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| Tour Name | Great Baikal Trail, Volunteer Trail Building, starting August 15 to September 1, 2007 (three 2-week (#76), Trekking |
| Location | Russia, Baikal |
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| Tour Type | Trekking, class: Budget, effort required: Advanced |
| Price per person / per group |
| Tours | August 15 – 28, Land of Baikal’s Taiga – 3. | 29 August – 11 September 2007, the | September 1-14, Path to Clean Baikal – 2. |
| Prices | USD 280.00 | USD 330.00 | USD 330.00 |
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| Price per person per day | USD 20.00 |
| Price Comments | August 15 – 28, Land of Baikal’s Taiga – 3.
The contribution fee covers: Issuance of an invitation for a visa (from our partner organization “Baikal Trails”), collecting you at the airport or the train station in Irkutsk, helping to arrange accommodation, visa registration with the Russian authorities, all meals on the project, services of a project interpreter, all administrative expenses, project entertainment costs, tools and other equipment, including a tent.
Please note that transportation costs to and from the starting point of the project are NOT included in the contribution fee. All volunteers pay for such transportation themselves.
29 August – 11 September 2007, the "Stars of Balan-Tamur".
The contribution fee covers: A visa invitation (from our partner organization “Baikal Trails”), collecting you at the airport or train station in Ulan-Ude, helping to arrange accommodation, visa registration with the Russian authorities, transportation from the town of Maiskii to the camp site on Lake Balan-Tamur (about 20 km) and back, all meals on the project, services of a project interpreter, all administrative expenses, project entertainment costs, tools and other equipment, including a tent.
Please note that transportation costs to and from the project gathering point are NOT included in the contribution fee. All volunteers pay for such transportation themselves.
September 1-14, Path to Clean Baikal – 2.
The contribution fee covers: Issuance of an invitation for a visa (from our partner organization “Baikal Trails”), reception at the airport or the train station in Ulan-Ude, help arranging accommodations, registration with Russian authorities, transportation from Ust-Barguzin to the camp site, meals on the project, services of a translator, administrative expenses, entertainment costs, tools, and a tent.
Please note that transportation costs to and from the starting point of the project are NOT included in the contribution fee. All volunteers pay for such transportation themselves.
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| Max Group Size | 18 persons |
| Duration | 14 days |
| Included | Paperwork, Accommodation (Camping), Full Board, Guides, Interpreters |
| Accommodation, | Provided, usually tents. |
| Meals | All meals included, communal cooking and clean-up. |
| Transport | Local transportation included. See price comments. |
| Description | Great Baikal Trail - A Siberian Non-profit
Build trails in Siberia; International & Russian Volunteers; Speak English OR Russian
The Great Baikal Trail (GBT), www.greatbaikaltrail.org, is a small conservation non-profit based in Siberia with the mission of protecting Lake Baikal. GBT sponsors projects that build trails and campsites. Projects are two weeks long. Communication is in English AND Russian. Each crew typically has 7 Russians volunteers, 7 international volunteers, a Russian crew leader, and a Russian English / Russian translator. International volunteers come from many places such as Africa, Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, and the USA.
The Experience:
As a GBT volunteer you will work, cook, camp, live, and make friends while part of an international multi-cultural work crew. You will help conserve a beautiful and unique part of the world, experience other cultures, and learn trail building skills – all while communicating in English or Russia. Many volunteers come back summer after summer. Volunteers are diverse in age and life experience (anyone 18 or older is welcome). We usually end up with about 60% female and 40% male participants. Many GBT alumni keep in touch and make friends for life.
While volunteering, you will interact with local people at Lake Baikal, people who have lived there for centuries. Some of them are indigenous, such as Buryats and Evenks – their history goes back to the Genghis Khan Era.
The Great Baikal Trail projects are for those who like to be active while on vacation. We do work but we also make time to enjoy the local environment and culture. We are not giving you a tour package for a holiday vacation at Baikal. We are inviting you to join our family in “building” a sustainable trail system here in Siberia. You can meet new people, make new friends, learn new skills, and make a difference in our world----all in a two week time span.
The Work:
The two week projects focus on building trails, small bridges, campsites, and resting places. Tools and instruction are provided. GBT’s purpose is to create an infrastructure for ecological tourism around Lake Baikal which will offer an alternative to industrial development in this pristine part of Siberia. Volunteers normally work 6 hours a day, five days a week.
Non-Work (time to enjoy):
After work, you have free time to swim, go for a walk, read a book, take photos, or just hang out. In the evening we sing and play guitar (Russians love guitars), and teach each other different skills and favorite national games.
