Off the beaten path along the Baikal-Amur Mainline
AUGUST 20 ⇾ AUGUST 31
Additional private tour departures available all year round
ITINERARY
DAY 1 - Irkutsk
Our tour guide will meet you in the arrival hall of Irkutsk International Airport (exact meeting time will be communicated well in advance per email in accordance to your flight schedule).
Introductory briefing about the region, the route and the set of rules to observe while travelling in Siberia.
Soviet-themed city tour around Irkutsk and short boat excursion on the mighty Angara River.
Lunch, dinner and overnight in Irkutsk.
DAY 2 - Angara River
In the morning we'll transfer to the river port of Balagansk to board a Soviet-era vessel and begin our journey along the Angara to Bratsk, a major transportation hub along the Baikal-Amur Mainline.
During the 7-to-8-hour ride you will enjoy the languid and romantic atmospheres of this sleepy corner of Russia and see abandoned villages and hamlets inhabited by old nostalgic dwellers, whose lifeline is represented by the Angara itself.
In the afternoon we'll reach Bratsk and enjoy a short walking tour around the Soviet downtown.
Dinner and overnight in Bratsk.
DAY 3 - Bratsk
We’ll spend the day touring Bratsk and its surroundings particularly focussing on the impressive Soviet engineering heritage of the area (i.e. the colossal Bratsk Dam) and its less fancy ecological and cultural consequences (i.e. the dying impoverished hamlets of the upper Angara).
In the evening we’ll board a night train to Severobaikalsk and start our railroad adventure along the BAM, a strategic alternative route to the Trans-Siberian Railway crossing the untamed wilderness of Eastern Siberia.
Dinner and overnight on the train.
DAY 4/5 - Severobaikalsk
In the morning we’ll reach Severobaikalsk, the main urban settlement on the northern shore of the legendary Baikal Lake.
During our time in the area we’ll travel along the shoreline of the Baikal and enjoy the many natural wonders and stunning views of this little-visited area of the lake.
Here up north we’ll have also the chance to spot the unique and relatively rare Baikal seals, a species of freshwater earless seal endemic to the Baikal and arguably the most isolated population of seals on the planet.
In the evening, for those up to a true Soviet holiday experience, we will have the chance to plunge in the hot springs at Goudzhekit, just 30-minute drive west of Severobaikalsk.
We’ll spend one night in Severobaikalsk and then - in the evening of our fifth tour day - we’ll board a night train to Novaya Chara, our next stop along the BAM.
DAY 6/7 - Chara Sands and Kodar Range
In the morning we’ll reach Novaya Chara, a remote Soviet settlement founded ad hoc during the construction of the line and the starting point for trekking routes to both the Kodar Mountains and the Chara Sands, a 37-square-km area of majestic and surreal sand dunes northwest of the settlement.
We’ll spend two full days in the area basing ourselves in the village of Chara, also known as Old Chara to differentiate it from Novaya Chara further south, and explore the stunning pristine landscapes of this isolated and rarely travelled region of impervious green mountains and miniature red deserts.
Dinners and overnights in Old Chara.
DAY 8 - Tynda
In the morning we’ll board a rickety Soviet train to Tynda, a rather desolate urban reality informally referred to as the capital of the Baikal-Amur Mainline and notoriously harbouring a secretive community of North Korean loggers living in a dire condition of modern slavery.
We’ll spend the entire day on the train; a ride on a Soviet-era train in Siberia is a destination of its own: we'll travel in the company of local merchants, commuters, farmers and holiday-goers and at the end of the trip you'll feel like you've known each other for ages; each carriage is like a big family moving on rusty tracks: we'll share food, stories, vodka and laughs, while the crumbling hamlets and dark forests of Eastern Siberia will roll past out of the window.
Late in the night we'll finally reach Tynda and quickly transfer to our hotel for the night.
Lunch and dinner on the train; overnight in Tynda.
DAY 9/10 - BAM
We’ll spend the morning touring Tynda and its surroundings particularly focussing on the history of the BAM.
After lunch we’ll pay a visit to the local museum, in which, alas only in Russian, the heroic construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline is detailedly narrated through a rich display of pictures, videos, artefacts and documents.
In the late afternoon we’ll board yet another Soviet train for a 36-hour ride to Komsomolsk-on-Amur, a large and Soviet-history-rich town on the eastern end of the BAM.
Meals and overnights on the train.
DAY 11 - Komsomolsk
Early morning arrival in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, transfer to our hotel and lazy morning at the hotel spa.
Slow-pace day devoted to to the Soviet urban exploration of Komsomolsk-on-Amur: Lenin statues, Soviet memorials, modernist architectures and fish bazaars.
Lunch, dinner and overnight in Komsomolsk.
DAY 12 - Flight back home or transfer to further destinations
After enjoying a last Siberian-style breakfast together we'll take care of your transfer to the airport/train station of choice.
For those flying out: transfer to either Komsomolsk Regional Airport or Khabarovsk International Airport.
For those wishing to take the bus/train to reach further destinations: transfer to the local bus/train station.
Possible tour extensions to this itinerary include: Sakhalin and/or Yakutia.
End of the tour.
4200 €
The price includes: double/twin room accommodation (breakfast included; single supplement: 20 euros/night), private and public transport in the region (car/minivan/ferry/train), entrance fees for the attractions listed in the itinerary, English-speaking guiding and translation service, 24/7 in situ and remote assistance.
The price does not include: single supplement, international flights, meals, drinks and tips, visas if required, entrance to attractions not listed in the itinerary, insurance.
The route of this tour has been carefully designed after several research trips in the region. It is, however, always possible to slightly modify the itinerary according to the needs and the suggestions of the participants. Our motto is flexibility.