Ust-Maia

Ust-Maya takes its name from the mouth of the Maya, which joins the Aldan opposite this place. The Maya drains the highlands inland from the Sea of Okhotsk, and its waters reach the Lena by way of the Aldan. In the seventeenth century its valley became part of a route from Yakutsk toward the Pacific coast; later plans envisaged travelling up the Maya to Nelkan before crossing the mountains toward the sea.