Transsiberian Novosibirsk - Chita In the heart of Siberia

Parte 2 de 5 : Novosibirsk – Chitá

AUTHORS
Fernanda Insua | Alpinismonline Staff
Carlos Eduardo Gonzalez | Alpinismonline Staff
Production date : July 2019

COVER PHOTO : THE ROSSIYA AND THE BAIKAL
The Trans-Siberian Railway runs through the most attractive region of its entire route. For a distance of more than 300 kilometres it runs along Lake Baikal between Irkutsk and Ulan Ude. On this stretch of the Rossiya, you will learn to love Siberia.

A journey on the longest and most famous train in the world

The Rossiya. A train with more than a hundred years of history, where different cultures mix along its more than nine thousand kilometers of route. The Trans-Siberian is not just a tourist route. For decades it has been the only means of communication in a country with six time zones, a bridge between Europe and the Pacific. We take you on a dream trip. Let’s go to the Rossiya!

What Novosibirsk left behind…

…it was wonderful. It surprised us with a cosmopolitan city nestled in the heart of the most extreme and extensive region of Russia, where an incessant symphony of cultures and customs intermingle. If before visiting it you imagined Siberia as a vast, rugged territory, you surely never imagined that you would find such an urban center in the middle of that vastness.

We now leave this great city to immerse ourselves in the heart of Siberia. A region that was for decades a symbol of the Soviet Union, where many people had to suffer the bloody rigor of the regime. Many of them are well-known people, and many others remain anonymous, sheltered in the memory of those who have managed to survive such human misery.

Novosibirsk

The «Rossiya» train departs from Novosibirsk’s central station, which stands out with its traditional green colour. It is one of the main attractions of the city and one of the largest railway stations in the country, with a total area of ​​over 29,000 m2. Its shape resembles a locomotive heading east.

Construction of the building began in 1931, because the first station built in 1897 was not sufficient for the city, which became a metropolis in the early 1930s. In addition, the first station was made of wood and there was always a risk of fire. The building belongs to the so-called Stalinist Empire Style, which symbolizes the power and vastness of the Soviet Union during those years.

We leave Novosibirsk behind and board first class carriage number 6. We enter the heart of Siberia in search of Lake Baikal, which awaits us, still very far away.

Tayga

Tayga is a city in Kemerovo Oblast. It has about 25,000 inhabitants and is one of the largest railway links in Russia. The Trans-Siberian Railway converges here, and it is also the starting point of the Tayga – Bely Yar branch of the West Siberian Railway, which provides access to Tomsk. It was founded in the late 19th century due to the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The station was opened in 1898. In 1911, Tayga was granted the status of a city.

Mariinsk

Also located in Kemerovo Oblast, it lies at the point where the Trans-Siberian Railway crosses the Kiya River (Ob basin), 180 kilometers northeast of Kemerovo, the administrative center of the oblast. It has a population of 40,500.

It is the second oldest town in the Kemerovo region. The village of Kiya was founded in 1698. It is located on the Moscow highway. The town was granted city status in 1856, but for the next year it kept the name «Kiya». In 1857 it was renamed in honour of Maria Alexandrovna (not to be confused with her daughter Maria Alexandrovna Romanova), Empress consort of Alexander II of Russia. In the summer of 1891, during the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Tomsk Oblast, the Tsarevich visited Mariinsk. Nicholas Alexandrovich, then Crown Prince.

The Mariinsk area has mineral resources: white sand, white clay (used in brick making) and peat. The average maximum temperature is reached in July (28.3C) and the average minimum in January (-20.5C).

Bogotol

It is a city located in Krasnoyarsk Krai, 6 kilometers from the Chulym River and 252 kilometers west of Krasnoyarsk, the administrative center of the krai. It has a population of 21,000.

It was founded in 1893 due to the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. The name is derived from the Ket words bogotu (one of the Ket tribes in the area) and ul (river). Bogotol was granted city status in 1911.

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Bogotol serves as the administrative center of Bogotolsky District, although it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is separately incorporated as the krai city of Bogotol – an administrative unit with the status of the districts. As a municipal division, the city of Bogotol is incorporated as Bogota Urban Okrug.

