Two men (one British, one American) recently crossed the Bering Strait on foot, from Alaska to the Russian far east. The crossing took 15 days, after which they were promptly arrested by Russian authorities for entering without passing through passport control, as well as not having registered with the police on arrival (which, presumably, they failed to do due to the inconvenient lack of police or immigration offices along the Alaska-Chukotka border).

Keith Bushby said the travelers were headed south down the coast en route to the city of Provideniya, about 380 miles northeast of Anadyr, to officially register with Russian authorities. But they were stopped on their way there in the small village of Lavrenty, about 500 miles northwest of Anadyr.

Orlov said the detained men had Russian business visas but failed to complete registration procedures as foreigners are required to do. The pair also had satellite phones, GPS mapping equipment, a video camera and a pistol, he said.

The men are hoping that the Russian authorities are kind enough to let them continue their journey on foot. Whether this is a realistic hope is unknown; is Chukotka (the province of Russia facing Alaska) even open to foreigners? I've never seen it appear in a guidebook to Russia.

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