PART 1: PLANNING YOUR TRIP
Getting information 9
Getting there
To Russia 11 – The visa 11 – To the north-east and the BAM 12
Itineraries
Six-day tour of the BAM 13 – Tour of the Lena and Yakutsk 15 – Along the AYaAD and AYaM from Yakutsk to Tynda 16
Travel arrangements
Travel agents 17
Travelling conditions
Costs 19 – Money, travellers’ cheques and credit cards 20 – When to go 20 – Health 22 – Russian language 24 – Electricity 24
What to take
What to take checklist 26
PART 2: EN ROUTE
Train travel
Types of trains 27 – Life on a passenger train 27 – Passenger carriages 31 – Buying railway tickets 35 – Changing your ticket 40 – If you can’t get a ticket 40 – Getting off in the middle of nowhere 40
Other methods of transport
Road transport 41 – Air transport 41 – River transport 42
Around a town
Orientation 46 – Getting around 46 – Where to stay 47 – Eating 49 – What to see 51 – Post and telecommunications 52
Security and police
Types of police 55 – The Passport Bureau 57 – Crime on the railways 57
Customs and manners 57
Part 3: BAM MAINLINE ROUTES
Taishet–Bratsk 61
Bratsk–Ust-Kut 67
Ust-Kut–Severobaikalsk 76
Severobaikalsk 84
Exploring North Baikal 91
Severobaikalsk–Novaya Chara 100
Novaya Chara–Tynda 124
Tynda–Novy Urgal 135
Novy Urgal–Komsomolsk-na-Amure 157
Komsomolsk-na-Amure and region 167
Komsomolsk-na-Amure–Sovetskaya Gavan 187
Part 4: BAM BRANCH LINE ROUTES
Khrebtovaya–Ust-Ilimsk 206
Bamovskaya–Tynda (The Little BAM) 207
Izvestkovaya–Novy Urgal–Chegdomyn 210
Khabarovsk–Komsomolsk-na-Amure by train 215
Khabarovsk–Komsomolsk-na-Amure–Nikolaevsk-na-Amure by river 224
Part 5: REPUBLIC OF SAKHA
Sakha and Yakutsk via the Lena River and AYaM 229
The AYaM: Tynda–Neryungri–Aldan–Yakutsk 262
The Kolyma Highway: Yakutsk–Magadan 279
APPENDICES
A: History of the BAM 291 – B: Life in the north-east 317
C: Russian language guide 347 – D: Glossary 351
E: Further study 355 – F: BAM Mainline Timetables 361
ROUTE MAPS 365-72
|