A krai or kray was a type of geographical administrative division in the Russian Empire and is one of the types of federal subjects of modern Russia. Etymologically, the word is related to the verb kroit, «to cut». Historically, krais comprised vast territories located along the periphery of the Russian state, as the word krai also means edge, i.e. a place of cutting. In English the term is often translated as «territory». As of 2015, the administrative use of the term is mostly traditional, as some oblasts also fit this description and there is no difference in legal status between krais and oblasts.

Achinsk

It is a city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, located on the right bank of the Chulym River near its intersection with the Trans-Siberian Railway, 184 kilometers west of Krasnoyarsk. It has a population of 109,000.

The present town was founded in July 1683 to defend a crossing point on the Chulim River. The name of the town is derived from the name of the Turkic tribe of Achi or Achigi. The first fort (ostrog) was built as a square with high wooden palisades. Watchtowers were located at the corners. In 1710 a new fort was built on the right bank of the Achinki River, where it meets the Chulim. In 1782 it was granted the status of a town. It gained importance with the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, becoming an important trading centre with China.

Its further development is partly due to the exploitation of nearby lignite deposits and its position as a railway junction. In 1930 the area around Achinsk was one of the first places of deportation in the process of dekulakization. (Note: Kulaks or kulaki were farmers in Tsarist Russia who owned land and hired labour. The term later came to be used to designate all agricultural owners convicted of opposing collectivisation. It was a derogatory term in Soviet political language, originally referring to former landowners of the Russian Empire who owned large tracts of land, but in the early years of Soviet rule it was used to label simple rural landowners as enemies of the people. They accounted for 18% of the population in Tsarist times.)

The town’s main employers are an aluminium production plant and an oil refinery.

The city is a communications hub with the Trans-Siberian Railway and is located on the M51 Novosibirsk-Irkutsk national highway. The highway to the Republic of Khakassia starts from Achinsk. Two secondary railway lines lead from Achinsk, one to the region north of the city, to Lesosibirsk, for the transport of timber, and the second to Abakan, the capital of Khakassia. It has a river port and an airport.

Krasnoyarks

It is the administrative centre of Krasnoyarsk Krai. It has a population of 1,100,000 and is located on both banks of the Yenisei River.

The city was founded by the governor or voevoda Andrei Dubensky in 1628 at the confluence of the Kacha and Yenisei rivers as a defensive bastion with the name Krasny (which in Cyrillic means red), later taking the name Krasny Yar (which means red ravine). The city was granted the status of city in 1690. In 1822 it became the capital of the Yenisei Province.

The city’s growth began as it was situated on one of the main postal routes connecting the nearby cities of Achinsk and Kansk with the rest of Russia, but was definitively boosted by the arrival of the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1895 and the discovery of gold nearby.

During the 19th century, Krasnoyarsk was the centre of the Siberian Cossack movement. By the end of the 19th century, mechanical engineering and railway industries had been established in the city. The city had also become a place of exile for dissidents in Imperial Russia.

Following the 1917 revolution, during the five-year plans, major infrastructure projects were built in the city. These included a river port and docks, a paper industry and a hydroelectric power station (the second largest in Russia and the fifth largest in the world). In 1934, Krasnoyarsk Krai was established with the city of Krasnoyarsk as its capital.

During the Stalinist era, a number of gulags were established around Krasnoyarsk. The Yeniseylag or Yeniseiski ITL labour camp was established in the city itself between 1940 and 1941.

During World War II, a large number of industries were relocated to Krasnoyarsk from European Russia in response to the German advance, which stimulated the economic development of the city. After the war, development continued with the creation of metallurgical and aluminium plants.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, much of the city’s infrastructure was privatised, leading to a significant economic and social decline. After these years of decline, the city has gradually regained its vitality with the restoration of public buildings and the improvement of the city’s urban infrastructure.

Krasnoyarsk is the largest scientific and educational center of the country. More than 150,000 students study at the city’s 30 universities, the largest of which is the Siberian Federal University. The city is home to the famous Krasnoyarsk Academic City, which brings together seven scientific research institutes working in the most diverse areas of Russian science.

As for the places of interest, it is worth visiting the Chapel of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa (it is printed on the 10-ruble banknote), the Krasnoyarsk «Estolbi», the railway bridge over the Yenisei River, the Central Park, the Bobrovy log Fanpark, the Roev Ruchei Flora and Fauna Park, the Trinity Cemetery, more than 200 fountains and monuments, a large number of museums, among which apart from art museums there are such museums as the Railway Museum, the Forest Museum, the Museum of Communications, the Museum of Pharmacy, the Museum of the History of Medicine, and the Anatomical Museum.

