Vitim River (Russian: Витим; Buryat: Витим Vitim) is a major tributary of the Lena River. With its source east of Lake Baikal, the Vitim flows 1,978 km north through the Transbaykalian Mountains and the town of Bodaybo. The river peaks in June and freezes from November to May. It is navigable from the Lena to Bodaybo. Upstream, tugs can haul barges as far as the BAM, but this is becoming rare. Formerly, because of its swift current, goods were hauled overland from Chita 144km to a place called Romanovka. There boats were built, floated down the river, and broken up at their destination. This lasted until the late 1940s. The Vitim is an excellent place for adventure rafting, but is rarely visited because of its isolation.
The first Russian to explore the river was probably Maksim Perfilyev in 1639-1640, who brought back reports of the upper Amur River.
Baissa, one of the famous localities of fossil insects is situated on the left bank of the Vitim River.
Read more about Vitim River: Along The Vitim, Vitim Event
Famous quotes containing the word river:
“In order to get to East Russet you take the Vermont Central as far as Twitchell’s Falls and change there for Torpid River Junction, where a spur line takes you right into Gormley. At Gormley you are met by a buckboard which takes you back to Torpid River Junction again.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)