Travelers: The Most Epic Unconventional Train Journey

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kumansk

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Aug 14, 2009
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straight outta dogtown
You could undertake.

Can't believe I've never heard of this.

"Connecting Moscow to Vladivostok (very end of russia and few hours away from the north korean border), this is the longest train ride of them all, 9,258 km or 6,152 miles."

It extends to 2 continents, 14 regions, 90 cities, and 8 time zones - in 6 days.

Tickets cost like 400 euros each for 2nd class one way. I'm about to get on board in a month or two and still considering what to do after I get to vladivostok, either fly back to moscow or hop over to tokyo.

map-russia-transsiberian-462_enl-d3a944e34a175c5b1d25f18fb2fd53ab87dc5713.gif


You can stop mid way in siberia, spend a day or two in a city of choice and then continue your journey. Also this rail connects mongolia and china too, so it's easy to get on a train from moscow to beijing without the need to go through vladivostok.

More detailed info and pics How to plan & book a journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway

This guy made a cool little documentary about his journey (I'll only post 3, find the rest on youtube).

"Tourists expect things to happen, travelers make things happen".

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7SaC70GoX4]Trans-Siberian Railway | Vladivostok (EP.1) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWgeTYRmUmE]Хабаровск | Khabarovsk | Trans-Siberian Railway (EP.2) - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKUsqiZAY_E]Party in Russia ([/ame]
 


How far up your ass does your head need to be that you've never heard of the Orient express
 
This looks sick. I just talked to a buddy about hitting it and it looks like I might do this shit. I'll post pics here if I go through with it
 
Hurr-Durr said:
Funny...I actually began planning about this couple of weeks ago. From what I've heard, it's amazing.

Also of interest to those who like epic train journeys - Canadian Train Travel, Trips, Rail Journeys, Vacations, Holidays: Rocky Mountaineer - From west coast of Canada to the east coast.
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Canada seems almost too safe to enjoy. This is russia bro. Dostoyevski must've been in one of these trains when they sentenced him to hard labor in a siberian jail. And when youre on that train, no tech or ways to communicate back home, way out there in the wilderness with nothing but your thoughts and those few things you chose to carry, life's about as raw, simple and beautiful as it gets.
 
This guy is a boss.

I watched a similar series he did traveling from Los Angeles to Panama using buses and mass transit only, and it fantastic from start to finish.

This guy is awesome, always finds the best spots where he goes, avoids the lame tourist garbage, etc.

Can't wait to watch this.
 
Always wanted to do an epic journey over land and this is pretty near the top of my list.

You can go to Beijing via Mongolia as well - apparently this journey is more scenic (from there you can then get down to Vietnam etc all on trains/over land!) If you do go to Vladivostok you can get a ferry to Japan/S Korea.

You will want to be able to read the Cyrillic alphabet and at a minimum have a phrase book / selected phrases memorised - most Russians do not speak or understand English.

The 300 euro train is a much slower, stopping service I think. 2nd class is apparently pretty spartan too - think shitting directly onto the tracks, sharing the carriage with Mongolian traders and stuff. Admittedly this will be more authentic but might be a bit of a shock. I think the lower the train number the better the train and quicker the service.
 
jonbird said:
Always wanted to do an epic journey over land and this is pretty near the top of my list.

You can go to Beijing via Mongolia as well - apparently this journey is more scenic (from there you can then get down to Vietnam etc all on trains/over land!) If you do go to Vladivostok you can get a ferry to Japan/S Korea.

You will want to be able to read the Cyrillic alphabet and at a minimum have a phrase book / selected phrases memorised - most Russians do not speak or understand English.

The 300 euro train is a much slower, stopping service I think. 2nd class is apparently pretty spartan too - think shitting directly onto the tracks, sharing the carriage with Mongolian traders and stuff. Admittedly this will be more authentic but might be a bit of a shock. I think the lower the train number the better the train and quicker the service.
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Pretty spot on. I can read cyrillic and wasn't as used to comfort as most people so it prob. won't seem that hardcore to me. I would go to beijing through mongolia but that's two extra visas. I've figured out what I'll do:

Moscow to Irkutsk just to check out the Baikal lake, supposedly the deepest lake on the planet. after that I continue to Vladivostok, rest for a day and catch a flight to tokyo. Spend two weeks in japan, then get on another flight to hong kong and then after a week or two, back to vladivostok to catch a plane to moscow. The whole trip will take me about a month and cost around $3-5k. I'm trying to figure out the dates and pre-book all that shit because it's different time zones everywhere, so easy to go off schedule if you're not careful.
 
Friend of mine did it before she started her studies (she is a doctor now).

All the stories are great, so definitely do this.

::emp::
 
kumansk said:
it's different time zones everywhere, so easy to go off schedule if you're not careful.
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The planes are arriving and departing by a local time, everywhere.

I'm not so sure about trains however. When i last was in Russia, like 13 years ago, the trains in all 12 or so time zones were trafficking by Moscow time, that was sick.

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:xmas-smiley-022:
 
I definitely want to do this one day...

I've done Toronto to Vancouver. Epic journey with some incredible views. Awesome food too. Its a great time and a memory I"ll always treasure.
 
Island said:
I definitely want to do this one day...

I've done Toronto to Vancouver. Epic journey with some incredible views. Awesome food too. Its a great time and a memory I"ll always treasure.
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Toronto to Vancouver on The Canadian is the best, be sure to get sleeper class for the awesome dome cars and free breakfasts, lunches and dinners(which are stellar btw, nothing better than eating fine food while looking out of the window.

VIA%2Bdome.jpg


I've also done Oslo to Bergen. Very beautiful route. Did the flam train too(the one that descends rapidly).

1.-Bergen-to-oslo.jpg


Did the Darjeeling train, now that's epic as hell even though its shorter.

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Done many thousands of miles on Indian Railways. Love traveling on Indian trains, nothing is better than the feeling of standing at a door of a train traveling by the countryside.
 
golan said:
The planes are arriving and departing by a local time, everywhere.

I'm not so sure about trains however. When i last was in Russia, like 13 years ago, the trains in all 12 or so time zones were trafficking by Moscow time, that was sick.
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yeah I meant aligning train and flights time so there's no confusion. them trains still function on moscow time?

I think the second image means something like "are you prepared to work in winter conditions" lol

Island said:
Toronto to Vancouver on The Canadian is the best, be sure to get sleeper class for the awesome dome cars and free breakfasts, lunches and dinners(which are stellar btw, nothing better than eating fine food while looking out of the window.

I've also done Oslo to Bergen. Very beautiful route. Did the flam train too(the one that descends rapidly).

Did the Darjeeling train, now that's epic as hell even though its shorter.

Done many thousands of miles on Indian Railways. Love traveling on Indian trains, nothing is better than the feeling of standing at a door of a train traveling by the countryside.
Click to expand...

That second picture is incredible. Did you get the eu rail pass? I've done this all over europe just on an extended period.

spamming linkz: 20 Things I Learned From Traveling Around the World | Clayton B. Cornell
 
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