Nogliki

Nogliki (Russian: Но́глики NOH-glee-kee) is a city in on the island of Sakhalin in Russian Far East, roughly 2/3 up the island. The name is a canny reference to the booming oil business here as it's derived from the indigenous Nivkh word noghl-vo which means 'smelling-village'. Around 10,000 people live here, and as the intro might suggest - it's one of the main population centers for the Nivkh tribe.

Get in

• Nogliki Airport (Аэропорт Ноглики,ICAO:UHSN) for years a rough airstrip, now has a 1750-m paved runway and a fancy terminal building - made possible by a multi-million dollar investment from the oil industry. SAT Airlines flies chartered flights with a Dash-8 to Yuzno-Sakhalinsk and occasionally Khabarovsk for the oil companies, call [phone] to secure a spot on the 5-10 seats usually left for regular passengers.
• Nogliki Railway station (Ноглики вокзал) 613 kilometers north of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk has a daily nighttrain arriving from Yuzhno at 10:45, returning south again at 18:20, the journey takes just over 13 hours, and stops in Tymovsk on the way for bus connections to Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky. A 6-wheeled bus connects with the train to take you 250 km up a grueling dirt road to Okha in the far north of the island.

Get around

A train at Nogliki station

Both the airport and the station are located a few kilometers southwest of the main city in a suburb like area. Marshrutkys shuttle passengers there regularly for a few rubles.

See and do

• Sakhalin Historical & Ethnographic Museum (Сахалинский историко-этнографический музей), ul. Fizkulturnaja 2, ☎ [phone]. Housed in a rather shabby looking wooden building, the museum has around 3,000 items up for display in a space of over 200 m². It also serves as a cultural center for the Nivkh tribe, and besides displays of traditional tools, you'll also find Nivkhs studying their own culture and history. 
• Ostrovok Zoo (Частный зоопарк 'Островок'), ul. Dachnaya 1A, ☎ [phone]. Opened in 2005, this rather bizarre and depressing zoo spreads over about a hectare and has 67 species up for display. 

Buy

There is a central market near the local school on Shkolny Lane, where you buy fresh produce and other stuff, and the central part of Sovetskaya street are lined with shops, mainly groceries and hardware stores

Eat

Typical houses in the city

There are a number of cafes which are equally ready to serve a bite as a drink. If that is all a bit too adventurous for you, you are probably in the wrong place. But fortunately there is a restaurant inside 'Hotel Nogliki' with an English menu.

• Briz Cafe (Бриз), ul. 15. Maja 18, ☎ [phone]. 
• Darchinov Pub (Дарчинов), ul. Deputatskaja 3, ☎ [phone]. 
• Duet Bar (Бар 'Дуэт), ul. Sovetskaya 6, ☎ [phone]. 
• Olympic Bar (Олимпик), ul. Sovetskaya 31, ☎ [phone]. 

Drink

• Zavod (Завод), Ul. Sovetskaya, 44A, ☎ [phone]. W-Sa from 21 till late. Previously Fabrika, both names for a factory, it's the only thing in town that remotely resembles a club. Cover charge RUB300, girls free on Thursdays 

Sleep

• Hotel Nogliki (Ноглики), ul. Sovetskaya 6 (ул.Советская, 6), ☎ [phone]. 3-star hotel with 70 beds, popular with oil workers. Singles: US$82, doubles US$97. 
• Severyanka (Северянка), ul. Sternberga 7A (ул. Штернберга, 7 А), ☎ [phone]. 55-bed hotel with shared bathrooms down the hall, rusty showers and filthy toilet. US$8. 
• Kuban Guesthouse (Кубань), ul. Dachnaya 1 A (Дачная, 1 А), ☎ [phone]. This hotel right by the zoo has 34 beds, and features some bizarre decoration - naked mannequins, a tripped-out aquarium and tapestry that makes you feel like on speed - search for "Kouban Hôtel Nogliki" on Youtube for a taste. 

Connect

• Post Office (Почта России), Ul. Sovetskaya, 19, ☎ [phone]. 

Go next

• Goryachie Kluchi (Горячие Ключи) is a volcanic mountain mountain area, and a village, on a tough dirt road north of town, it has a hot spring to boot.