Riding Trains Through Siberia

As Amtrak has been proving this winter, riding a train can certainly be an adventure. So there's little doubt that traveling the Trans-Siberian route through Russia is quite an exploit. But what made my trip on the Trans-Siberian an adventure for a weenie, rather than one for a hard-core explorer, was the fact that I was riding on a private train and I had my own bathroom. I didn't travel the authentic Trans-Siberian, rubbing shoulders with Russians and trying to decipher Cyrillic. But now that I have tackled the weenie one, I'm game for the real thing.

1. Most people think that there’s one train called the Trans-Siberian Express running along a lengthy railroad between Russia’s eastern port of Vladivostok and Moscow. But contrary to popular belief, there is no such train. The Trans-Siberian is actually made up of a network of domestic and international trains crisscrossing countries and borders. Yes, a Trans-Siberian journey can start in Vladivostok. But it can also start in Beijing or Ulan Bator. These itineraries, sometimes dubbed Trans-Mongolian routes, follow Trans-Siberian track once they hit Russian territory.

Lenin's Giant Head in Ulan-Ude

2. You can opt to rub shoulders with the locals on Russian train or you can travel in a private train. The latter is certainly the easier and more comfortable way to go...and the one for weenies. But it is also the far more expensive option. There's a price to be paid for comfort, after all.

3. The Golden Eagle runs the classic 5,772-mile route between Vladivostok and Moscow. In 2014, The Golden Eagle 15-day trek across Siberia starts at $15,495 per person double occupancy in Silver Class to $29,995 for top-of-the-line Imperial Suites.  All compartments have bathrooms en suite.  

Tsar's Gold by Lake Baikal

4. The 15-day Zarengold or Tsar’s Gold, running between Beijing and Moscow, is less expensive, mainly because it provides a larger selection of compartment types. 2014 prices start at $9200 per person for a Classic compartment (which share toilet and shower facilities). For a compartment with private bath, prices start at $15,820 in Bolshoi and go up to $19,520 per person in Bolshoi Plus.

5. Don't forget to obtain a visa before you hit the road...or the track. Americans need visas for travel in both Russia and China.

6. I recommend traveling East to West. That way, you end up getting more sleep and more daylight along the way, as you go back in time across nine time zones.

I

It may look cold, but I'm quite comfortable in
Kazan wearing long shorts in May.

7. Load your iPad with lengthy tomes good books and epic movies. Good Russian reads include Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier, The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn , and Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (although you may want to skip the ending, where Anna tosses herself under a train). Appropriate flicks include Dr. Zhivago and the lesser-known Transsiberian, starring Woody Harrelson.

8. Most Trans-Siberian private trains run between May and early October. Be forewarned: Siberia can be surprisingly hot. Leave your parkas and your mukluks behind.

9. Tsar’s Gold trips can be booked directly through Lernidee at www.lernidee,com; through MIR at www.mircorp.com, or via Smithsonian Journeys www.smithsonianjourneys.org. More information on Vladivostok to Moscow trips can be found at www.goldeneagleluxurytrains.com.

For more, listen to my segment on Around the World Radio (August 29 edition) or read my report published in Travel Weekly.

What's a Weenie?

You may be asking yourself, "hey, is this a blog for me?  Am I, indeed, a weenie?" By reading this blog week over week, you will be able to determine whether you fall into this category or not. Just know that in no way is "weenie" pejorative. The fact is, anyone who is game for travel cannot be a total weenie.

You wanted to see a naked spa
picture, didn't you? 

That said, let me try to hone in on a definition. As I mention in my bio, I have been dragged into all sorts of compromising situations during my years of travel. Some adventures, like traveling to dictatorships in Asia and Europe, have been exciting and illuminating. Living in Bologna for six weeks to study Italian--I tackled that one with gusto.

For me, it's usually the ones that involve physicality that bring out my true inner weenie. As I sit astride a horse from Montana who has decided to practice for the Kentucky Derby; as I pedal a bicycle through Provence while heading straight into the Mistral; as my crampons slip and slide on a New Zealand glacier; as I drop my robe before entering a naked co-ed German sauna--I have to ask myself, to paraphrase The Talking Heads, how did I get here? A true adventure traveler never asks that question--they savor the precariousness of all situations--mental or physical.

Of course, people perceive peril differently. I have no problem walking through a souk in Marrakesh alone. But many others would view that as foolhardy. Similarly, when I traveled by myself behind the Iron Curtain, people thought I must be made of steel. Personally, I never felt safer. In other words, I have little fear of traveling alone.

On the other hand, make me go kayaking in Hawaii (long story--you'll hear about it in another post) or force me to go camping in the wilderness with no indoor plumbing and out comes my inner weenie.

What I am trying to say is that, on some level, everyone is a weenie. Everyone is not a weenie in the same way, but even the biggest hot dog has a slice of weenie in him. This blog is designed to encourage everyone--from the mini-weenie to the giant weenie--to take a step away from the proverbial cozy bun and mustard (sic) up the courage to relish adventure travel in a big way.