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Updated information PART 1: PLANNING YOUR TRIPGetting there To Russia (p11) There is now a weekly plane between Magadan and Anchorage, Alaska, USA (see below). Travel arrangements Travel Agents ,Yakutsk (p18) New email address for TourService Center Ltd: Tel. 5, ul. Oktyabrskaya, Yakutsk, Russia 677000, ( +7 4112 25 11 44, fax +7 4112 25 08 97, email info@yakutiatravel.com). PART 2: EN ROUTE Also Appendix F The following, recommended by a reader, may be worth checking out: http://www.timetable.tsi.ru is the Russian railway timetable site and is the free version of http://www.express-2.tsi.ru, which is the actual booking system of the Russian Railways. The free version is updated every few weeks. The www.timetable.tsi.ru site has an English version but it appears not to accept parameters (eg, station names), so you will need to use the Russian version. Another reader, Johannes Wittlinger, suggests the website www.db.de (under international guests is an English version), for timetables. Note that the time used is always Moscow time. PART 3: MAINLINE ROUTES Severobaikalsk Where to stay (p89) Homestay in Severobaikalsk "It's definitely worth a visit to go to the north of lake Baikal. Beautiful nature, high mountains, the BAM and astonishing views on the Baikal. I can really recommend it. We went there in June 2004 and were really enthusiastic about it. Tourism is not very big yet in Severobaikalsk or Nizhne Angarsk so itís hard to find a place to stay if you are on a budget trip. But I can recommend homestay. His name is Jewgeni, he once worked for the BAM and now tries to earn money by renting his house to backpackers and working as a mountain guide for them. He can show you really nice places, little beautiful lakes, one day mountain trips a nice walk along the rivers and so on. His house is very basic. He has a out-house and for a shower you have to heat up the water with a heater. But he has electricity and running water, a equipped kitchen. He takes you to the local market to buy food and you can drink some vodka or beer with him in the backyard. His address is: Jewgeni Straschew ul. Leningradskaja 3, kw 14 Severobaikalsk 671701 Burjatia Russia Tel: 30139 (Vorwahl Severobaikalsk) 24445 You can bargain with him about the price per night. We paid 300 roubles per night. And we paid him 500 roubles for the guiding. He is a very helpful and friendly person, can tell you a lot of stories about the BAM and the life in Severobaikalsk. Not to forget he speaks fluently German and little bit English. We enjoyed it very much and became friends." Tobi Schwarzmueller PART 5: REPUBLIC OF SAKHA Yakutsk Where to stay (p236) Warning – Hotel Lena has a bad reputation and unsavoury characters hang out in the billiard room all day. TourService Center Ltd can organize home-stays including in many remote settlements in Yakutia. Getting assistance (p237) New email address for TourService Center Ltd – see above. PART 6: THE KOLYMA HIGHWAY Magadan Getting there and away (p288) There is now a weekly flight to/from Anchorage, USA: The flight (with a stop in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski) leaving Magadan on Friday evening arrives in Anchorage on Friday morning, the flight leaving Anchorage on Friday morning arrives in Magdan on Saturday morning. The flight is on Magadan Airlines ‘Mavial’. It must be booked direct, using cash. For further information phone (+1) 907-248-2994. |
Siberian BAM Guide - Rail, Rivers & Road