| Days 1, 2, 3 -
Beijing. Beijing will prove unforgettable, all senses assailed
- colour and sound, smell and taste - leaving indelible memories
of continual contrast, history and tradition alongside 20th
century technology. Over our three days here the 'Scheduled
Sightseeing' will begin with some of the city's greatest highlights,
the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square and of course 'The Wall'
stretching 10,000 Li across the distant hills.
Day 4 - Trans Mongolian Railway. At last to Beijing Station
and aboard the first of the trains that will carry us across
Asia. We're off! Following the Great Wall northwest towards
Mongolia. We settle in to our comfortable compartments and watch
from the window as the towns and villages and the scenes of
local life of Inner Mongolia go by. In the evening we settle
down to our first night aboard as we cross the Gobi Desert.
Day 5 - Ulaanbaatar. Bounded by Lake Baikal to the north and
the Great Wall to the south is the Mongolian Plateau and Gobi
Desert. This was the homeland of the brilliant, tough, well-drilled
horsemen who, for over 500 years from the 13th century, plundered
and occupied lands and cities from the Yellow River to the Danube.
At daybreak, classic scenes of traditional nomadic life greet
us as the train winds impressively across the Mongolian Steppe
and into the capital. Ulaanbaatar, is a contradiction - a metropolis
amid endless grass steppes, with donkeys and motorbikes, concrete
apartment blocks and traditional gers.
Days 6, 7, 8 - Ulaanbaatar and the Mongolian Steppe. After breakfast
we visit the Zaisan Memorial from which the entire city is visible.
Also to the country's largest remaining monastery, Gandan Hiid
where you can mingle with Buddhist monks. In the afternoon we
travel out across the grasslands through the countryside where
we spend two nights in a traditional Mongolian nomad ger set
amongst spectacular rock formations and wild rolling hills.
Among nomadic families and their grazing livestock we can ride
a horse into nearby valleys or just relax and wander the area.
We return to Ulaanbaatar and visit the National Museum before
joining the train north to Siberia. |
Day 9 - Aboard the Trans Mongolian Railway.
Continuing towards Russia, leaving Mongolia at Sukhe Bator and
travelling beyond the Russian border town to Ulan Ude, then west
along the southern shore of the world's deepest freshwater lake
- Baikal.
Day 10- Irkutsk (Siberia). Almost in the centre of Asia, Irkutsk
- 18th century churches, bright painted shutters and log houses
decorated with wooden lacework. Modern administrative blocks and
soaring bridges reach out across the Angara River in this beautiful
town known as the Paris of Siberia. On our walking tour you will
discover the city's wonderful historic sights.
Day 11 - Lake Baikal (Siberia). We also enjoy a full day at Lake
Baikal and time to visit the village of Listvyanka with its traditional
houses and beautiful wooden church and nearby Limnological Museum.
To gain an insight into the traditional lives of Siberian people
we also visit the Museum of Wooden Architecture.
Day 12, 13 & 14 - Aboard the Trans Siberian Railway. We join the Trans Siberian Railway and travel via Novosibirsk, Omsk and Ekaterinburg booming over the steel bridges spanning Siberia's nerve system of 5,000 rivers. Through the Ural Mountains and, on the far side of the Volga, the flickering silvers and greens of the birch forests speed past. On past its suburbs and into the heart of Moscow the train arrives almost casually on time. |
Day 15 to 18 - Moscow. Moscow will
amaze you, its palaces and public buildings restored to their
former glory. The echoing vastness of Red Square, the splendid
twirled cupolas of St.Basil's across the cobblestones, and the
Kremlin itself - that fabled palace-fort of gilded domes where
we marvel at the exquisite collection of royal treasures in
the stunning Armoury Chamber. We ride the palatial underground
rail system, adorned with chandeliers, mosaics and baroque bas-relief
and perhaps a river cruise or a magical evening at one of Moscow's
great theatres or State Circus. Our last rail journey is aboard
the overnight express to St.Petersburg.
Day 19 & 20 - St. Petersburg It is the city on the water,
the Venice of the North, standing resplendent on the delta of
the Neva River. St Isaac's Cathedral, richly filled palaces
and museums, wide boulevards and canals. The gilded halls of
the Hermitage Museum hung with the works of Da Vinci, Rembrandt
and many other great masters, and beyond the city lie the incomparable
summer palaces of the tsars at Petrodvorets. Yet for all this,
St.Petersburg remains one of Europe's best kept secrets.
Day 21 - Depart St. Petersburg. The last day has arrived too
soon. The adventure is complete, the legendary rail journey
that started many days ago has taken you across Asia, through
lands and cultures literally worlds apart.
See below for departure dates |
