Secret Siberia by Rail, River, and Road

Nicholas Zvegintzov Email [email protected]

Secret Siberia (photos©) 1 Secret Siberia (photos©) Russia, political 2 Secret Siberia (photos©) Russia, physical 3 Secret Siberia (photos©) Nothing to eat 4 Secret Siberia (photos©) Communications and transport have broken down 5 Secret Siberia (photos©) People are bandits and thugs 6 Russia

Mongolia China Japan

Secret Siberia (photos©) Geography of the north-east – political 7 Secret Siberia (photos©) Geography of the north-east – physical 8 Lena

Angara-Yenisei

Amur / Heilungjian

Secret Siberia (photos©) Geography of the north-east – rivers 9 Yakutsk (1632)

Irkutsk (1652)

Khabarovsk (1858)

Secret Siberia (photos©) Geography of the north-east – cities 10 Yakutsk (1632)

Irkutsk (1652)

Khabarovsk (1858)

The Trans-Siberian

Secret Siberia (photos©) Geography of the north-east – The Trans-Siberian 11 The Workers State had a better idea – Go straight

 АЯАД – AYaAD, the Amur Yakutsk Automobile Highway,1930-37

 БАМ – BAM, the Baikal Amur Mainline, 1933-2002

Secret Siberia (photos©) The Workers State had a better idea 12 AYaAD, the Amur BAM, the Baikal Yakutsk Automobile Amur Mainline Highway

The Trans-Siberian

Secret Siberia (photos©) The AYaAD and the BAM 13 Secret Siberia (photos©) Taishet 14 Secret Siberia (photos©) The BAM curtain 15 Secret Siberia (photos©) Chuna station on the western BAM, built in the 1940’s. 16 Secret Siberia (photos©) Summer scything 17 BAM Bratsk, 1954

AYaAD Tynda (1937, 1975)

Komsomolsk-na- Amure (1932)

The Trans-Siberian

Secret Siberia (photos©) New cities on the BAM 18 Secret Siberia (photos©) Bratsk – the dam 19 Secret Siberia (photos©) “Bratsk Station gave 795242 MKwH to our country” 20 Secret Siberia (photos©) The control room 21 Secret Siberia (photos©) Rechushka – a station from the 1970s 22 Secret Siberia (photos©) Severobaikalsk – the station 23 Secret Siberia (photos©) Baikal lake view 24 Secret Siberia (photos©) Baikal lake party – entertaining the shepherd 25 Secret Siberia (photos©) The boat the shepherd came in 26 Secret Siberia (photos©) Baikal lake party – Partisan tea 27 Secret Siberia (photos©) Baikal Khakusy Hot Springs – The baths 28 Secret Siberia (photos©) The coach 29 Secret Siberia (photos©) Baikal Khakusy Hot Springs – Gathering the hot water weed 30 Secret Siberia (photos©) Baikal – The Buddhist-shamanist shrine 31 Secret Siberia (photos©) Severobaikalsk – Builders monument 32 Secret Siberia (photos©) Severomuisk – Climbing to the bypass via spiral tunnel 33 Secret Siberia (photos©) West portal of the Severomuisk tunnel under construction 34 Secret Siberia (photos©) Severomuisk – Three hairpins to the Muya valley 35 Secret Siberia (photos©) Taksimo – downed Tupolev ANT-4 from 1930s surveys 36 Secret Siberia (photos©) Leprindo 37 Secret Siberia (photos©) The Chara valley, with the sand dunes and Marble Canyon 38 Secret Siberia (photos©) Helicopter pilot and Chara Museum Director 39 Secret Siberia (photos©) Up the Sredni Sakukan river valley 40 Secret Siberia (photos©) Marble Canyon – side canyon 41 Secret Siberia (photos©) Up the side canyon 42 Secret Siberia (photos©) Boxed in the canyon 43 Secret Siberia (photos©) Chara Museum – the golden spike and the golden rail anchor 44 Secret Siberia (photos©) Between Olonggo and Khani – highest point on the BAM 45 Secret Siberia (photos©) Sunrise from the BAM on the Olekma river 46 Secret Siberia (photos©) Tynda – the main street 47 Marina Yakovlevna Savchuk, provodnitsa on the Kislovodsk-Tynda Secret Siberia (photos©) train 48 Secret Siberia (photos©) Tynda – The statue by the BAM Bridge Building organisation 49 Secret Siberia (photos©) A long hot journey across the plateau – the little girls in the corridor 50 Secret Siberia (photos©) The baby asleep 51 Secret Siberia (photos©) The multicultural toilet 52 Secret Siberia (photos©) Verkhnezeisk – flowerbed at the House of the Locomotive Brigade 53 Secret Siberia (photos©) Urgal – the Japanese-built barrack 54 Secret Siberia (photos©) Chegdomyn – the N Korea compound 55 Secret Siberia (photos©) Trackside bustle as the train stops at Suluk on the Amgun River 56 Secret Siberia (photos©) Postyshevo – Old Believer working on the fire-train 57 Secret Siberia (photos©) Postyshevo – The new town 58 Secret Siberia (photos©) Komsomolsk-na-Amure – Pervostroitelei Avenue, 80 m wide 59 Secret Siberia (photos©) Komsomolsk-na-Amure – the little girl and the vintage car 60 Secret Siberia (photos©) Biznes Tsentr – the front door 61 Secret Siberia (photos©) Khrushchev’s bed 62 Secret Siberia (photos©) The boy in the cherry tree 63 Secret Siberia (photos©) The Great Patriotic War memorial at Komsomolsk-na-Amure 64 Secret Siberia (photos©) West door of the station built by Japanese POWs at Vysokogornaya 65 Secret Siberia (photos©) Sovetskaya Gavan – the end of the line 66 Secret Siberia (photos©) Sovetskaya Gavan – The Amur Tiger 67 Secret Siberia (photos©) Arrested in Vanino 68 Secret Siberia (photos©) Under house arrest in Vanino 69 Secret Siberia (photos©) Vanino – The train leaves 70 Secret Siberia (photos©) Vanino – Lenin, now more alive than all living beings 71 Secret Siberia (photos©) Plums and pelmeni on the train 72  Down the Lena to Yakutsk by paddle steamer (теплоход)