On days off there are many possibilities: go to a Russian banya (a wet sauna), meet with people in the nearby villages, go hiking, go swimming, visit hot springs, or get a tan on a beach.
The Location:
GBT teams work in the breathtaking Lake Baikal basin. We work in national nature reserves, tribal lands, national parks, and historic areas. This is the land of brown bears and nerpas, unique Baikal freshwater seals. Landscapes will vary from the high steppe to mountain slopes, from tundra-lands to the shoreline of the Lake, from taiga forest to alpine meadows. Some projects are on the lake shore, some are not close to Lake Baikal (see above description of each project to know how close to Lake Baikal the project is).
Lake Baikal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
References (former volunteers of Great Baikal Trail (GBT)):
Joshua Hartshorne, from USA. “As a student in St. Petersburg, I had a wonderful host family. Otherwise, I found it very difficult to meet Russians, a frustration shared by nearly every other student. Contrast this with my volunteer experience: When I came to Irkutsk to volunteer at the Great Baikal Trail Association, my "boss" met me at the train station and put me up for a week with her friends. Within literally hours, I had a circle of friends inviting me on hiking trips, advising me on buying skis, and inviting me to parties. To this day, I have met every one of my friends through my volunteer job. I have been on numerous ski trips, attended a wedding, hosted a New Year’s Party (the most important Russian holiday) that lasted almost 24 hours, and threw a bachelor’s party—in short, I’ve done all those things I wanted to do as a student.” Additional comments are posted by Joshua on: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0409/volunteer_in_russia.shtml
Christoph Schmaltz, from Germany, volunteered with GBT in Irkutsk. christoph_schmaltz@gmx.de "I worked in the GBT office in Irkutsk for about one month. Although I spent just a short time with the organization I had the chance to meet very lovely people who were without any exception highly committed to the work of GBT. Drinking tea, eating cookies and chatting in Russian with GBT members was a great and utmost positive experience during my time in Russia."
Allan Meyer, from USA cartoonostrich@yahoo.com “Being involved with the GBT was truly a life-changing experience for me--I met so many good friends there, and my future wife too! So now, in a very literal sense I have family in Siberia. But without this great project I would never have met these people or experienced the magic that is Lake Baikal.”
Dave Brann, from Alaska. Dave is sponsored by a Rotary Club and has worked for the past four summers with GBT. brann@alaska.net
Tobias Hoeck, from Switzerland. tobyhoeck@gmx.ch
Jon Green, from Washington State, Evergreen College. Jon gives slide shows on his GBT experience to encourage others to volunteer. greenbhikku@yahoo.com
Brendan Luecke, from USA, bjluecke@hotmail.com
Alastair Locke, British, nikolai_1917@hotmail.com
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| Itinerary | Description of Inidividual Projects:
August 15 – 28, Land of Baikal’s Taiga – 3.
Setting: Southern coast of Lake Baikal, between the picturesque villages Listvyanka and Bolshie Koty. Bolshie Koty is a small fishing reachable only by trail or boat.
Work: Construction of a safe trail between the picturesque villages of Listvyanka and Bolshie Koti. This trail is well-known for its beautiful vistas and has always been very popular with hikers of all ages.
Cost 7,200 rubles (approx $280 US, $22 / day).
Nearest city: Itkutsk
29 August – 11 September 2007, the "Stars of Balan-Tamur".
Setting: East of Lake Baikal in the ancient, untouched Siberian nature of Dzherginskii National Nature Reserve. Although not near Lake Baikal, this project gives a chance to experience an area of pure wilderness, picturesque lakes, rapid-running rivers, and high mountain peaks in the sparsely populated northeast corner of the Buryat Republic.
Work: Clean up and widen the trail where it already exists, and build up whole new stretches of the trail, often using rock walk-ways to do so. We will also create switchbacks where the terrain might be too steep, and mark the trail with special directional and other signs.
Cost 8,500 rubles (approx $330 US, $23.57 / day).
Nearest city: Ulan Ude
September 1-14, Path to Clean Baikal – 2.
Setting: East of Lake Baikal in the ancient, untouched Siberian nature of Dzherginskii National Nature Reserve. Although not near Lake Baikal, this project gives a chance to experience an area of pure wilderness, picturesque lakes, rapid-running rivers, and high mountain peaks in the sparsely populated northeast corner of the Buryat Republic.
Work: Trailhead, trail, and campsite construction and improvement.
Cost 8,500 rubles (approx $330 US, $23.57 / day).
Nearest city: Ulan Ude
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| Available |
| From |
Till |
| 2007-08-15 |
2007-08-28 |
| 2007-08-29 |
2007-09-11 |
| 2007-09-01 |
2007-09-14 |
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