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Project dates: February 20 – March 2, 2010.

Project duration: 12 days.

Languages: Russian and English

Project location: Severobaikalsk town, Severobaikalsk region, Buriat Republic.

Setting: Northern Baikal is the most preserved part of Lake Baikal's Unique nature. There are huge territories and has a small population. In winter Baikal has a special colour typical of a true Siberian winter. In that time there is no hard frost, but a lot of bright sun and pure white snow which is paradise for skiers.

A day temperature is -5C -10C, at night it may fall down to -20C.  The North of Baikal is rich with hot healing mineral springs. What a pleasure to take a dip in one of them after refreshing ski walk!

Severobaikalsk is a small, cosy  and beautiful Siberian  town  surrounded by the mountain ranges. It is a culture, transport and trade center, and is where Baikal Trail Hostel has situated the main coordinator of a project.  

 Long-term Goal: The Tourist season is quite short at Baiakal lake- just summer months. But there are so many things to do in winter- skiing, snowshoeing, and skating on the ice of the lake. Being at Baikal for the winter holidays is not less fascinating than in summer, even more!

We would like to start a process of developing winter kinds of eco-tourism by creating an information booklet about GBT trails in the North Baikal.

Project Work: Volunteers will develop a booklet which will be a great support for whose, who would like to travel in the North Baikal. They will compose the descriptions of existing trails to put them into the booklet. Project work will also include a lay out, developing a design and a content of the booklet with the help of the brainstorm and translation some information into English.

Work Schedule: Volunteers will work for seven days: three hours in the morning followed by a two hour lunch break, and then there will be short hikes or trips to the nature to get inspired for creation of a booklet). And after dinner there will be two more hours of work on the project. Totally volunteers will work 5-6 hours a day and spend day time outdoors, when it' warm and sunny.

Meals and Accommodations: Volunteers will stay in homestay accommodation in the town. Alternatively, volunteers can choose to stay in the Baikal Trail Hostel. 

Entertainment and Relaxation: There will be a skiing trip through the lake from Severobaikalsk to Hakkusi (45 km) with accompany of an auto transport or a hovercraft. A group will stay overnight in cabins at  Hakkusi health resort, bathe in the hot springs and cook on the camp fire. And the next day there will be an excursion to the caves and relaxing in mineral springs again.  During work days free time will include such activities as: hikes and trips to the nature, skating, visiting ski resort and Russian sauna (called banya).

Contribution Fee: 15,000 rubles per person (approximately $420 US or 330 EURO; 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; helping to arrange your accommodation in Irkutsk; 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; accommodation. 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:  18-60 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.   

Transportation and Meeting Location:

Volunteers will travel independently to Severobaikalsk. You can take a train from Moscow to Severobaikalsk (4,5 days) or first arrive to Irkutsk and then take a train to Severobaikalsk ( about 36 hours) or  fly (1,5 hours).

A train from Moscow to Irkutsk will cost approximately 4 000 or 5 000 rubles (about $137-172 US,  117-147 Euro). A one way ticket for a train from Irkutsk to Severobaikalsk is 1500 rubles (about 50 $US, 44 Euro). A flight from Irkutsk to Severobaikalsk is 5000 rubles ($172 US, 147 Euro).

To Irkutsk by air:   Moscow – Irkutsk (5.5 hours).

To Irkutsk by train: Moscow – Irkutsk (3.5 days).

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

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 December 15th. After December 15th 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 February 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 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 coordinator: Mariyasov Evgeny Aleksandrovich,  coordinator of GBT projects in the North  Baikal.

Project manager:  Mariyasova Anna Evgenievna, administrator of Baikal Trail Hostel in Severobaikalsk.

Translator: TBA

Responsibilities: The translator is responsible for translating 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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