Trail of the woodsman - 3

Project dates: August 18 - 31, 2010

Project duration: Two weeks

Languages: Russian and English

Project location: Barguzinskii Forest Service Unit, Barguzinskii Bay, Maksimikha Cape, southeastern coast of Lake Baikal, Republic of Buryatia , Russia.

(If you have  Google Earth program, you can see a map of this project).

Setting: The GBT volunteer camp will be located on the sandy beach of the picturesque Maksimikha Cape, on the southeastern shore of Lake Baikal . Maksimikha Cape is part of Barguzin Bay, the biggest and one of the most beautiful bays of Baikal. The water in the bay is comfortable for swimming in the summer months, and inland from the beach is a pine, birch forest. The project site is about 1 km from a tourist camp, which was inactive last year, and 12 km from Maksimikha, a village with about 700 mainly Russian and Buryat residents, located on the shore of the lake. 

Long-term Goal: The long-term goal is to construct a 32 km trail from Maksimikha Cape to the Ust-Barguzin settlement.  This trail will become part of a longer, 300 kilometer trail, from Ulan-Ude to Ust-Barguzin that follows the historical “ Barguzin Highway .” The Barguzin Highway connected Ulan-Ude and the town of Barguzin when Barguzin was first settled 350 years ago. For three hundred years, hunters and merchants traveled this highway, which goes along the shore of Baikal and into the taiga forests and river valleys of the Barguzin region, bringing sable and gold back to the city. In the 1960s, a new road was constructed further inland and the old highway became overgrown with tall grass and trees.

Project Work: The volunteers will be laying out the trail, clearing the trail corridor, building log bridges and dikes, marking the trail, and constructing rest stops. 

The section of the trail we are working on now will be an educational environmental trail and will be used by the many tourists who visit in this area.  One of the main attractions for hikers is the incredible beauty of the shore. 

Work Schedule: The group will work for 5 days a week, 6 hours a day with rest breaks and a longer break for lunch. Please read the description of a typical day at the camp.  Depending upon weather conditions and the mood of the group, the crew leader has the right to change the daily working schedule.

Entertainment and Relaxation: Volunteers will spend two weeks living in tents on a sandy beach on the shore of Maksimikha Bay. This is one of the best resort areas on Baikal, and everyone will have plenty of opportunity to swim in the clear waters of Lake Baikal, watch glorious sunrises and sunsets, take walks, fish, or simply relax with a book.  The project’s crew leader will organize a trip either to the Zabaikalskii National Park, where you will climb Holy Nose Mountain , which offers an unforgettable view of Baikal, or to the Barguzin Valley famous for its magnificent vistas and rich indigenous history. Also the project’s crew leader will organize the excursion to the outdoor museum called “Svetlaya polana”.

Meals and Accommodations:  On this project we will set up a stationary tent camp on the shores of Lake Baikal. You will live in rather primitive, wilderness conditions: in tents with a pit latrine, cooking over a campfire. There will be three hot meals and two snacks a day, and volunteers will share cooking and cleaning duties during the project.  (By the way, the GBT staff will buy all necessary cooking ingredients in advance of the project. See our MENU for examples.) Most likely there will be no other groups in the area, so you will enjoy the solitude and beauty of the area without any outside distractions. Please note: you will need to carry your own personal belongings and camp gear to and from the camp site.

Contribution Fee: 13900 Rubles (approximately $ 450 US or      ˆ 320  please check the current exchange rate at http://www.cbr.ru/eng/currency_base/daily.asp). The contribution fee covers: a visa invitation from the GBT organization; meeting you at the airport or train station in Irkutsk and/or Ulan-Ude; helping to arrange your accommodation in Irkutsk and/or Ulan-Ude; visa registration with the Russian authorities; arranging transportation to Maksimikha, the project start (note: transportation to Maksimikha  is not included in the contribution fee.); transportation within the project; all meals on the project; services of a crew leader and interpreter during the project; all administrative expenses; project entertainment costs including the week-end excursion; tools and other equipment, including a two-person tent. 100% of the project fee goes for direct project expenses.

Required Experience: None

Age Range:  18-60 years

Additional Requirements:  Please make sure to carefully read the General Information for Volunteers and the List of Necessary Equipment.

