Travel 1/8 of the Earth's circumference on the Trans-Siberian train

I remember a story my mother told me when I was a child. When she was a student, she was sent by the government to study in Albania. The journey to Albania was far away, she had to travel by land through the territory of China, Mongolia and Russia, then the Soviet Union. It was the first time in her life that my mother had ever been on a train. Perhaps the young student had no idea that the train ran along one of the longest railway lines in the world, calledTrans-Siberian Railway. She only remembered the image of the vast taiga forests, of the immense Lake Baikal. She remembered the silhouette of the Russian girl in red boots surrounded by white snow and the steppes stretching to the horizon in Mongolia… That was the first thing I learned aboutTrans-Siberian.

Unique railway line

To understand whyTrans-Siberianis a unique railway famous throughout the five continents, some relevant statistics can be listed:

--Russia is the largest country in the world with an area nearly twice the size of the United States.

--Total length of the entire routeTrans-SiberianThe 9,289km route between Moscow and Vladivostok makes it one of the longest railway lines in the world. If you travel non-stop, the Trans-Siberian journey in Russia will take 146 hours, or more than 6 days and 6 nights.

--More than 30% of the world's total greenery belongs to Siberia

--Lake Baikal alongTrans-SiberianConsidered the oldest, deepest, and largest freshwater lake on the planet, it holds 20% of the Earth's unfrozen freshwater reserves.

Those who want to experienceTrans-SiberianThere are usually three main options: the Trans-Siberian, the Trans-Mongolian and the Trans-Manchurian (Chinese) railways. Travelers usually take this route between May and November, as the Siberian region becomes too cold in winter after that.

With lineTrans-Siberian, is the longest leg, most travelers will start their journey from Moscow which is considered the “classic” route, moving from the West to the East of Russia to Vladivostok. It should be added that when goingTrans-Siberian, it would be too boring if you choose to stay on the train for the entire journey. Instead, you can choose a few stops to explore, as you can get off the train at any station you want.

Chatter, chatter 5,000km, from East to West

I decided to start the journeyTrans-Siberianmy way in the opposite direction, that is, from East to West. There are several reasons why I want to do so. Firstly, I do not want to go all the way to Moscow to prioritize the time I have for places I have not been to, since I have lived in Moscow for quite a long time before. Secondly, I really want to feel aTrans-Siberianof the Russian people, feel it in their daily lives when coming from the East. And Vladivostok is the ideal place to start experiencingTrans-Siberianmy instead of the crowded and touristy capital Moscow.

So my journey begins...

Vladivostok is very different from what you might expect from Siberia. Located near the eastern end of the Pacific Ocean, this small, hilly city is filled with imported right-hand drive cars and Japanese electronics. It has a port and a fleet. Walking down the streets, you’ll find Korean, Japanese and Chinese tourists and businessmen mixed in with the mostly Asian locals, giving you a sense of the multi-ethnicity of Russia that comes from the east.

I boarded the train late in the evening after two long days of wandering around Vladivostok's inner and outer suburbs. The train departed on time, and the passengers, like me, quickly fell asleep.

Trans-SiberianIt was by no means a tourist train, then or now. Tsar Alexander III understood the importance of connecting Russia’s vast regions when he signed the decree for the Trans-Siberian Railway in 1891. The line linked Russia from Europe to its eastern territories, opening up opportunities to exploit the mineral-rich lands beyond the Ural Mountains. It was also an efficient means of transporting political and criminal prisoners exiled to Siberia, as well as of quickly transporting soldiers to the newly annexed Amur region, which was constantly threatened by China. At the Paris Exposition of 1900, a model of the railway impressed visitors from all over the world.

Nowadays, the train seats are almost fully booked and it is a vital overland means of transport for Russians, Chinese or Mongolians who cannot afford a plane ticket or have too much luggage. Everyone has different needs when booking a train ticket but I will always choose the most economical class. The main reason is not because it is cheaper, but because for me it is the most interesting place to feel, observe the life of the locals or interact with them.

In the Russian train system, this class is called platskart - open hard sleeper class, not divided into rooms. Each platskart car has 40 beds. Stories, games, food or drinks are often shared by platskart passengers. This is the sleeper class that lacks the most privacy but on the contrary, ensures to bring you the most authentic and rich local cultural experience.