One of the main symbols of Krasnoyarsk is the Krasnoyarsk Pillars Nature Reserve. Its name comes from the impregnable steep rocks, which really resemble huge stone pillars. Only the most experienced climbers dare to conquer its summit. The area of ​​the reserve is more than 47,000 hectares. In addition, there are extensive forests and also unusual geological formations of volcanic origin. For tourists, there are several hiking trails of different lengths.

The most visited cultural institution in the city is the Regional Museum of Local Lore, which opened in 1889. It is one of the oldest museums in Russia. Today, the museum’s exposition has about 450,000 exhibits, among which there are unique paleontological and ethnographic artifacts. One of the most unusual is considered to be the collection of church antiquities. In addition, the museum contains very interesting archaeological collections.

The magic of Krasnoyarks, emerging from the clouds…

NOW YES… THIS IS SIBERIA… 100% SIBERIA

Ilanskaya

It is a city in Krasnoyarsk Krai, situated on the Ilanka River, 195 km (246 km by road) from Krasnoyarsk, the capital of the krai. In 2009 its population was 16,182.

The place has been known as Ilanskaya since 1645. In the 1730s, a road was built connecting Ilanskaya with nearby towns, which increased its population. Many of them were exiles from European Russia, and they made up a large part of the population by the end of that century.

In 1894 the town was connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway and a railway station and depot were built. In 1939, Ilanskaya, at that time a major settlement of railway employees, received its present name and town status.

The main economic activities of the town are the railway workshops, the timber industry and the textile industry.

Taishet

Located in Irkutsk Oblast, it is the administrative center of the eponymous district. It is situated on the banks of the Biriusa River, 680 km northwest of Irkutsk. Today it has more than 40,000 inhabitants.

It was founded in 1897 as a supply point and station of the Trans-Siberian Railway at its 4,515th kilometre, about 680 km northwest of Irkutsk and about 400 km east of Krasnoyarsk. A railway depot was built in 1904. The town was granted city status in 1938.

During the period from the 1930s to the 1950s, Taishet was the administrative centre of the GULAG camps Oserlag and Angarstroi. Construction of the first section of the Baikal-Amur Railway began in 1937 and was directed from here. Together with Japanese prisoners of the Kwantung Army, Germans formed the bulk of the labour contingent. The latter were repatriated in the autumn of 1955 following a visit to Moscow by West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

Russian aluminium group RUSAL has built an aluminium smelter in Taishet with a capacity of 450,000 tonnes per year. The plant began operating in November 2009.

Taishet is a railway junction between the Trans-Siberian and Baikal-Amur railways. It is also the starting point of the East Siberia-Pacific oil pipeline.

Nizhneudinsk

The city of Irkutsk Oblast is situated on the banks of the Chuna River, also called Uda, in the Yenisei Basin, 448 km northwest of Irkutsk. The city of Alzamay is 75 km away. Today it has about 40,000 inhabitants.

The origin of the town dates back to the founding of Prokovsky Gorodok by the Cossacks in 1648. An ostrog was built the following year, which was enlarged in 1664. In 1783 the town was given the status of a town and its present name. This name was chosen to distinguish it from Verkhneudinsk (now Ulan-Ude), which lies on the banks of another river, the Uda, a tributary of the Selengá.

Nizhneudinsk was for a long time a regional market for gold, hunting products and livestock. In Nizhneudinsk there are several buildings from the 19th century, including the Church of St. Nicholas.

There are several places of interest along the Chuna. About 20 km downstream is the 20 m high Ukovski waterfall, and 75 km upstream are the Nizhneudinsk Caves. The mountainous area in the upper reaches of the river is called Tofalaria, a region inhabited by one of the smallest ethnic groups in Russia, the Tofalars. Since 1972, the town has had a museum of local ethnography.

Nizhneudinsk is a timber centre. There are also companies involved in railway transport, construction and the food sector, as the surrounding area is important for agriculture (primary technical crops and vegetables, livestock).

Nizhneudinsk is located on the Trans-Siberian Railway, at kilometer 4,679 from Moscow and on the M53 highway, Novosibirsk-Irkutsk-Listvyanka.

Zima

Located in Irkutsk Oblast, it is situated at the point where the Trans-Siberian Railway crosses the Oka River. It has a population of about 35,000.

