How to experience two worlds in 12 days? Just ride the Trans-Siberian train. Photo / Supplied
How to experience two worlds in 12 days? Just ride the Trans-Siberian train. Photo / Supplied
Twelve days on the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Beijing covering nearly 8000km, seven time zones and ever-changing scenery, will always be a trip of a lifetime for travel writer Sue Wallace.
Turn back the clock to 2016 to a different world and we are boarding the Zarengold Tsar’s Gold Train in Moscow to follow the Trans-Mongolian route to Beijing, traversing Russia, Mongolia and into China.
There’s a United Nations of 164 excited passengers from 23 countries, who all share a dream of experiencing one of the world’s great train journeys in comfort.
Our route takes us to Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, with its panoramic view over the Volga, then to Yekaterinburg, the Ural’s historical capital and through the vast steppes of western Siberia.
Central Mongolia amazes with its colorful yurt camps, giving travelers a taste of traditional Mongolian life. Photo / Supplied
In Novosibirsk, the heart of Siberia, we receive a traditional welcome on the station platform with freshly baked decorated bread and salt and view the huge Trans-Siberian Railway Monument and the mighty Ob River.
After crossing a railway bridge over the Yenisei River, we arrive in Krasnoyarsk and visit Art Nouveau houses in the city centre, while in Irkutsk, picturesque Siberian wooden houses and a memorial to Tsar Alexander III, initiator of the Tran-Siberian Railway, are tour highlights.
Siberia’s sparkling Lake Baikal, the world’s largest reservoir of non-frozen freshwater is picture-perfect and we take a boat trip across the deep waters to Port Baikal. Later, we rejoin the train travelling lakeside on the original route of the Trans-Siberian Railway.
Dinner is a picnic on the shores of Lake Baikal with singing and dancing entertainment.
Other highlights include the magnificent scenery of central Mongolia with its colourful yurt (ger in Mongolian) camps and we later stop at Ulan Bator, the capital.
At a traditional Mongolian folk-art concert, we are entertained with throat singing, fiddle playing with a carved horse-head instrument and dancers in national costumes.
We also visit a tent settlement with herds of horses and shaggy yaks, and watch a Mongolian horse show starring youngsters who are already expert riders. We change trains at the Chinese border and Beijing is the end of our long train trek.
The trip from Moscow to China offers a mesmerising view of Lake Baikal, the world's biggest reservoir of non-frozen freshwater. Photo / Supplied
From dawn to dusk, we glimpse life in big cities, tiny towns and barren landscapes and stop most days to tour with local guides, who provide an insight into the attractions, highlights, architecture, and culture of each destination.
There’s something mesmerising about train travel, and we sit for hours, never tiring of window-gazing and watching the world go by.
Housing ranges from grim Stalinist-style apartment blocks to gingerbread Russian cottages, the colourful wooden houses of Siberia and the tented yurts of Mongolia on vast grassy plains.
It doesn’t take long to adapt to train life in comfortable carriages some built for the Soviet Union elite in the 1950s.
Our Nostalgic-Class Cabin is decked out in plush ruby-red velvet with polished timber, a couch that converts to a single bed and another overhead bunk which is a little too close to the ceiling for my liking. My husband climbs the ladder each night and says it’s comfortable.
The train's Nostalgic-Class Cabin boasts plush ruby-red velvet decor and polished timber finishings. Photo / Supplied
There’s a tiny shower with a curtain that seems to stick to you regardless of what you do and a basin with loos down the corridor.
We share the bathroom with a delightful couple from India, who also love train travel and are much better at cards than us.
There are six types of compartments from family cabins for four through to ultra-luxurious Platinum cabins for two, with private bathrooms.
Meals are served in the ornate dining room and are hearty and tasty with kasha, a tasty traditional porridge for breakfast, salads and meat for lunch or sandwiches on tour. Dinner often starts with tiny blinis topped with caviar, followed by beef stroganoff and fabulous crepes - plus vodka shots.
Friendly train stewards refresh the cabins daily and provide fruit, water and snacks - the caviar and vodka tasting always attracts a crowd.
Sometimes we buy cakes and treats from stallholders on the train platforms, who also sell smoked fish and eel.
Caviar tastings are popular aboard the Trans-Siberian Express. Photo / Supplied
We also discover there are palm trees in Siberia — they are shipped in for the summer and displayed in the colourful city of Irkutsk, much to the delight of residents.
One of my favourite stops is the vast biscuit-coloured Gobi desert, which is looking its best after heavy rain produced a carpet of tiny wildflowers.
A caravan of camels and their cameleers saunter by the train without even giving us a second glance, while we watch in awe.
As for the most memorable moment - it is sitting beside beautiful Lake Baikal, listening to folk songs played by an old man with his much-loved accordion and sipping vodka - just magical.
Checklist: Trans Siberian Railway
DETAILS
The MFAT travel advisory for the Russian Federation remains do not travel, since the 2022 conflict with Ukraine. Passport Travel’s Trans Siberian Railway journey has been suspended since February 2020 due to Coronavirus and remains so until further notice - passporttravel.com.au offers other great train trips.