More than 100 years ago, when the first train began running across Russia to Vladivostok, thebrochureThe ad depicted aTrans-SiberianGlitzy and sophisticated, equipped with marble baths, gyms and even darkrooms for photographers! The situation is very different now: not every train ofTrans-SiberianThere are also restaurant cars, power outlets are only at the front and back of the cars and the interiors of the cars are generally quite outdated. Although there are no bathrooms, what I like about the trainTrans-SiberianThe toilets are always kept quite clean despite the high density of people using them. Each car has a very large samovar that serves boiling water, convenient for making tea or eating instant noodles. You can buy instant noodles, some snacks, order tea or coffee in each car, and also order food if the train you are on has a restaurant car. Most Russians useTrans-SiberianI met along the way who seemed quite familiar with this means of transport. They usually carry enough food or essential items for a train trip.

I woke up very early because I felt the sky was getting brighter. The moment lying on the train and looking out the window at the moment before sunrise was wonderful. Outside, the world was dyed a pink-purple color that gradually turned to orange. The sunlight shone through the thick layers of fog like clouds drifting on the horizon, creating magical scenes. Along the way, the train stopped at many stations, some just a few minutes long enough for people to get on or off the train, some 10-15-20 minutes long enough for you to walk around the station and buy food from kiosks or street vendors.

Each stop along the wayTrans-SiberianIt feels like a brief tryst with “life” in the middle of nowhere. And then, in a moment, you leave everything behind and soon disappear into a radio-free zone in the vastness of Siberia.

The picture outside the train window

My next morning on the train began when the sun was already high in the sky. I was woken up by the bright sunlight streaming through the window and the sounds of children playing. Only then did I look around the car: almost every house in my car had an average of two children with them. The children always gathered around me, chatting or occasionally quietly peeking from afar because it was rare to meet foreign tourists who could speak Russian. Surprisingly, they seemed to be very used to traveling by train and were self-conscious in their activities, completely not causing any trouble to those around them.

The scenery through the window became more and more attractive. We passed through vast steppes, cold taiga forests and fresh birch forests. Along the winding bends of the sky-reflecting rivers were large and small villages with pretty wooden houses and white smoke rising from chimneys occasionally appearing along the hillsides bathed in golden sunlight as if coming out of a fairy tale. Interspersed with countless grasses and wildflowers competing in color in the warm, sometimes quite hot, Siberian summer… It felt like you were admiring a slow-motion film.

I completely lost track of time on theTrans-SiberianEvery day you wake up thinking: “Where am I, what time is it here?”. You quickly change the time on your watch.smartphone, clocks and recording devices almost every day! Yes, I am traveling along the longest railway line on the planet, across 7 time zones, running horizontally across the largest country in the world with territory spanning 10 time zones. It sounds crazy but it is also amazing!

Admire Lake Baikal - the pearl of Siberia

To avoid confusion, the trainsTrans-Siberianall run on Moscow time. After nearly three days, 62 hours, I landed at my first stop: Ulan-Ude, the capital of Russia’s Buryatia Republic. My hair by this point felt like straw after days without a shower.

Ulan-Ude is famous for its monument to Lenin with the world's largest head. The Republic of Buryatia today is like a miniature Mongolia, with indigenous people of the same culture and Mongolian blood, with vast green steppes stretching across many hills and proud herds of wild horses. This place is also the center of Shamanism and Buddhism in Russia with Tibetan Buddhist temples.

Saying goodbye to Ulan-Ude and the surrounding villages, I boarded the train for my next stop – the city of Irkutsk, the most important stop along the line. Irkutsk is 448 km from Ulan-Ude. The most interesting thing for passengers on this route is the opportunity to see Lake Baikal through the windows. The train runs for a long time along the southern edge of the lake. Baikal is so large that it takes several hours to cover this stretch and most of the time I felt like I was traveling along the shore.

I couldn’t miss Lake Baikal and got off at Irkutsk station to go to Olkhon Island – the fourth largest lake island in the world. To get an idea of ​​the size of this island, imagine a place larger than Singapore nestled in the middle of Lake Baikal. I camped overnight at the foot of the cliffs by the lake so that when I woke up I could watch the sunrise here. The waves were lapping, the birds were chirping to greet the new day, I washed my face with the still cold and crystal clear water of the lake. The water is so pure that you can drink it directly without boiling or filtering.

I feel like Olkhon is a miniature picture of Siberia. There are primeval taiga forests with many wild animals, vast green steppes like in Mongolia, sand dunes like in the desert or steep cliffs overlooking the vast blue space of Lake Baikal.

Epilogue

TripTrans-SiberianMy train ended in Novosibirsk, 1,855 km or almost a day and a half away from Irkutsk. This is the third largest city in Russia, famous for being the largest scientific and industrial center in Siberia. Stopping here, I had to transfer to a sub-train heading south to Siberia to continue my still very long journey.

Siberia is so vast and vast to me that I don't know when I will be able to explore it all, perhaps even a lifetime will not be enough. Walking alongTrans-Siberian, you will see a Siberia that is not only taiga and icy cold as you may have imagined it. I am sure that anyone who one day decides to step onto this endless train will find their own Siberia.