The village of Staraya Zima, on the present site of the town, was established in 1743. In 1772, its population began to grow more rapidly due to the construction of a horse bridge across the Oka River. Until the 1900s, Zima remained a roadside village, mainly agricultural.

In 1898, the Trans-Siberian Railway was built through the village and a railway station was opened. Town status was granted to Zima in 1925.

The population of Zima remained at around 40,000 from the 1960s to 1990; however, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the associated economic crisis, the population declined by around 15% during the 1990s.

The city is the birthplace of Yevgeny Yevtushenko, a Russian poet, author of the biographical poem «Zima Station».

The local climate is extremely continental. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from -25 °C to 25 °C and rarely drops below -35 °C or rises above 30 °C. Zima’s economy is based primarily on timber production and railway-related services.

Angarsk

Located in Irkutsk Oblast, it is situated at the confluence of the Angara and Kitoi rivers, 5,150 kilometres from Moscow and only 30 kilometres from Irkutsk. Its population was 262,300 people in the 2004 estimate.

Angarsk was founded in 1948 as an industrial community and was granted city status on May 30, 1951. It has the largest industrial zone in Asia. It includes a petrochemical complex and a chemical and electronic complex. The city is home to the Angarsk Watch Museum, the Victory Museum, and the Angarsk State Technical Academy. Angarsk will also host an international showcase on the nuclear fuel cycle.

In 2005, Angarsk won first prize in a nationwide competition for the best pace of development of communal services.

The city has been connected by the Trans-Siberian Railway since 1904. Tram, bus and jitney provide public transportation in the city.

Irkusk

Time in Irkutsk starts to tick as soon as you leave the train station. The idea here is to explore the city during the rest of the day of arrival and the following day, heading to the town of Listvyanka on the shores of Lake Baikal on the third day.

A few points of interest are concentrated in a small area not far from the city center. Kirov Square is the focal point, a small park with tree-lined paths and a pretty fountain. To the north, a few important religious buildings occupy the banks along the Angara River, the main waterway that runs through the city.

Further north, overlooking the water, is the colourful Epiphany Cathedral, a notable place of worship in the distinctive Russian Orthodox style.

As we walked around, we noticed a large number of Chinese tourists on guided tours. Irkutsk is a relatively popular destination for Chinese tourism, given the proximity and the fact that Chinese citizens do not need visas to enter Russia if they are part of a group tour. If you pay attention, you will be able to witness a good number of Russian tour guides who speak fluent Mandarin, which is always a bit surprising to see.

Walking south from Kirov Square, we will eventually reach the Irkutsk Central Market, where the city’s main exchange of goods takes place. Locals shop here for everything from new socks and shoes at the open-air market to fresh meat and produce indoors. There are also a few simple restaurants serving snack-sized dishes.

The market is also a transport hub, with most of Irkutsk’s bus routes passing through here. Many marshrutkas, which are like minivans that act as buses for 10-12 people, depart from here to Listvyanka and Lake Baikal.

After lunch, we headed west to the Irkutsk Regional Decembrist Historical and Memorial Museum. The Decembrists (Russian artists, scientists, nobles and officers who were exiled to Irkutsk after participating in the Decembrist Revolt of 1825) had brought their culture to this city, shaping it as it is today.

This house was where the Decembrists had gathered in their early years in Irkutsk, and is now a museum showing what life was like in those years. You’ll enjoy wandering through its halls, and although most of the text is in Russian, you’ll be able to find English translations from time to time, which is quite helpful.

Another important point of interest is the Church of Our Lady of Kazan on the outskirts of the city. It is recommended to take the bus there, as the walk can take you through some rather “tricky” neighborhoods.

We will find some streets in Irkutsk where the houses look like they are about to collapse. Compared to a place like Novosibirsk, which still has a big city feel, Irkutsk is definitely smaller and less well-kept.

The walk is worth it, though, because the Kazan Church is simply stunning. The red brick exterior, topped with blue domes with ornate striped patterns, is almost unabashed in its beauty. If you are indifferent to the abundance of churches and cathedrals in Europe, there is no way you won’t be enthralled by the many extremely colorful places of worship you can find throughout Russia.

Irkutsk is called the Paris of Siberia. It has a population of just over half a million. It is an important economic, political and military centre. It is situated on both banks of the Angara River, which is the main tributary of the Yenisei. To the south, less than 100 kilometres away, is Lake Baikal.

