This feature of the Lena basin is a tourist attraction regularly visited by river cruiser Mikhail Svetlov from Yakutsk.

They are located between the mouths of the Ichera and the Chuya, 172 kilometres (107 mi) upstream from the mouth of the Vitim and 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) downstream from the abandoned village of Chastykh.

[3] The Cheeks of the Lena were described by 19th century travelers: The days were passed in the most dreary and monotonous manner; even the celebrated Cheeks of the Lena afforded no interest at this season.

These are cliffs upon each side of the Lena, between Kirenga and Vittim , which seem to have been severed from each other by some convulsion of nature, and present a remarkable appearance.

(John Dundas Cochrane)[4]We passed some perpendicular rocks, known as the “Cheeks of the Lena,” which contracted the stream to about a quarter of a verst in width, with a current of four knots.