Vorkuta is a coal mining settlement north of the Arctic circle in European Russia. Connected only by rail and air to the rest of Russia, the area is in decline following the closure of a number of the mines. It was also the largest Gulag in European Russia and the gulag built rail link was finished in 1941. An abandoned railway crosses the tundra to Igarka some 800 miles away but access is restricted to those with a special pass. Vorkuta is part of Russia's early warning network with a Voronezh-M radar installation sited close to one of the mines. The best way to visit the area is on the 40 hour sleeper from Moscow where you can be served by strange witches in the Restaurant car.
beats going to my local wrecked old farm. You done much other stuff in Russia?
