TRANS-SIBERIAN TOUR
17 Days 16 Nights
Private Tour Trip - 2 pax
9 - 24 Sep 2013
Map of our roadtrip: Moscow > Yekaterinburg > Krasnoyarsk > Irkutsk > Ulaanbaatar > Beijing
|
MOSCOW > YEKATERINBURG
We boarded the train in Moscow, and took us 26 hours to get to the city of Yekaterinburg in the heart of the Ural Mountains and the beginning of Siberia, about 1600 km from Moscow. Almost all the cities along the way date back to 11-13th centuries. The first city where the train will stop is Vladimir, one of the cities comprising the Golden Ring, famous for its history and beautiful gold-domed churches. The next city is Nizhny Novgorod with its stunning Kremlin settled on the bank of the majestic Volga river. During the night we crossed the Vyatka River, the town Kotelnich, Vyatka (made immortal by the famous Vyatka washing machine!!!), Balyezino and arrive at the foot of the Ural Mountains. The following morning, the train stopped in the city of Perm, an old Russian city known as a city of ballet and literature. After another 6 hours, we finally arrived in Yekaterinburg in the evening, and were transferred to our hotel. Yekaterinburg was founded in 1723 and named after Saint Catherine, the namesake of Tsar Peter the Great’s wife Empress Catherine I (Yekaterina). Soon after the Russian Revolution, on 17 July, 1918, Tsar Nicolas II, his wife, Alexandra, and their children Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Tsarevich Alexei were executed by the Bolsheviks at the Ipatiev House where they were being held prisoner. Yekaterinburg is also famous for being located directly on the border between the Europe and Asia. |
|
YEKATERINBURG > KRASNOYARSK (35 HRS TRAIN RIDE)
We started our day exploring the Last days of the Romanov’s and combined with a city tour. The excursion acquainted us with the history of the Romanov family in Yekaterinburg and detail their tragic death. We visited the Monastery dedicated to the family of the last Tsar. The Monastery is located on the spot where the Bolsheviks tried to hide the Romanov’s corpses in a secret grave. Today, this area is a well-known Russian Orthodox pilgrimage site. After viewing the Monastery and the neighboring wooden churches, we went on to see the main historical sites of Yekaterinburg: The Historical skver (park), the wooden dam of the city’s first plant, the old city embankment and a monument of Lenin, leader of Soviet Russia. The tour also took us to places connected to the first President of Russia – Boris Yeltsin who originates from Yekaterinburg. After the excursion, we were taken back to the hotel and have some free time to walk around the city. In the noon, we were taken to the railway station for the train, departing to Krasnoyarsk. |
|
KRASNOYARSK
On this leg of the journey, we spend about 19 hours on the train, moving through Siberia with its mighty taiga and rivers. The route to Novosibirsk passed through many small and large towns including Tyumen, the oil capital of Russia and Omsk. We crossed the Irtysh river and continued on through the great forest. Having crossed the bridge across the Ob river, we passed Novosibirsk. The train crossed over many rivers including the Kam, Chuna, Lya, Oka, Yenisey and Angara. The most important being the Yenisey, with the city of Krasnoyarsk spread along its picturesque bank. On the arrival in Krasnoyarsk, we were met by our tour guide and transferred to the hotel for the night. We stayed at Amaks Hotel. |
|
KRASNOYARSK
After settling in, we started our first excursion – a panoramic city tour of Krasnoyarsk. This city tour brought together the past, present and future of Krasnoyarsk. Highlights include: Peace square with a beautiful view onto the Yenisey river, the monument to Andreyu Dubenskoy, a trip up Guard Hill and a walk along the city’s old streets. Krasnoyarsk was founded in 1628 as a Russian border fort to protect the frontier from attacks of native peoples who lived along Yenisei and its tributaries. An intensive growth of Krasnoyarsk began with the arrival of the Siberian Road (the M53 nowadays) in 1735 which connected Krasnoyarsk with the rest of Russia. Growth continued with the discovery of gold and the arrival of the railroad in 1895. In the 19th century Krasnoyarsk was the center of the Siberian Cossack movement. By the end of the 19th century Krasnoyarsk had several manufacturing facilities, railroad workshops and an engine-house. During the time of the Russian Empire, Krasnoyarsk was one of the places to which political exiles were banished. Eight Decembrists were deported from St. Petersburg to Krasnoyarsk after the failure of the Decembrist revolt. During Soviet times the city became a large industrial center and today remains an important Siberian city. |