Secret Siberia (photos©) Down the Lena from Ust-Kut to Yakutsk 73 Lena Yakutsk

Ust-Kut

Secret Siberia (photos©) From the BAM crossing at Ust-Kut down to Yakutsk 74 Secret Siberia (photos©) I set off by Meteor – “You will surely catch up” 75 Secret Siberia (photos©) The Krasnoyarsk – close-up 76 Secret Siberia (photos©) The Krasnoyarsk 77 Secret Siberia (photos©) The stoker 78 Secret Siberia (photos©) The builder’s plate 79 Secret Siberia (photos©) Classes on the Lena river steamer 80 Secret Siberia (photos©) The kitchen 81 Secret Siberia (photos©) In the crew lounge 82 Secret Siberia (photos©) Stopping at a stockaded village 83 Secret Siberia (photos©) Picking up passengers 84 Secret Siberia (photos©) The “Captain” of Peledui 85 Secret Siberia (photos©) Following the plain red flag to the east 86 Secret Siberia (photos©) To Yakutsk in 4 days, 9 hours 87  Yakutsk / Tuimaada

 Якутск, Туймаада

Secret Siberia (photos©) Yakutsk or Tuimaada 88 Secret Siberia (photos©) Yakutsk – Not! 89 Secret Siberia (photos©) Old and new in Yakutsk, the 1909 Treasury Building 90 Secret Siberia (photos©) Healthy youth, strong government 91 Secret Siberia (photos©) Skaters rule 92 Secret Siberia (photos©) Children of Asia 93 Secret Siberia (photos©) Children of Asia sign 94 Secret Siberia (photos©) Fireworks over the stadium 95 Secret Siberia (photos©) The former Trinity Cathedral, built of brick in 1708 96 Secret Siberia (photos©) Inside the Theater of Varieties 97  In which we fly to the Дянышка and fish all week and all night