The origin of the city of Irkutsk lies in the construction of a small Cossack barracks in 1652. This site was intended for the collection of taxes on the fur trade with the Buryat people who lived on the banks of the Angara River and Lake Baikal. The importance of this fur trade is reflected in the city’s coat of arms, which depicts a feline (originally a tiger) carrying a sable or marten in its mouth.

During the 19th century, many Russian artists, officers, and aristocrats were sent to Siberia because of their participation in the December Rebellion against Tsar Nicholas I. Irkutsk became the main centre of intellectual and social life for these exiles, and much of the city’s cultural heritage comes from them; many of their wooden houses, adorned with hand-carved decorations, survive today and constitute one of the city’s main attractions. As of the end of 2011, there were 761 monuments of wooden architecture in Irkutsk.

During the civil war that followed the Russian Revolution of 1917, the region was the scene of bloody operations between the Whites and the Reds. In 1920, Aleksandr Kolchak, the once feared commander of the largest contingent of anti-Bolshevik forces, was executed in Irkutsk, which destroyed the anti-Bolshevik resistance.

Irkutsk has long been home to the well-known Russian writer Valentin Rasputin. Many of his novels and stories take place in the Angara Valley. An essay on the cultural history of Irkutsk (and another on nearby Lake Baikal) is included in Rasputin’s nonfiction collection Siberia, Siberia, which is also available in an English translation.

Irkutsk is also the final destination of the journey of the Tsar’s courier, Michael Strogoff, in the novel of the same name written by Jules Verne, in which a detailed description is made of the various cities and landscapes between Moscow and Irkutsk.

And finally, we reached Baikal…

Lake Baikal: In the heart of Siberia

Lake Baikal is an absolute must on any Trans-Siberian trip, and you’ll want to spend a whole day exploring it. However, that may not be enough: the lake is simply gigantic, and to truly experience it, you’ll need to dedicate at least two or three days.

You can take a marshrutka to Listvyanka from the Central Market of Irkutsk – it costs around 140 RUB ($7) per person and takes about an hour. Alternatively, you can also take a boat or hydrofoil down the Angara River.

Listvyanka is a beautiful little town nestled in the foothills as the terrain slopes down to Lake Baikal. The small beach is full of stones, but that shouldn’t stop you from buying a smoked Baikal omullo at the nearby market, sitting down for a picnic and taking in the expansive views across the mirror-like surface of the water.

It’s a nice place to sit for at least half an hour while enjoying a picnic lunch. The lake is a popular getaway for locals, and we saw many Russian families taking their children out for a day out despite the foggy weather.

If you are a person who enjoys the outdoors, you should definitely visit the Great Baikal Trail. The tourist infrastructure around this area has not yet been fully developed, so the first walking trails were only recently cultivated by the Great Baikal Trail conservatory project.

If you bring some gear, you can definitely make the five- to eight-hour hike through forests and mountains to Bolshie Koty in the north. Despite starting in the dense forest near Listvyanka, much of this trail runs along the coast, providing spectacular views.

But if you’re not quite up for this, you can instead take a hike up a nearby hill and enjoy the views from the top. A few kilometers back along the road to Irkutsk, you’ll find the Baikal Museum, and that’s where you can find the road leading up the hill.

There is a chairlift that takes you to the top, where you can watch Lake Baikal disappear into the horizon in all directions.

The vastness of this lake is incredible, and the only thing that assures you that it is not an ocean is the velvety stillness of the water. The weather is generally foggy but calm, and the only disturbances on the water surface come from the slow-moving vessels on the lake.

To get down the mountain, you can take the chairlift back up, or you can take the zipline through the trees to get down quickly.

Throughout the day, you’ll spend most of your time staring at the calm, endless waters of Lake Baikal. It’s the oldest, deepest and largest lake in the world, and home to thousands of species of plants and animals, many of which are endemic. As you gaze out at the shimmering water, you can’t help but feel a deep connection to the land and a sense of profound admiration for the natural world around us.

At this point, it is almost necessary to dedicate at least two or three days to Lake Baikal. It is the axis of Siberia. A trip along the Trans-Siberian Railway will not be complete if you leave things pending with this lake. For most people, it is very far away and not taking full advantage of this proximity will not leave you satisfied.

