if the job doesn't kill ya the hamburger's might....

*NOTE: this photograph is NOT taken at a Chayvo dinner table

Probably the most popular conversation topic in Chayvo camp is food. Today's lunch is compared to yesterday's dinner and tomorrow's breakfast will be judged against last week's dessert. It doesn't matter what is being discussed and with whom. Eventually the conversation will digress to food topics. "Remember the previous catering company and how good their meals were?" or "was your hamburger raw in the middle too?" For months we had no fresh vegetables and only occasional fresh fruit. Then they brought in the ice cream machine that was supposed to divert our attention away from the half cooked dinners. Of course it worked! Unfortunately machines have a habit of breaking down just when there's a terrible dinner. So half the time you can count on a paper cup of ice cream if nothing else. The food is much better at the Bridge Camp so our crew spends most coffee breaks indulging in tasty pastries and kasha in the country kitchen atmosphere. Robin Friend, Veco Project Manager's most memorable comment at any of the weekly site safety meetings was "is it too much to ask for a firm stool????" The up side of the poor food is you are inclined to lose weight so many of us returned home much slimmer. The only people who actually gained weight were some of the locals who were eating better than they do at home. Most of the Russian surveyors stated that they hate the food as much as the expats so generally speaking the topic of food is an excellent opportunity to vent daily frustrations.

I love peas I love peas I love peas I love peas I love peas I love peas

Chester and his pipe

Chester is a surveyor from Canada and worked 4 rotations for ECC Veco at Chayvo during construction of the heavy haul road and pile driving. Svetlana was his interpreter and very much enjoyed working with Chester.

Chester's favorite past time was having 'a pipefull'. Even on the coldest days you would see Chester outside the office puffing on that pipe. I remember the day he lost it in a snow bank. He had a panicked look in his eyes as we searched around in vain for that pipe. Thank goodness he had a spare! Everyone on the project recognized Chester and his pipe.

Chester wanted me to take a photo of him standing in front of this Kamaz so he could take the picture home to show his friends and prove that he was actually working in Russia.

The ever present pipe!

nothing can prepare you for a 15 hour train ride...except alcohol

To endure the 15 hours you'll need lots of these! eat some Pringles drink some Baltica's...life is good!!!! okay, those little green Heineken's are tastier but these work too!

hot water heater on the train

Somebody asked me about those prehistoric looking hot water heaters on the train. I too thought they looked like a contraption that perhaps Noah had salvaged from the Ark. Proof that they aren't was confirmed when a new car was added to the train, car number 9. Number 9, number 9...has a nice ring to it. Anyway, everything inside the car was brand new including the water heater. And guess what?? It looked just like the old water heaters. minus all the stains! So my conclusion is that Russian water heater technology hasn't changed since about 1810. Why change something thats functioning perfectly?

Nogliki Train Station

What do you do to amuse yourself while sitting hours at the train station in Nogliki waiting to board the 15 hour southbound train to Yuzhno Sakhlinsk? If you have a few spare bucks in your back pocket try entertaining the local kids who come down to the station to beg foreigners for change. They really are good kids and won't try to steal your wallet. Thats the task of the older brother who lurks in the background waiting for an opportunity to lighten your load. Buy the boys a lollipop at the station kiosk and watch their eyes light up as they bite into the hard candy.

As you sit in your bright yellow chair and stare at the green walls the steel gray egg carton ceiling starts to make perfect sense. Then you notice that everyone has a warm Baltica beer in hand and a sackful of spares for the train ride. The kiosk sells beer but a better choice is to wander over to the grocery store east of the station for the best selection of beer, wine, and hard liquor. After 6 weeks of sobriety the first beer vaporizes. So does the second. And so on.....

Its time to visit the facilities and today is your lucky day because the state authorities have made significant upgrades to the station bathroom. Keep in mind that everyone who travels north to Chayvo on the train must pass through this station and a good percentage of them use this bathroom. Theres a train every single day of the year so we're talking about thousands of travellers. This is a photo of the co-ed toilet on my first visit to Nogliki. No throne just a trough in the concrete floor that you straddle or squat over. To add to your discomfort is the lack of door and the building has no heat. This is Siberia after all!

Here is the upgraded facility. The tiles are freshly painted and the pink toilet paper bucket is a colorful addition! Nice! Trust me, after a few of those luke warm Balticas this is a welcomed sight! You don't want to walk around in bare feet mind you!

The interior of the Nogliki Train Station is a colorful mix of yellows, greens, and greys. I just love that metal ceiling! I could stare at it all day. I wish I could take that ceiling home, my life would be complete....

After 6 weeks of long hard days Anatoli and Andre are ready to head home to Khabarovsk for some much needed rest and relaxation.

All bumpy roads lead to Chayvo

Actually its the only road that connects Nogliki with Chayvo and travel times vary depending on the weather and road conditions. This photo shows the road a little dusty but otherwise in excellent condition.











The only sign of pavement (2005) is a 1 km section through the village of Val.

This totem pole is located off the shoulder of the road and my driver had the courtesy to point it out to me.

You get around any way you can on Sakhalin and sometimes that means pushing a load of lumber down the rails by hand.

Siberian Tiger.....damn!!!

As requested.....a close up of the beautiful Russian woman dressed to kill in the Siberian Tiger outfit. I only followed her a couple miles, honest! :-) Yuzhno has some of the most beautiful women on the planet!