Here are just a few interesting facts about the places I am going!
1) There are several different routes on the Trans-Siberian Railway. The trans-Mongolian route from Moscow through Mongolia to Beijing is 7,865km and is the route I am taking. The classic Moscow to Vladivostock trans-Siberian route is 9,288km long and the trans- Manchurian route which goes from Moscow to Beijing via Harbin is 9,001km.
2) The Trans-Siberian Railway crosses through ten time zones. A total of 19 per cent of the route is in Europe and the other 81 per cent is in Asia. A small obelisk at 1,778km marks the Europe/Asia line.
3) One of the highlights of the route is passing Lake Baikal, which is the most voluminous lake in the world and holds more than a fifth of the world’s fresh water supply. Described as ‘The Pearl Of Siberia’ it is a National Park measuring some 636km in length and 60km across, with a surface area is bigger than Belgium. Its shores are further apart than the distance from London to Edinburgh and it is said that if you go diving in it, you will gain another year of life.
4) Lake Baikal is recognised as the deepest lake in the world at 1,620 metres. In winter it is covered with ice so thick that you can drive cars over it.
5) The route to Vladivostock was built between 1891 and 1916. The first rivet was ceremonially hammered home by the future Nicholas II, the last Tsar. Ironically under communist rule he would later be placed under house arrest as a prisoner on board the Trans-Siberian.
6) The Trans-Siberian Railway is longer than both the Great Wall Of China and the American Route 66.
7) Rudolf Nureyev was born on the Trans-Siberian Railway near Irkutsk in Siberia while his mother, Farida, was travelling to Vladivostock because his father, Hamat, a Red Army political commissar, was stationed.
8 ) The train is better than the Buena Vista Social Club! It’s not a tourist train but real-life day to day form of transport, which means you can meet interesting folks from all walks of life in a real setting. Over vodka, a few snacks and a game or two of cards you can learn everyone’s story.
9) It was the railway that built Ulaanbaatar as we know it today. Mongols are nomads and before the railway, the Mongolian capital wasn’t even fixed, but followed the Royal Court in ger tents around a calendar route of Mongolia’s Buddhist monasteries.
10) When Mongolian hero Sukhebaatar wanted to enlist Lenin’s help in overthrowing the Chinese, he had to ride to Moscow by horse in person, which took just seven days and nights.