In three days you can conquer the Great Baikal Trail and spend the night on Olkhon Island, the island that sits in the lake and is the spiritual home of the indigenous Buryat shamanic people who inhabit this region.

Lake Baikal is without a doubt one of the things that will excite you the most when you embark on this Trans-Siberian train journey, and getting to know it fully will make you more than satisfied to board the train, before continuing on to the next point of interest.

Baikal is Siberia. One hundred percent Siberia. Don’t forget, plan it properly. At least three days.

Of course, all this in summer time. Because if you venture out in winter, you will surely encounter another kind of beauty…

Slyudyanka

A city in Irkutsk Oblast, the administrative centre of the Irkutsk district. It is situated on the shores of Lake Baikal, at the mouth of the Slyudyanka River, north of the Khamar-Daban Mountains, 83 km south-east of Irkutsk. Its population is approximately 20,000.

In the 17th century, in 1647, a garrison serving the city of Irkutsk was built here. The phlogopite mica deposits, sliuda in Russian, which gives its name to the town and to the river near the mouth of which it is located, were also exploited.

In 1899, a station was built on the Trans-Siberian Railway, around which the settlement was founded that gave rise to the city, which received this status in 1936.

Slyudyanka is a centre for the production of cement and building materials. It also has a fish processing plant and railway activities.

Slyudyanka is located on the Circum-Siberian Railway (part of the Trans-Siberian Railway until the mid-20th century), at kilometer 5,311 from Moscow. Its station is built entirely of white marble. There are bus and marshrutka services in the city.

Baikalsk

Located in Irkutsk Oblast, on the territory of Slyudyanka District, 30 km southeast of Irkutsk. It is situated on the southern shore of Lake Baikal, on the northern slope of the Khamar-Daban Mountains, 90 km south of Irkutsk. Its population is about 15,000.

It was built from 1961 onwards to house the staff of the pulp and paper mill. Baikalsk has had the status of a city since 1966. To the south of the city is a mountainous region used for alpine skiing, the Sobolinaya («sable») mountain, which is about 1,300 m high and has snow from November to May. Further south are the Khamar-Daban mountains, which are up to 2,100 m high. Baikalsk is one of the starting points for excursions in these mountains.

The main enterprise in Baikalsk is the Baikalski tseliulozno-boumazhni kombinat, a pulp and paper factory employing 3,500 people. In the Soviet Union, it was responsible for the city’s facilities and recreation. The city and the factory are now independent of each other, although 95% of the city’s budget still comes from the factory in the form of taxes. Most of the city is made up of three- and five-storey collective buildings.

The factory has long been one of the main sources of pollution on Lake Baikal, with waste that can reach 140,000 cubic metres per day.

A recycling system has recently been installed to treat wastewater to make it less threatening to the environment.

The authorities claim that these purification systems are effective. However, the poor quality of the pulp produced since then has led to numerous cancellations of orders. In October 2008, the factory, which had been in default, was closed down.

On 15 January 2010, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin authorized the reopening of the mill and the direct discharge of its waste into the lake again.

The city is located on the Trans-Siberian Railway (Baikalsk-Pasashirsky railway station, 5,346 km from Moscow). The M55 Irkutsk-Ulan-Ude-Chita highway passes through the city.

We entered the Republic of Buryatia

Republic of Buryatia

Buryatia is one of the twenty-one republics that, together with the forty-seven oblasts, nine krais, four autonomous districts and two federal cities, make up the eighty-three federal subjects of Russia. Its capital is Ulan-Ude. It is located in the Siberian district, bordering Irkutsk to the north (part of this border is formed by Lake Baikal), Zabaykal to the east and southeast, Mongolia to the south and Tuva to the west.

It is located in the south-central part of Siberia along the coast of Lake Baikal. Its territory occupies an area of ​​351,300 km². It borders Irkutsk to the north and west, Zabaykalsky to the northwest, east and south, and Tiva to the east. To the south and southeast it has an international border with Mongolia. Its main water feature is Lake Baikal, to the north, which comprises 60% of its coastline. Its highest point is Mount Munku-Sardyk at 3491 m.

Ulan-Ude

It is the capital city of the Republic of Buryatia. It is a river port located at the confluence of the Uda and Selengá rivers. It has 430,000 inhabitants.

Ulan-Ude’s transportation needs are met by a rail line to Beijing and by the Trans-Siberian Railway. Major industries center on food processing, tanneries, sawmills, and the manufacture of glass, bricks, and railway equipment.

