With the Great Baikal Trail non-profit organization, you can spend a few weeks this summer contributing to the first environmental trail system in Russia. Their mission is to promote local sustainable development of Lake Baikal and surrounding areas through low-impact ecotourism, part of which entails building safe, and environmentally friendly trails for hikers.

There’s more: volunteer teams typically consist of equal parts of volunteers from international locations and from within Russia, and a translator is along for the ride too…meaning you have the opportunity not only to volunteer in Russia, but to do so and interact with Russian people as co-volunteers. You can read the volunteer information here, and read about a typical day here. There is a fee, which range from $270-$320 for approximately two weeks and includes food and accommodation - in tents. Many people do need visas for Russia; US citizens, for example pay $100 (or more, depending on how quickly you need it) and one part of the application is a letter of invitation, which the organization provides. See a list of possibly projects, including dates, here.

Note that volunteers do also need to find their own way to the project site; generally a five or six hour flight from Moscow plus a train ride, or, well, four days by train. But for the rest of your life, you can say you volunteered in Siberia. I don’t really like camping…or cold…but I must admit that this does pique my interest. If it does yours too, check out the Great Baikal Trail site itself for more information.

Thanks to this post for publicizing the organization.