Fitness: Trail building includes: walking 1 - 4 kilometers a day through forested areas possibly with no paths; carrying and using picks, shovels, and other tools to dig out vegetation and make a path; lifting logs and other debris; hand sawing; etc. You will need to carry your personal stuff, project gear (i.e. tents) and food all the way to the project site, so it may be somewhat physically challenging.

Transportation and Meeting Location: Volunteers travel independently to Ulan-Ude. Once in Ulan-Ude, you will travel as a group by minibus the 230 km to the project starting point near the village of Maksimikha . In general, it takes 7 hours to get from Ulan-Ude to the starting point and costs between 600 and 700 rubles (approximately $ 27 US or ˆ 16). If you have questions regarding transportation, contact our volunteer coordinator. 

Ulan-Ude by air:  Moscow – Irkutsk (5.5 hours) or Moscow – Ulan Ude (6 hours).  There are regular flights between Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude as well.

Ulan-Ude by train: Moscow – Irkutsk (3.5 days) or Moscow – Ulan-Ude (4 days).  There are trains going between Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude as well (9 hours).

Ulan Ude by minibus: There are minibuses that go between Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude ; however, the trip takes over 7 hours and is not the most comfortable way to travel. 

Please note that your contribution fee does not include any expenses incurred while getting to the starting point of the project, near the village of Maksimikha.

Important Visa Information:

1. The Great Baikal Trail is registered in the Federal Migration Service as an organization with the permission to obtain invitations to foreign visitors. This process takes between 4 and 6 weeks. However, it may take even longer, which is why we accept personal data for invitations only up until April the 1st. After April the 1st you will still be able to obtain an official invitation through specialized agencies like Get Russian www.getrussian.com/order/forms.php?a_aid=BaikalInfo and Red Star at www.waytorussia.com.

2. Every foreigner traveling through Russia has to comply with the obligatory visa registration process in any location where you stay for more than three business days. Since this process takes at least a day, project participants should arrive in Ulan-Ude or Irkutsk no later than August 17th.

3. If you participate in one GBT project, we can offer an invitation for 20 days visa. If you are going to take part in two or more projects we can accommodate your needs. In the case that you would like to stay longer and travel around Baikal: it is possible only in the company of GBT people (and that MUST be arranged beforehand). The GBT invitation is for a cultural connections visa, which makes our organization strictly responsible for every second of your being in Russia. We’d have problems if a person with our registration travels somewhere on his/her own.

Contact Yulia Misevich, international volunteer coordinator, at gbt.volunteers@gmail.com, with any questions.

If you are interested in participation, please fill in GBT volunteer application form

Note:  In the past we have had a few instances of technical difficulties where some information sent to us through the website was lost in transition.  If you do not receive a response within a week of writing us please email us at these addresses: gbt.volunteers@gmail.com and yulia@greatbaikaltrail.org.

Project Personnel:

Project Manager: Mikhail Ivanov, head GBT coordinator in the republic of Buryatia. Mikhail lectures on tourism at the Eastern Siberian Academy of Culture and Art in Ulan-Ude. He is an experienced outdoorsman and tour guide.

Responsibilities: The project manager is responsible for the overall planning, coordination and implementation of the project.  However, while the manager will be in frequent contact with the volunteer group throughout the duration of the project, he will not always be present at your project location.  Your crew leader will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the project.

Crew Leader: TBA. We will send you background information about your crewleader several weeks before the project starts.

Responsibilities: The main GBT staff member on the project, the crew leader coordinates the day-to-day trail work and the organization of the camp.

Assistant Crew Leader: TBA.

Responsibilities: The Assistant Crew Leader will help the crew leader in the management of the project. 

Translator: TBA

Responsibilities: The translator is responsible for translating for the crew leader (who may or may not speak English) and helping with communication between Russian and English speaking crew members. The translator also plans and conducts the social activities for the group.

Past volunteers’ comments about this project:

• Living in a tent, being outside close to Baikal and getting to know new people and their cultures. This was exactly what I wanted to experience.

• Great project in the unique piece of the world. I had a lot of fun.

• First of all the GBT staff was excellent, especially the interpreter, who worked really hard to make us play games and get to know each other around the fire. The group of volunteers was so interesting and unique.

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