ask him to fit набойки / naboiki (metallic heeltaps) into the front and back ends of the bottom of your shoe soles. These are metal plates with various embossments on them to prevent slipping on ice. Walking or stepping on snow should be avoided because one can never be sure how deep it is. Thick gloves which reach at least mid way up your forearm are necessary to avoid having to put your hands in your pockets. If you are travelling in some means of transport and your vehicle breaks down then do not leave it unless directed or suggested by the driver.
Avoid walking barefoot or in your socks. You can walk in slippers at your accommodation and wear sneakers with good socks when you step out in summer. Winter boots have already been described above. Walking barefoot can lead to accumulation of dirt or small particles on your soles. This further leads to small injuries and swelling of feet. Walking becomes painful in such an event. In Siberia as in any other foreign place it is not easy to move around if you cannot walk due to expensive private transport —although Barnaul with its one hundred rouble fixed fare taxis appears to offer an affordable choice. Public transport is good in many cities here, extremely good in others, and terrifically good in Novosibirsk; but it is very cold at all bus stops, trolleybus stops, and tramway stops in winter.
Do not drink water before stepping out in winter. Do not step out with a full bladder. Water inside your body can put a strain on your heart in such a case due to the effort required by your body to stay warm and to keep the water warm. Do not plan a visit to any place for a long time if you are not sure if that place has a toilet which is accessible to you. Avoid alcohol –not just to stay warm but to stay safe. Drink vodka if you have to drink, and do not drink beyond half of your usual limit if you have such a limit. Beer should not be drunk in winter in Siberia because warm beer is not good and cold beer can be harmful in at least two ways. In summer also beer should not be drunk before acclimatisation. There is cobalt in beer which your body cannot excrete, and this puts an additional stress on your organs. If beer is at a low temperature then it can render your warm clothing useless in the event of stepping out after a few drinks. Eating meat is necessary here if you wish to stay warm. Beef is very common here. One might have heard the saying from NRIs that only Indian cows are sacred. One cannot find Indian cows here, nor their meat, although some people are saying that buffalo meat from India might be subjected to a taste test by the Russian palate soon.
Manish Udar
