Baikal under ice

Project dates: March 18-29, 2010

Project duration: twelve days

Languages: Russian and English

Project location: The project will take place in the Barguzinskii Bay in the nearby town of Ust-Barguzin, Buryatia, Russia.  This is located not far from the peninsula Svyatoi Nos (or “Holy Nose”).

Setting: Winter on Baikal is a fairytale world in the enchanting story of Baikal’s wonders.  The frozen winter months reveal a new chapter to the beauty and mystery of the lake; jagged mountain ridges of ice, sandy beaches frozen solid, rocks wrapped tight in a thick sheet of ice, endless rolling hills and fields turned white by a deep blanket of snow.  If Baikal is smiling upon you, you may be lucky enough to find a patch of clear, pure ice through which you can see the unfrozen waters deep below. 

  Even though it may be March on the calendar, all around Baikal spring brings with it only more sunshine while driving away the bitter wind.  In Siberia, March is truly still winter, albeit with a softer, whiter and friendlier smile on its face.  The daytime temperature is still a perky -10 to -15°C while during the night it is not unknown for it to reach a nippy -30°C.  

  The Barguzinskii Bay is located near the Svyatoi Nos (“Holy Nose”) Peninsula , on which high mountains rise directly from one of the deepest points on Baikal.  This area is known to many as one of the most stunning on the lake.  This area of Baikal is blessed with hot springs located right on the shore of the lake.  

Long-term Goal: When building trails on the summer project, very little time remains for constructing signs, markers, and other useful signals for hikers and tourists.  This winter project gives us the opportunity to make sure that our trails are clearly marked, so that they are indeed useful for those who hike on them.  This is an ongoing, essential part of creating and maintaining an effective system of ecological hiking trails on Baikal. In the addition, it is very important to bring the idea of volunteerism to the town and develop it in local schools in the way that children will grow up with environmentally friendly attitude to the Nature.     

Project Work: On this project, we will carry out ecological activities with children from the eco-center “Podlemore,” prepare trail banners, signs, and markers for the trail  from Maksimikha to Ust-Barguzin (32 km long), learn how to build ice structures and then build an expreimental ice village on Baikal, including a house, sculptures, slides, etc.  We will also prepare for and celebrate the holiday “Water Day” with the children from the eco-center “Podlemore.” 

Work Schedule: The group will work for 8 days during the project, 6 hours a day with rest breaks and a longer break for lunch and cultural program.  You will receive a more detailed schedule several weeks before the project starts.

Entertainment and Relaxation: Each day, there will be time for games, personal time, interaction with host families, and group activities.  On our days off, we will also have an excursion of the town Ust-Barguzin, an excursion over the ice around the Svyatoi Nos peninsula, bathing in the hot springs, the use of a Russian banya, and ice-skating, sledding, or skiing.

Meals and Accommodations:  On this project, volunteers will stay in the ecological center “Podlemore” or with host families. There will be several rooms with 3-4 beds in each. The center or homestays will become your home for the entire project.  Each day there will be three hot meals and two snacks. All participants will share cooking and cleaning duties in the common kitchen in the center or there will be home meals.

Contribution Fee:

15,000 rubles per person (approximately $420 US; 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 Ulan-Ude; helping to arrange your accommodation in Irkutsk and/or Ulan-Ude; visa registration with the Russian authorities; 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, accommodations. 100% of the project fee goes for direct project expenses.

The project fee is higher than on our regular projects since we will be living in houses not tents and enjoy home-made meals instead of more simple camp-fare.

Required Experience: None

Age Range:  18+ years

Additional Requirements:

Equipment to bring:

·         The Essentials – a good hiking rucksack, a warm sleeping bag, a sleeping mat and a bowl, cup and spoon.  Every volunteer should have these with them on the project.

·         You should also bring a good supply of warm clothes.

·         Language dictionaries (Russian – English/French/German) come in very handy for those talks over the dinner table.

·         It would be fantastic if you could bring a few things about yourself and your country to show to the other volunteers.  These could be photos of your family and hobbies, postcards, flags or other souvenirs.  If you know a folk song or can play a tune from you country; they are also great for entertaining the group.  Food is always a big winner too, if it is easy to pack bring along some interesting or famous food from your country.

Fitness: In the construction of the ice-city, volunteers will need to lift pieces of ice, use tools, and be in the outdoors for extended periods of time.

Transportation and Meeting Location: The group will meet in Ulan-Ude at a meeting-point to be announced within two weeks of the start of the project.  The group will travel 270 km. together from Ulan-Ude to the town of Ust-Barguzin by van or bus.  The cost of this trip will be between 500-1000 rubles one way ( about $20-40 US or 15 – 30 EURO), depending on the size of the group and current price fluxuations. 

Please note that your contribution fee does not include any expenses incurred while getting to the starting point of the project, the town of Ust’ – Batguzin.

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. So please, send your data not later than February the 1^st. After February 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 Irkutsk no later than March 17^th.

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

If you are interested in participating, please fill out the 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 Sergeevich Ivanov will be the manager for this project.  Mikhail has extensive experience coordinating and managing projects in Buryatia with GBT. 

Crew Leader: TBA

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 does not speak much English) and helping with communication between Russian and English speaking crew members. The translator also plans and conducts the social activities of the group. 

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