Walk on Baikonur

• Baikonur Walk

Cosmodrome in the world known as the launch site in Kazakhstan, but it is also a closed city, having to Russian federal status, with a population of 70 thousand people, with the space center forms a complex "Baikonur", leased by Russia from Kazakhstan.

You can get here in several ways, the easiest and most expensive - to buy a ticket at one of the specialized travel agencies, the cost of travel for citizens of Russia will cost about 90 thousand rubles.

As an option - see the photowalk and decide for yourself whether you want to go here to see it all live. In advance I say that should definitely go to the start, and the city ... well, see for yourself.

The second option - to get hold of there family or be invited by a local resident.

The most difficult path - to become a space expert and start to work here, or to be a journalist, writing about space, either as a photographer or cameraman known agency of the federal TV channel to go on a day trip to Baikonur.

Leninsk - so called Baikonur from 1955 to 1995, and the nearest railway station is called Tyuratam.

In the Baikonur station also has a "City", and the schedule for each route is the same.

The airport is six kilometers away and is called "Deadline". Journalists have already potrollit Kazakh name of the airport, with an emphasis shouting "Hey, uezhzzhay ~~otsedova~~!"

The city was built and developed until the collapse of the Soviet Union, reaching the very rapid growth in the '80s, in connection with the development of the program "Energy-Buran", by 1990 the number of inhabitants, including small towns at the launch site, has reached 140 thousand people.

After the collapse of the USSR in 1991-1992 fell on hard times for the Baikonur cosmodrome, and for Baikonur-city. The number of space launches has decreased dramatically, the military and scientists with families left in search of a better life back in Russia, leaving the housing, and passed into the hands of the Kazakhs utilities began to collapse, including the lack of funds and staff.

Fortunately, it lasted a short time and mess lease agreement between Russia was signed in 1994 and Kazakhstan for 20 years, extended in 2004 for another 46 years - until 2050.

Home Lenin Square with the same "pointing finger", here love to meet the taxi drivers.

Dima Lovetskaya there is a block where Lenin "launches" missile.

In the city all shops work with rubles, tenge, we have seen only once on the market - two women standing with bundles of money-changers in the hands.

Our hotel "Central" is positioned as a three star but barely pulls on two. Tourist lodge here though.

View from the window of my room in the headquarters building, "Roscosmos". Weather in one morning was a snow-blizzard, the day gave way to the sun, and in the evening it began to rain. Steppe-with ...

The newly arriving travelers do not recommend going out at night with expensive phones, said that a lot of divorced gopoty. But on the whole city is quite calm, nothing can frighten us ...