Ulan-Ude was first called Udinskoye because of its location on the Uda River. From about 1735, the settlement was called Udinsk and was granted city status under that name in 1775.

The name was changed to Verkhneudinsk, literally Upper Udinsk, in 1783 to differentiate it from Nizhneudinsk (Lower Udinsk) situated on a different river Uda near Irkutsk which was granted city status that year.

The «upper» and «lower» refer to the positions of the two cities relative to each other, not the locations of the cities on their respective Uda rivers. Verkhneudinsk lies at the mouth of its Uda, i.e. the lower end, while Nizhneudinsk lies along the middle reaches of its Uda.

The city’s present name was given in 1934 and means «Red Uda» in Buryat, reflecting the communist ideology of the Soviet Union.

The first settlers of the area where Ulan-Ude is located today were the Evenks, and later the Buryats. Ulan-Ude was founded in 1666 by Russian Cossacks as the fortress of Udinskoye. Due to its favorable geographical position, it grew rapidly and became a large trading center connecting Russia with China and Mongolia, and from 1690 it was the administrative center of the Transbaikal region.

In 1775, it was known as Udinsk, and in 1783 it was granted city status and the name Verkhneudinsk. After a major fire in 1878, the city was almost completely rebuilt. The Trans-Siberian Railway reached the city in 1900 causing an explosion in growth. The population which was 3,500 in 1880 reached 126,000 in 1939.

From April 6 to October 1920 Verkhneudinsk was the capital of the Far Eastern Republic, sometimes called the Chita Republic. It was a nominally independent state that existed from April 1920 to November 1922 in the easternmost part of the Russian Far East.

The city is located 5,640 kilometers east of Moscow and 100 kilometers southeast of Lake Baikal. It is situated 600 meters above sea level, at the foot of the Khamar-Daban and Khrebet Ulan-Burgasy mountain ranges, near the confluence of the Selenga River and its tributary, the Uda River, which divides the city.

Ulan-Ude is one of eight city pairs in the world that has an almost exact antipodal city – with Puerto Natales, Chile.

There are two rivers flowing through Ulan-Ude: the Selengá and the Uda. The Selengá is the largest inflow of Lake Baikal, supplying 50% of all rivers in its basin. The Selengá brings about 30 cubic kilometers of water to the lake annually, exerting a great influence on the formation of the lake’s water and its sanitary state. The Selengá is the habitat of very valuable fish species such as omul, Siberian sturgeon, Siberian taimen, grayling and whitefish.

The Uda is the right tributary of the Selengá River. The length of the watercourse is 467 kilometers.

Until 1991, Ulan-Ude was a city closed to foreigners. In the historic centre of Ulan-Ude, along the river banks, which are exceptional examples of Russian classicism, there are old merchant mansions richly decorated with wood and carved stone. The city has a large ethnographic museum that recalls the history of the peoples of the region.

One of the city’s big attractions is the huge and unusual statue of Vladimir Lenin’s head in the central square. It is the largest in the world, built in 1970 for the centenary of the Soviet revolutionary’s birth, towering over the main square at 7.7 metres and weighing 42 tonnes.7 The head has been spared the patina associated with bronze by a special coating and is a common gathering place.

The Ethnographic Museum of Transbaikal Peoples is one of the largest open-air museums in Russia. The museum contains historical finds from the era of the slab culture and the Xiongnu until the middle of the 20th century, including a unique collection of samples of Siberian wooden architecture, with more than forty architectural monuments.

The Odigitrievsky Cathedral of the Buryat Diocese of the Orthodox Church was the first stone building in the city and is a monument of Siberian Baroque architecture. The cathedral is considered unique because it is built in a zone of high seismic activity in the heart of the city on the banks of the Uda River, where it flows into the Selengá.

Ulan-Ude is located on the main line – the Trans-Siberian Line – of the Trans-Siberian Railway between Irkutsk and Chita at the junction of the Trans-Mongolian Railway line, which begins in Ulan-Ude and continues south through Mongolia to Beijing in China.

The city is also located on the M55 section of the Baikal Highway – part of the Trans-Siberian Highway – the main federal route to Vladivostok. Air traffic is served by Baikal International Airport, as well as the small Ulan-Ude Vostochny Airport. Urban transport includes tram, bus and marshrutka lines.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Trains in Russia run on Moscow time. But in Ulan-Ude it is 5 hours later than in Moscow. So if your ticket says the train is at 12 pm, it is actually at 5 pm in Ulan-Ude.

