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Eastern Bam

Things to do in Eastern Bam

  1. BAM Museum

    The BAM Museum, a couple of blocks southwest of the Orthodox cathedral (Sobor Svyatoy Troitsy), covers native Evenki culture, WWII, local art and regional wildlife, but is known for its four rooms of BAM relics and photos (no English). Two rooms cover the railway’s early years and the Gulag prisoners who built it. Look for the photo of sci-fi author Ivan Efremov, who secretly wrote while in the Gulag.

    reviewed

  2. A

    Municipal Museum of Regional Studies

    Worth it even if you can’t read Russian, the well-arranged Municipal Museum of Regional Studies has several rooms filled with old photos and knick-knacks showing how Komsomolsk rose from the tent camps of original pioneers in 1932 to an industrial Soviet city. One exhibit triumphs the Soviet devushki (young women) who followed the calls for women out to this all-male city in 1937.

    reviewed

  3. B

    Fine Art Museum

    The ladies running the Fine Art Museum will be eager to help you appreciate the two floors of changing exhibits, often modest works by regional artists. One recent exhibit we saw was of Khabarovsk-based artist Nikolai Dolbilkin, who made many of the wonderful Soviet mosaics around town when he lived here in the ’50s and ’60s.

    reviewed

  4. Banya

    Tynda’s public banya is the real McCoy when it comes to the hellishly hot steam room and chilly dunks in a pool. Freshly cut birch branches are available. It’s in a red-brick building 50m south of a dramatic sledgehammer-wielding BAM worker statue at the eastern end of ul Krasnaya Presnaya.

    reviewed

  5. WWII mosaic

    In the central grey building at Sudostroitel Park you’ll see Dolbilkin’s WWII mosaic celebrating the end of the war; his relief Nauka mosaic is at the Polytechnical Institute on pr Lenina, a block east of Hotel Voskhod.

    reviewed

  6. Vstrecha

    This mini banquet hall has cloud-painted ceilings and fussed-up tables wrapping around a simple disco-ball stage for live music after 9pm (when entry is R60 to R140). Food is quite good; the Russian dishes (cutlets, soups, salads) more so than the Chinese.

    reviewed

  7. C

    Japanese POW memorial

    It's a long shot, but you could ask Nata Tour about (rare) visits of the Yury Gagarin Aircraft Factory east of the centre. Look around for Soviet mosaics beside housing blocks on back streets. There's a simple Japanese POW memorial, off pr Mira.

    reviewed

  8. D

    WWII memorial

    Just northwest of the river station, Komsomolsk's landmark sight is the WWII memorial, which features stoic faces chipped from stone, with pillars marking the years of WWII nearby.

    reviewed

  9. E

    Cafe Rodnik

    This fun little eatery serves a host of Russian and Chinese dishes in a compact Chinese-style setting popular with locals. A mug of local Flora beer (a bit sweet) is R50.

    reviewed

  10. Regional Museum

    For more on local history, visit the simple Regional Museum, which includes exhibits on locals sent to the Gulag in 1937–38.

    reviewed

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  12. U City

    This new one-screen cinema has a flashy 1st-floor pizza place (slices R50 to R60) with comfy booths and Komsomolsk’s coolest kids.

    reviewed

  13. F

    beach

    If things seem quiet on a sunny day, probably half of town's at the beach, just east of the river station.

    reviewed

  14. G

    Voshkod Cafe

    Hotel Voskhod's 8th-floor café has good Russian meals in a simple setting.

    reviewed

  15. H

    Pelmennay

    Old-school, pick-and-point eating.

    reviewed