# A Soviet steam
engine settles down to retirement in Komsomolsk-na-Amure
TAKING a trip on
the BAM can be challenging: tourism infrastructure is minimal. That said, the
railway is one of the Soviet Union’s greatest legacies, and all comrades are
warmly welcomed.
Irkutsk or Khabarovsk are good starting points to reach the
Bam. Aeroflot is among the airlines offering flights from the UK via Moscow
(London Heathrow to Irkutsk; Aeroflot.com).
Trains then run from both towns into the BAM zone.
Passengers choose from a baffling range of rail classes – seat61.com offers a good explanation. Tickets
can be booked online (Irkutsk to Severobaikalsk compartment ticket; rzd.ru).
Christopher Ward’s Brezhnev’s Folly offers a history of the railway (university
of Pittsburgh press).
Start you BAM journey among the old timber frontier houses
of Irkustsk – from here it’s also
easy to take a day trip to Lake Baikal’s southern shores (baikalmystery.com). Direct trains run
daily to Severobaikalsk from Irkutsk (the train joins Bam at Tayshet).
Positioned on the mountainous northern shore of Lake Baikal,
Severobaikalsk commands the best
setting of any BAM town. Pay a visit to the small but interesting BAM Museum, which
– in addition to lots of railway memorabilia – also has a few mammoth bones.
Stay at the friendly Hotel Olymp in Severobaikalsk, a short walk from the station. In the basement
you’ll find the town’s best eatery – staff don’t speak English, although dishes
can usually be ordered by doing impersonations of the animal you wish to eat.
Before leaving for Tynda, visit the little village of Baikalskoe - cluster of higgledy-piggledy buildings on
cliffs overlooking Lake Baikal, presided over by a handsome wooden church. To
get there, morning and afternoon buses take around 45 minutes from
Servrobaikalsk station.
Though little visited, Tynda
is the biggest town on the BAM. Guides Ekaterina and Vladim Lukovksi show
visitors around – their tour includes a BAM museum, and a village of the Evenki
people, where reindeer-hide tents are pitched (Ekaterina_lukovs@mail.ru).
Housed in a typically fierce-looking tower block, Hotel Yunost is the only hotel of any
sive in Tynda. Functional rooms face out on to a cheery park, while a decent
breakfast is served in the small, colourful café. Be wary of expensive wi-fi
charges ( ul Krasnaya Presnaya).
The last major stop, and the most architecturally
interesting town, on the BAM is Komsomolks-na-Amure.
It’s notable for its Soviet era mosaics – don’t miss the WWII mosaic on the
Palace of Culture, and the electric-worker mosaic on the TETs electric station.
The Hotel Voskhod has compact rooms set
around a classic Soviet era block in Komsomolsk, with a good restaurant on
site. It’s worth wandering over the road to look at the town’s Polytechnical
Institute, decorated with an impressive ‘science’ mosaic ( hotel-voskhod.ru).
Say goodbye to the BAM at Komsomolsk by catching a train
south to Khabarovsk, a pleasant city
of wide boulevards and promenades, at
the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers. Stay at the Boutique
Hotel, which has bright spacious rooms (boutique-hotel.ru).
