Dave:
I'm not surprised you were unable to find Ungud on a map. It is a small village of about 800 people located about 2.5 hours north of Krasnoyarsk. You get off the main (i.e., partially paved) road and then drive for about 70 km on unpaved heavily rutted roads during which the only vehicles you see are Ukrainian made jeeps and what appear to be Russian Army jeeps of WWII vintage. There are actually two additional villages on the road further off the main road than Ungud the last of which is known as the end of civilization by the locals.
The villages are located in what is referred to as the Russian Taiga (evergreen woods that are so thick that they really can't be entered). All of the villages in the area were settled by people exiled to Siberia in the Stalin area for one reason or another. Interestingly, like many parts of rural Vermont, New Hampshire, Colorado, etc. the area is becoming a bit gentrified as people from the city of Krasnoyarsk, almost all of whom live in apartments, are buying the old log cabins ripping them down and building vacation cabins.
The locals still get their water from the river, have outhouses, and burn wood to stay warm in the winter. I'd say that the average age of villages is probably in the 70s (or older).
We are working with Krasnoyarsk State University at supporting the inclusion of children with disabilities in the schools and were in Ingud to talk with the educators at the village school which serves 3 villages and 60 kids K-12. They refuse to label kids as having disabilities because the gov't will then require them to hire special education teachers so they prefer to take care of their own so to speak.
The people are wonderful and make the best of what they have in an area where there is snow on the ground from late October until late May (great cross country ski country). Spent an amazing two days there connecting with people whose language I can't even come close to understanding but was able to connect with through our mutual love of music.
