I figured if anyone knew, it would be a travel agent in Yakutsk. I tracked one down, and he replied that special permission was no longer needed, although visa registration was still required—in any Russian city, foreigners staying more than three business days must register with the local police. This probably made my job harder. If special permission was still needed, the tour agency would have arranged that and handled my visa registration for me.

Two of my friends in Yakutsk—both named Dima—offered to help me out with the registration. One Dima is a police officer, so we hoped he’d be able to sort through the maze. The three of us headed down to the local registration office. Arriving at 11:30 a.m., we found a long line of Russians registering their passports—yes, Russians go through this, too—and a sign that read “Hours of operation: 9-12.”

"That’s right,” the bureaucrat agreed. “To hell with the registration. Don’t register."

Knowing that it was impossible for us to get in before closing time, we decided to come back the next day, this time earlier.

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