One week later, still finding mud
A weekend full of Bukhankas, campfires, offroad lessons, recovery ropes and the kind of beautiful chaos only this community understands.
Photography by Chris Heijmans
One week later, we are still finding mud. Under the floor mats, behind the pedals, somewhere inside the door seals and probably in places UAZ never officially designed to hold mud.
That can only mean one thing: the Aanmodderaars Meeting in the Land van Maas en Waal was exactly what it needed to be.
From 12 to 14 June 2026, the Bukhankas came together again for a weekend full of driving, camping, laughing, wrenching, getting stuck, getting unstuck and collecting stories. Not polished. Not perfectly organised. Just Bukhankas, people, mud and the kind of beautiful chaos this community is built on.
Aanmodderen with a capital A
This edition felt different from the start. Not just a relaxed drive and a campsite full of UAZ vans, but a weekend with real offroad challenges. The terrain in the Land van Maas en Waal had everything a Bukhanka needs to feel important: forest, open fields, water, ruts, mud and just enough doubt to keep things interesting.
Some sections looked harmless. Those are usually the dangerous ones. Before you know it, a Bukhanka is standing ankle-deep, knee-deep or philosophically deep in the mud, and the question appears: do we keep going, or do we pretend this was exactly the plan?
With the Aanmodderaars, the answer is usually both.
Learning what a Bukhanka can do
What made this meeting extra special was the professional offroad guidance on the terrain. For many drivers, it was a great chance to discover what their Bukhanka can really do. And maybe even more important: what they themselves dare to do.
A Bukhanka can do a lot, but it asks something in return. Stay calm, look carefully, feel what the vehicle is doing, sometimes commit, sometimes back off. It is not a modern SUV that solves everything for you. It is a simple, stubborn machine that works with you, as long as you have at least some idea what you are doing.
Beginners could gain confidence, experienced drivers could make things as interesting as they wanted, and by the end of the day everyone had at least one new story.
Clean vehicles are temporary. Good stories stay around a little longer.
Recovery is part of the game
Getting stuck is part of mudding through. Not as a failure, but as part of the programme. That is why the recovery workshop fitted this weekend perfectly.
Winches, recovery straps, ropes, hi-lifts, safe vehicle recovery and knowing what to do before you actually need it. That is the kind of knowledge you would much rather learn during a meeting than alone in a dry ditch. Or a slightly less dry one.
People watched, laughed, helped and learned. And as always with the Aanmodderaars, when one person gets stuck, half the group appears within minutes. One with a recovery strap, one with advice, and at least three people with comments that solve absolutely nothing technically but do save the mood.
Camping, campfire and Bukhanka stories
As good as the driving was, the best part might still be everything that happened around the vehicles. The campsite, the terrain, the campfire, the barbecue, the children, the dogs, the stories and the endless conversations about parts, trips, strange noises, leaks and “yes, mine does that too”.
That is the real strength of this community. A Bukhanka is never just a vehicle. It is a conversation starter, a travel companion, a workshop on wheels and sometimes a very effective way to make new friends.
Every bus has its own story. Some still shine a little. Others carry their adventures very visibly. Dents, mud, stickers, clever solutions, questionable solutions and things that were probably meant to be temporary but have somehow worked for years.
Exactly as it should be.
Bukhanka-only, but never alone
The Aanmodderaars Meeting remains special because it is truly about the Bukhanka. Not about perfect vehicles, not about show cars and not about who has the most expensive gear. It is about people who understand why this strange Russian cult van gets under your skin.
You can love and curse a Bukhanka in the same sentence. It rattles, leaks, creaks, surprises you and asks for attention. But it also takes you to places where normal vans have already given up. And when things go wrong, it usually does not become a disaster. It becomes a story for later.
That is exactly what this weekend showed again.
Thanks to everyone who made it happen
A weekend like this does not happen by itself. Behind it are organisation, preparation, terrain rental, guidance, workshops, route planning and, most of all, a lot of love for the community.
A big thank you to Chris Heijmans for making this weekend happen and for capturing it so well through his photography. And of course, thank you to everyone who helped turn this edition into another proper Aanmodderaars story.
It was also great to see how the UAZ world continues to support each other. UAZ Specials and UAZPARTS.COM were involved from the same love for these stubborn machines. Not to take over the community, but to help where possible: with knowledge, parts, experience and the simple goal of keeping as many UAZ vehicles moving as possible.
Because in the end, that is what it is all about. Keep driving together. Keep learning together. Keep laughing when things once again go slightly differently than planned.
One week later
The weekend is over now. Most Bukhankas are back home, some cleaner than others. Washing machines have been working overtime. There is probably still sand in someone’s sleeping bag. And somewhere, when a door opens, another piece of Land van Maas en Waal will fall out of a rubber seal.