|
KRASNOYARSK > IRKUTSK
We were transferred to the train station after breakfast, and left Krasnoyarsk for other intriguing destinations along the Trans-Siberian route. This part of Trans-Siberian route is considered to be the most beautiful, where you see incredible nature consisting of many Siberian rivers, lakes, forests and mountains. We spend the whole day traveling in the train today. |
|
IRKUTSK
We arrived in the morning in Irkutsk where our tour guide met us and took us to Lake Baikal, the largest body of fresh water in the world. On the way from Irkutsk, we made a stop at the Ethnographical museum “Taltsy” consisting of examples of Siberian wooden houses from the past centuries. We also made a stop to see the lake from the “Cherskiy Peak” observation point. We also visited the Limnological museum, where exhibits of the unique fauna and flora that surround the lake are displayed. There is also an aquarium where we saw different species of local fish and the Baikal nerpa – the earth’s only fresh water seal. And we also visited the functioning St. Nicolas the Miracle-Worker Orthodox Church. Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake in the world with an average depth of 744.4 m (2,442 ft) and contains roughly 20 percent of the world´s surface fresh water. The body of water is also known as the “Baikal Sea” and the "Pearl of Siberia". At 1,642 meters (5,390 ft) Lake Baikal is the deepest, and among the clearest lakes in the world. At more than 25 million years old, Baikal is also the world´s oldest lake. Baikal is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. It is also home to the Buryat people who follow the Tibetan Buddhist religion and reside on the eastern side of the lake rearing goat, camel, cattle and sheep. |
|
IRKUTSK > ULAANBAATAR
After breakfast, you will travel by comfortable car or mini bus to Irkutsk where you will drop off your luggage in the luggage room of a hotel and continue on with your tour. After this you will be taken on a city tour. The tour includes a visit to the Cathedral of the Holy Sign (Znamensky Cathedral). Apart from ornate and rich iconostasis, the cathedral is famous for its graveyard where you will see the graves of the Decembrists Mukhanov, Beschasnov, Trubetskaya and the Russian Columbus Shelekhov. We will then proceed to the Museum of the Decembrists. The museum is housed in a mansion belonging to one of the leaders of Decembrist Revolt. The Decembrists were Russian aristocracy who were banished to Siberia after their ill-fated attempt in December 1825 to overthrow the Russian Tsar in favor of a Constitutional regime. The museum evokes the period of 18th century Russia. Before being taken to the train station to continue your journey you will visit the hotel to pick up your luggage. Your train leaves in the evening. Irkutsk began as a small settlement in the mid 17th century for gold-trading and for the collection of the fur tax from the Buryats. The settlement officially became a town in 1686 and the first road between Moscow and the new city was built in 1760. With the road construction, many new products, often imported from China, were widely available in Irkutsk for the first time including gold, diamonds, furs, wood, silk and tea. In 1821, Irkutsk became the seat of the Governor-General of East Siberia. In the early 19th century, many Russian officers and nobles were sent into exile in Irkutsk for their part in the Decembrist revolt against Tsar Nicholas I. Due to this influx of individuals from St. Petersburg, Irkutsk became the Siberian center of intellectual and cultural life. By 1900, the city had earned the nickname “The Paris of Siberia.” Today Irkutsk has become a college town with many young people studying at the university and other institutes of higher education in the city. |
|
ON BOARD THE TRAIN > ULAANBAATAR
This day you will stay in the train which runs along the lake’s shore. The views of the lake and the surrounding nature are breathtaking. Later in the day you will cross the Russian-Mongolian border. |
|
ULAANBAATAR
Morning arrival in Ulaanbaatar, we were greeted by our guide where transfered to the National Park "Terelj" (110km) which is situated in a picturesque mountain valley. We stopped at Ovoo, a pile of stones built as a landmark for worship near the mountain pass. The resort we stayed in offers a wide range of optional activities (paid separately on the spot) including; archery, horse cart riding and trekking, which we did none. Dinner was served in a ger-café and we spend the night in a ger (the traditional Mongolian nomadic house) in the middle of the endless step. |
