Vilyuy

The Vilyuy crosses the northern Central Siberian Plateau on its long journey to the Lena. Its headwaters lie in a forested country of lakes and tributaries, close to the divide separating waters flowing towards the Yenisei. Larch taiga and patches of tundra cover the uplands, while ice holds the rivers through a long winter. With the spring thaw, meltwater swells the streams that feed the eastward-flowing Vilyuy.