Received questions from China. A traveller is thinking over the ways of getting to Yakutsk from Beijing.
I wanna know, whether there is the railway in Yakutsk. I know a place Berkakit railway station. What’s solutions from Beijing to Yakutsk?
A very natural request. Air travel from Beijing to Yakutsk, even via Novosibirsk (I wrote about this option a while ago), can be quite expensive.
There is only one route to get to Yakutsk and save money at the same time. It consists of two parts.
1) Travel by train from Beijing to Nerjungri (NERJUNGRI PASS.) through Irkutsk or Ulan-Udeh.
Rates and timetable for trains going to Nerjungri can be found on the official website of the Russian Railways. As far as I know, a train to Nerjungri goes daily.
By the way, about the railroad stations in Yakutia I have already written on the blog here.
In case if you need to spend night in Nerjungri, the station has so-called sleeping rooms (komnata otdyha, in Russian). One night costs 611 rubles (approx. 21 USD / 17 EUR). But I do not recommend to stay in such rooms. They are cheap, but relatively insecure in terms of personal stuff safety.
I recommend to end your journey by train in Nerungri rather than in Aldan or Tommot. First, you will save time. The train from Nerjungri to Aldan or Tommot can take the whole day time. If to go by car, the way will take 4-5 hours only. The speed depends on a driver and road conditions. Second, it will be much easy to find a hotel in Nerjungri, than in Aldan or Tommot. The latter is a small industrial settlement. Even we, Russian-speaking, can hardly understand locals’ direction explanations. The Aldan dwellers tend to say only “Go there!”, and that’s all. Where exactly to go, they always omit to describe.
2) Take a taxi from Nerungri to Yakutsk.
As I mentioned in the post “Railroad stations in Yakutia?“, the car riding from Nerjungri to Yakutsk can take up to 16 hours with a few short stops for snacks at road cafes.
The current taxi rate is 3000 rubles per person. Usually, a long-distance taxi looks like a minivan with 8-10 passenger seats.
You can order a taxi by phone, for instance, dialing these numbers 30715 or 89142437578. You need to say to an operator the day of departure, quantity of passengers, the address of your stay (hotel/apartment). In the course of the mentioned day a car will arrive and pick you up. Keep in mind that gathering passengers across the city can take a few hours. Add these hours to the travel time.
P.S. Have to say thanks to @androsov for giving me info on the current Nerjungri-Yakutsk taxi rate and Nerjungri taxi service phone numbers.
Similar Posts:
- Railroad stations in Yakutia?
- How to get a taxi going to Yakutsk at the Neryungri railroad station?
- Long-distance taxi rates within Yakutia. As of Oct. 20, 2009.
- Pros & Cons: Travel from Yakutsk to Magadan in winter by taxi
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