TransIrUBBeBAMBa (19) - Summary

View TransIrUBBeBAMBa in a larger map
 

That was my first that long and remote travel, so on one hand I have fresh view, on the other - I'm still relatively unexperienced.


Eastern Russia (cities): expensive, poor standard of accomodation for money. Delicious food, kingdom of plaits. Ugly architecture, but that makes kind of area of interest for a visitor. I can only recommend it only to those who had seen everything and are now into exotic places.
 

Lake Baikal: great place for active tourism. Walk along Circumbaikal line or Great Baikal Trail may be an unforgetable holiday. Because of time and money needed to get there, lakes in Alps may offer overall better value.

Ulaanbaatar: ugly and boring.

 

Mongolia (countryside): spectacular. Next time I'll hire motorbike, take a tent and enjoy modern nomad life. Easier accesible since dropping visa requirement for EU citizens

Beijing: fascinating! We will be back there to see all the things we missed, and try some more of that cuisine. Definitely not in the summer though!
 

China: beatiful mountains. On our way to the Great Wall we met tourists heading for local villages, so there must be plenty of other things to see as well. And China is vast country, so hopefully we will be able to see a bit more.
 

Trans Siberian train - that looks for me like a legend created by travel agencies. There is not much one can do on the train, views through the window aren't that spectacular (if any, when travelling through forests), cities along the route of little charm (see above). Traveling on one of Russian (firmenny) trains at least guarantees comfort, but using Moscow-Beijing service it is plain survival.
Sharing room with 3 other people and toilet with several more is everyday life for many, so I can't see any excitement in that neither.
Forget all the vodka parties and socialising: the trains are patrolled so heavy drinking is a no-no, and everybody minds their own business (using mobile/tablet/headphones). Oh, you need to know local dialect as well, as I did not experience much of English literacy in the area.
 

BAM (Baikal - Amur Mainline) - beautiful scenery, wilder area. If you love train rides (and those are still diesel operated), I would recommend it more than Transsib.

Clearly my feelings are mixed - I do not regret being in some of those places, I just feel (and recommend) for the same time or money spent, one can have nicer memories elsewhere.
One reason that could affect the perception was the intensity of travel: 5 flights, 4 long-distance train rides, hoverplane and all the local journeys, all within just 2.5 weeks - it wore us a bit.

As mentioned, we would love to come back to Mongolia and China, but spend there more time, and rather in the countryside.When we do that, we will share our memories again!

TransIrUBBeBAMBa (18) - Across Lake Baikal: Severobaykalsk - Irkutsk on the hydrofoil

Twelve long hours of turbulence...
There are little waves on the surface of the lake, but at 60 km/h 'Kometa' (comet) hydrofoil is sailing, they act as serious bumps. Luckily one can get outside either at the exit or in the passgage between front and rear compartment. Views are stunning, although that depends on the weather. Also after several hours the beauty of the shoreline somehow fades. Of course the other side of the lake is covered by a veil of haze.

There was quite large passenger exchange at Olchon Island - mind the hydrofoil pier is not very close to the ferry terminal. 

We had a little surprise in Port Baikal, as we were ordered to change to another hydrofoil. I'm not sure if that is typical arrangement or it was only an exception.

See the tracklog for exact location of stops. If you board in Severobaykalsk and don't use a taxi, mind you have to cross the barrier of the naval base and then walk along its perimeter to get to the pier.

TransIrUBBeBAMBa (17) - Severobaykalsk

We stayed in Severobaykalsk 2 nights, with idea to recover after train travel as well as enjoy lake Baikal more. Unfortunately the weather was against us...

We had a walk across the town and I have to admit it is reasonably handsome as for Russian standards: the architects placed the blocks of flats in geometric shapes and put roofs on their tops.It is unfortunately neglected as other places we've seen, with large town park with leftover of what used to be walk paths and even an amusement wheel.

I paid visit to the local museum of history of Baikal-Amur Line, but frankly it is devoted more to pioneers and their heroic achievements than to the railway as such.
The area seems to be a great place for active tourists, with interesting places for hiking, biking, sailing etc.

 
Useful hints:
Where to stay in Severobaykalsk? We stayed in hostel Baikal Wave, which is in principle a private flat with rooms to rent, with shared bathroom and kitchen. The flat is large and clean and the host - very helpful.

Next: Across Lake Baikal: Severobaykalsk - Irkutsk on the hydrofoil

TransIrUBBeBAMBa (16) - Khabarovsk - Severobaykalsk: Transsib and BAM

The most train intensive part of the journey, and anticipated to be the most attractive: the stretch of the Transsiberian route crossing the Siberia itself, and then the less popular, northern and mostly diesel operated Baykal-Amur line. We boarded train 325 Khabarovsk - Nerungri (further part to Yakutsk is still under construction). The coach was very similar to the Chinese (no back rests and headrests, simple storage nets) and upon inspection appeared to be German built in 1990. So the Chinese was either the same type or it's copy. Shame on them again, to use a quarter century old rolling stock on 7 days route. On top of that our was equipped in sort-of-aircon (temperature stopped raising when turned on) and was acceptably clean inside (the window needed to have inspection holes wiped in the outside dirt though).The provadtnitsyas can be grumpy or strict, but they do their duties properly, with small details like wiping handrails when opening the coach door making big difference.

As for the travel itself not much to be remembered: forest on the left, forest on the right, occasionally a villige stuck in timewarp...

In the morning I tried to buy tomatoes for the breakfast, but for whatever reason the locals on the platform would sell me a whole bucket (200RUB) only.

In Skorovidino for the dinner we bought still warm dumplings with cabbage or mashed potato filling - delicious and only 100RUB for 10 pieces. 

That is where a diesel locomotive got attached and we diverted on the ' Little BAM'

After not so good night in Tynda we headed straight back to the station, I skipped the only attraction of the place : BAM museum.

The station building is of rather futuristic architecture. the other noticeable accent is passage to the platform: it is very high( the only reason for that big track clearance I can think of is to allow nuclear missiles to be transported without problem) and each of the steps is of different height, lenght, slope and their edges can be sharp, slanted or rounded.

Even though the train (075 to Moscow Kazansky station) comes from Nerungri early, it stays inaccessible for the time of manoeuvres.

This leg was was a bit more of hardcore: instead of kupe (kupeiny, with compartments) we chose platskarny coach. The difference is no compartment as such, apart from partitions made by walls the beds are attached to. There are also beds along the other side of the coach (bokove, literally ‘side’, where the corridor would be in kupe), the lower one of those also includes fold-out table, so may be of little comfort. This time booking places right next to provadtnitsya was beneficial, as the side beds were used as bedding storage, so as a result we had arrangement like in a compartment with the door open permanently. Thing to note is that the beds are shorter to fit the side row of beds. Thanks to increased capacity the price is accordingly lower.

The area the BAM line passes through is much more hilly, and the following morning we woke up with beautiful mountain backdrop. The stretch near the Severomuysky tunnel is definitely the most spectacular part of the journey. 

Useful hints:

Where to stay in Tynda? Use 'komnaty otdykha' (resting rooms) right at the station (2nd floor). We had our accomodation in the town booked through Russian tourist agency, but when we arrived, it appeared hostel owner offered it to somebody else. That way after day and a half of travel, at midnight, with a child, we ended up in the middle of nowhere looking for alternative room in 'Gostinitsa Yunost'.

There is absolutely nothing in the town anyway, so it is half an hour walk from/to the station wasted.

Read Matt Suppelsa's (Travel) Blog for additional information and nice lecture.

Next: Severobaykalsk