 And Afanasi catches his taimen

Secret Siberia (photos©) Fishing north of Yakutsk 98 Secret Siberia (photos©) AN-2 of Ilin Airways 99 Secret Siberia (photos©) Into the mountains – doors and windows optional 100 Secret Siberia (photos©) The crew at rest 101 Secret Siberia (photos©) A wet campground 102 Secret Siberia (photos©) Waiting for the fishermen 103 Secret Siberia (photos©) Afanasi gets his taimen 104 Secret Siberia (photos©) Campground soup 105 Secret Siberia (photos©) Drifting at midnight on the river 106 Secret Siberia (photos©) Favorite food at base camp 107 Secret Siberia (photos©) Back in civilisation 108  South by the AYaAD

 АЯАД – AYaAD, the Amur Yakutsk Automobile Highway,1930-37

The AYaAd Ust-Kut

Neryungri

Secret Siberia (photos©) From Yakutsk to Neryungri by highway 110 Secret Siberia (photos©) Yakutsk avtovokzal – The bus station in summer 111 Secret Siberia (photos©) Mokhsogollokh – shashlik stand at the ferry 112 Secret Siberia (photos©) Crossing the Lena at Mokhsogollokh 113 Secret Siberia (photos©) Breakdown on the highway 114 Secret Siberia (photos©) The uranium-mining gulag of Vasilevka 115 Secret Siberia (photos©) The camp graves at Vasilevka 116 Secret Siberia (photos©) Berry-sellers on the AYaAD Highway, August 117 Secret Siberia (photos©) Neryungri Coal Mine 118  Yakutsk and around in winter

Secret Siberia (photos©) In the cold 119 Secret Siberia (photos©) “We’re here! Time to get out, kids!” 120 Secret Siberia (photos©) Arriving at Yakutsk airport 121 Secret Siberia (photos©) Waiting for the bus 122 Secret Siberia (photos©) The baby on the bus 123 Secret Siberia (photos©) Day of Reindeer Herders 124 Secret Siberia (photos©) The reindeer races on the city inlet 125 Secret Siberia (photos©) The journey to II Хомустах, across the Lena 126 Secret Siberia (photos©) The man and boy looking for their horse 127 Secret Siberia (photos©) The cabbage-farming village II Хомустах 128 Secret Siberia (photos©) Addressing the science class 129 Secret Siberia (photos©) Teachers and students 130 Secret Siberia (photos©) The Evenk girl sings 131 Secret Siberia (photos©) Home made skis 132 Secret Siberia (photos©) A gnawed horseleg 133 Secret Siberia (photos©) A village feast 134 Secret Siberia (photos©) Master class at the Music Institute – Yakut singing 135 Secret Siberia (photos©) Master class at the Music Institute –Khomus (jew’s harp) instruction 136 Secret Siberia (photos©) The Lena Overlook 137 Secret Siberia (photos©) The Overlook Guesthouse 138 Secret Siberia (photos©) Children of Депутатский 139 Secret Siberia (photos©) Children of Депутатский 140 Secret Siberia (photos©) Trucks on the winter road 141 The M-56 main highway from Yakutsk heads across the Lena river as Secret Siberia (photos©) an officially posted dual carriageway zimnik (winter road) 142 Secret Siberia (photos©) Furniture store 143  Ust-Barguzin to Baikalskoe on the Lake Baikal ice

Secret Siberia (photos©) Across Baikal on the ice 144 Secret Siberia (photos©) The monastery at Pokrovka 145 Secret Siberia (photos©) Park checkpoint on the island 146 Secret Siberia (photos©) The informal convoy stops at a marker 147 Secret Siberia (photos©) A crack in the ice 148 Secret Siberia (photos©) Going over a crack 149 Secret Siberia (photos©) Finding a way to shore in the dusk 150 Secret Siberia (photos©) On land at Baikalskoe 151 Secret Siberia (photos©) Nikolai at home 152  Barbecue at Shestakovo

Secret Siberia (photos©) Barbecue at Shestakovo 153 Secret Siberia (photos©) Владимир Александрович in his living room 154 Secret Siberia (photos©) Backyard barbecue, Siberian style 155  Siberian BAM Guide - rail, rivers, and road / Includes North-East Russia's Siberian BAM Railway, Lena River & Kolyma Highway".  Authors Athol Yates & Nicholas Zvegintzov.  Trailblazer Publications, UK. 2001. ISBN 1- 873756-18-6.

 Счастливого пути!