|
ULAANBAATAR
After breakfast, we headed back towards Ulaanbaatar, stopping to visit a nomadic family along the way. Once back in the capital, we started off on a city tour. We visited the heart of Ulaanbaatar - Sukhbaatar square with its statue of Sukhbaatar, the national hero in the center. We then head to Gandan Monastery, which was destroyed during Stalin’s rule, but has since been rebuilt. After that, we had lunch at Bd's Mongolian Barbeque and continued the tour program to the Natural History Museum, the oldest public museum in Mongolia. The museum includes geological, geographical, biographical, pale ontological and anthropological sections. The most impressive exhibits are the huge skeletons of two dinosaurs found in the Gobi desert and also the nests of dinosaurs’ eggs. The museum also includes examples of the snow leopard, Gobi bear, red wolf and others species of Mongolia. After the museum, we had some free time to shop in a real, Mongolian Department store before spending the night in a hotel in Ulaanbaatar. Ulaanbaatar is Mongolia’s capital and largest city with a population of over 1 million. The city was founded in 1639 as an initially nomadic Buddhist monastic center. In 1778, it settled permanently at its present location, the junction of the Tuul and Selbe rivers. Before that it had changed location 28 times, with each location being chosen ceremonially. By the early 20th century the city had a population of 25,000, of whom some 10,000 were Buddhist monks or monastery workers. Today, Ulaabaatar is the economic and cultural center of the country. The city has a number of noteworthy historical monuments. |
|
ULAANBAATAR > BEIJING
After an early breakfast, we were transferred to the railway station to take train to Beijing at 08.05. The entire day was spend on the train, admiring the scenery of valleys and mountains. |
|
BEIJING
On arrival to Beijing in the morning, we were met at the railway station by our Chinese representatives and transferred to our hotel near Beijing Hutong. After having lunch in the hotel, we headed to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City lies in the very heart of Beijing. Built between 1406 and 1420, this palace served as the home of China´s emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for five centuries - from 1406 until 1908. The palace consists of 9000 halls and rooms, containing many precious relics. The palace is considered to be the largest palace in the world and one of mankind’s major cultural heritage sites. After the Forbidden City tour, we met up our good friends for dinner who traveled from Singapore to Beijing. |
|
BEIJING
After breakfast at the hotel, we headed off to one of the most powerful symbols of ancient Chinese civilization – the Great Wall, stretching 6,350 km. The Great Wall was built as a defensive structure. Construction began during a very unstable time of Chinese history, the warring period of 476 - 221 B.C. In the beginning, walls were built at strategic points by different kingdoms to protect their own territories. After the first Emperor Qin Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty unified China in 221 B.C., he decided to have the individual walls joined together in order to create one Great Wall. It took more than 1 million people and more than 10 years to finish the work. In 1987, the Great Wall was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. After time at the wall, we stopped for lunch at a local restaurant. The second part of the excursion brought us to the Ming Tombs. The Ming Tombs are a group of mausoleums built for 13 Ming emperors, their empresses and their concubines. The tombs are located about 31 miles north of Beijing over an area of 25 square miles. Two of the tombs, Changling and the most famous, Dingling, an underground palace, are open to the public. In the evening, we went to the Bird's Nest Stadium and ended our tour for the day. |
|
BEIJING
Today, we went to the Arts district in Beijing - 798 Art District -located in the Dashanzi area, to the northeast of central Beijing. It is the site of state-owned factories including Factory 798, which originally produced electronics. Beginning in 2002, artists and cultural organizations began to divide, rent out, and re-make the factory spaces, gradually developing them into galleries, art centers, artists' studios, design companies, restaurants, and bars. We spend the whole afternoon here before going for foot massage. In the evening, we headed to Hou Hai area for dinner, and ended the night with some drinks in one of the pubs. |
TRIP PHOTOS - TRANS-SIBERIAN TRAIN RIDE