Mogzon

Mogzon is an urban settlement located at the confluence of the Khila and Khilok rivers in the eastern part of the Khiloksky district of Zabaykalsky Krai. According to the 2010 census, the population was 3,856.

In 1895, a railway station was established in Arshan. Later it was moved to the area of ​​modern Mogzon and given its present name. In 1938, it was granted the status of an urban-type settlement.

In terms of its economy, Mogzon’s population growth and industrial development are linked to its railway infrastructure.

Chita

Chita is the administrative center of Zabaykalsky Krai (until March 1, 2008, Chita Oblast). It has a population of 330,000.

It is located in the Amur basin, at the confluence of the Chita and Ingoda rivers, 406 km east of Ulan-Ude, 629 km from Irkutsk. It is in a valley through which the Trans-Siberian Railway runs, 6198 km from Moscow and 3090 km from Vladivostok.

Several centuries before the arrival of the Russians, local Mongol and Turkic tribes along with several Chinese traders inhabited the Chita region. Chita was founded in 1653 by the Cossack Pyotr Beketov, but was granted city status in 1851.

Genghis Khan is believed to have been born in what is now the city of Chita around 1160.

After 1825, several of the Decembrists came to Chita as exiles, and for this reason Chita is called «the City of Exiles.» Many of the Decembrists were intellectuals, aristocrats, and members of the middle class, and therefore their arrival had a positive effect. The educated exiles made an effort to educate the citizens of Chita and develop trade. Thanks to these efforts, the City became a major trading center in Siberia, particularly for the area’s natural resources, such as timber, gold, and uranium.

From 1920 to 1922 Chita served as the capital of the Far Eastern Republic. From the 1930s until the end of Communism, Chita was a closed city. During this period, foreigners were prohibited from traveling to Chita. The reason for the city’s closure was apparently its proximity to China and military installations. During World War II, a significant number of Japanese soldiers were imprisoned in the city and forced to work in the construction industry. In the center of Chita, one can find buildings whose architectural style does not fully fit with other Russian styles and in which certain imprints of the Japanese style can be detected.

The town is located in the central part of Transbaikalia, in the Chitina-Ingodinsky basin and on the slopes of the Yablonoi (in the west) and Cherskogo (in the east) mountains. The highest point of the town is 1039 m (Chita Mountain) and the lowest point is 632 m (in the valley between the village and the town of Ingoda). According to the geological structure there are sandstones, siltstones, volcanic rocks and granites.

The area of ​​the city is 538 km². Within the city limits there are zones of preserved natural landscapes, including meadows, steppe islands and forest-steppes, as well as mountain taiga (located northeast of the TV station to the Chita-Khabarovsk highway).

The man-made landscape in the city includes, in addition to the urban peripheries, farmland, hayfields and several lakes on the site of the former mine (in the vicinity of the village of Chernovskiye).

The climate in the Chita region is markedly continental. The winter period is very cold, with little snow. The average temperature falls below zero from October 16 to April 9, i.e. winter lasts 177 days. The winter period is characterized by temperature fluctuations. The average daily temperature in January is -25.2 °C and the lowest temperature recorded was -49.6 °C (January 1892).

Summer is hot and humid but short. The average duration of summer weather (with a period of average daily temperatures above 15 degrees) in Chita is 77 days. Summer starts on June 7 and lasts until August 22.5 The average temperature in July is 18.7 °C and the highest temperature recorded was 43.2 °C (June 1898) and +40.6 °C (August 1936). Annual precipitation averages 349 mm, of which about 80% occurs during the warm season.

We boarded the «Rossiya» and left Chita behind. We said goodbye to the Heart of Siberia with a range of images, sounds, aromas and memories that will accompany us from now on forever. We are going to travel the last three thousand kilometers to the Pacific. But that will be in our next installment of the Transsiberian Dossier. There, while we travel those three thousand kilometers to Vladivostok, we will remember the entire history of the Trans-Siberian. We will enter the time capsule and travel thirty years back, during the last days of the Soviet Union, and we will travel on a train that is totally different from the one we travel today. A train with a different spirit, very different from the current one, but which is definitely part of the century-old history of the Rossiya. Although perhaps not the most pleasant. WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU!

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