Along that vital railway line, East - West, trains across the Siberian desert have continued to run tirelessly day and night for over 100 years, serving the essential travel needs of the Russian people.

More information:

+ Visa

Applying for a Russian visa is not difficult but takes time. You must submit your application at least 1 month before your departure date because the tourist visa approval time is 20 working days. The application submitted to the consulate includes an invitation letter (provided by a Russian travel agency with a service fee of 50 USD/person), travel itinerary,bookingAirline tickets and hotel, qualified health insurance. Documents related to financial proof are not as strict as visas to Western European countries. Tourist visa is valid for 1 month with fixed entry and exit dates.

If you are traveling in a group, you should call the consulate to make an appointment in advance. If you do not have an appointment, you should arrive as early as possible at the beginning of the hour to get in early. The success rate is very high, so to save time, you can go to the bank to transfer the visa fee in advance. This way, after the application is accepted, it will be processed immediately without interruption.

+ Travel

-Airline tickets: You should plan early to be able to buy tickets early. With air tickets, sometimes Vietnam Airlines and Aeroflot have special promotions with round-trip tickets from Hanoi to Moscow costing around 500 - 600 USD. Round-trip tickets from Hanoi to Vladivostok on S7 airline cost around 500 USD on average.

-Train tickets: During peak season, you shouldbooktrain tickets as soon as possible. The website of the Russian railway system iswww.rzd.ru. Unfortunately, the train schedule is only available in Russian, so you need to know Russian or ask someone who does.bookTickets are available from this page. If this option does not suit you, you canbookthrough travel agencies or intermediary websites that charge an additional service fee. However, if you do not want to restrict your schedule, you can still buy tickets directly at the train station in Russia. Of course, the closer to the date you buy, the lower your chances of getting a good seat.

-The train route Moscow - Vladivostok will cost from 1,130 USD/ticket with sleeping seatscupcakefirst class (2-bed room) and 480USD/ticket second class kupe (4-bed room), and from 265USD is platskart class.

+ Accommodation

In addition to overnight stays on the train, most Russian cities have a fair amount ofhostel, homestayand comfortable hotels, prices are listed on the websites.bookinginternational unless you go to more remote places. The Russians themselves whenbookHotels also regularly use systems such asBooking.com. After the economic crisis, accommodation prices in Russia have dropped significantly and tourists have more options. A double room usually costs from 20 USD/night.

+ Average cost:In addition to the above train and plane ticket costs, the average spending cost per person is around 30-50 USD/day or more.

+ Travel time

The best time, the peak tourist season, is from May to September. In winter, many places can have temperatures below -40C. However, some tourists still like to admire the beauty of frozen Lake Baikal in winter, so they still go in the cold season.

+ Where to stop?

Irkutsk is a must-see destination, and the rest depends on your time and needs, mostly the larger cities along the way and from there you can go to more remote areas if needed.

+ What should I bring?

-You should bring or buy along the way light and easy-to-hold food and drinks such as fruit, cheese, biscuits, lots of tea bags or instant coffee, instant noodles... Vodka is not sold at train stations, but Russians will always know where to buy vodka!

-For personal hygiene, you should bring wet wipes as well as cups and small towels because the train compartments are not equipped with bathrooms, only sinks and toilets. Only the most luxurious train cars traveling through Mongolia have bathrooms.

-You should bring a book, an iPad or any device that can help you kill the empty time on the train.

-Carry enough cash as you won't always have the opportunity to buy things at places that accept cards, such as buying food from street vendors at rest stops.

+ Special note

Every time you get off at a station along the way, you should ask carefully about the train's stopping time. Trains leave on time and will not wait for you. There have been many cases of "playful" tourists being left behind.

Nguyen Quynh Anh:Freelance Photographer

This Hanoi girl spent a long time living in Moscow (Russia). Returning to Vietnam in late 2007, after graduating with a degree in architecture, Quynh Anh is now a freelance photographer and a photo collaborator for a foreign news agency. Her photos have appeared in many magazines and websites of foreign organizations such as Lonely Planet Publications, National Geographic Traveller, Cosmopolitan, BBC Travel... In particular, her photo of Tu Le Fields won awards at international photo contests as well as entered the final round of prestigious photo contests such as the National Geographic Travel Photo Contest or SIPA Photo Contest.

Growing up in a changing environment and being exposed to many different cultures, between the East and the West, Quynh Anh has always been curious and wanted to explore new lands. The result of such a "lifetime" trip is an article about her journey across Siberia that she exclusively sent to Travellive.

Article and photos: Nguyen Quynh Anh

The Thanh