Two weeks to go

Welcome to my blog all about my imminent journey on the Trans-Siberian Express. Its something I've wanted to do all my life (don't ask me why - maybe I was dropped on my head as a small child or something), but the challenge of going on the longest train journey in the world seems suitably different, unusual, relaxing ... and fun.

So what exactly is the journey ? Well first of all, strictly speaking I'm not going on the Trans-Siberian Express, I'm actually on the Trans-Mongolian Express. Its the same route for about 90% of the journey, the only difference being as you approach the Mongolian border five days into the journey, the former heads north to Vladivostock and the latter heads south through the Gobi Desert to Ulaan Baatar (Mongolia) and Beijing (China).




I don't have a fascination for derelict Soviet naval yards, so I decided Mongolia & China would be much more interesting than Vladivostock. Hence the Trans-Mongolian was my journey of choice, leaving Moscow at 9.35pm every Tuesday, arriving in Beijing at 2pm the following Monday.

I booked the tickets a few weeks ago using a London-based company called Real Russia. They've booked me a private first class cabin, so my home for six nights and the best part of seven days will be




What do you actually do on the train all day ? Sleep, read, look out of the window, think, relax, reflect on the world going by ... and then when you get bored with all that, go to the restaurant car and start drinking. Sounds just up my street.

The train stops three or four times every day at various cities/towns/hamlets along the way for 20 mins or so, and you're allowed to get off to stretch your legs or buy some goodies at the platform. I won't be wandering too far though - I have a recurring nightmare of the train pulling away without me and me tanning it down the platform to try and catch it. My athleticism isn't the greatest, there's no way that will end well for me !

As well as the train tickets, I've also had to organise visas to get into Russia, Mongolia & China. Again the good folks at Real Russia have sorted them out for me (after crossing their palm with silver), and I can't recommend them highly enough.

Two weeks to go now - on the home straight with my preparations, I'll update my blog in another few days listing some of the crap I'm taking with me. No doubt it won't all fit in my bag and half of it will have to get ditched, but that's for another day.

Location:Scotland