Bucket-list train trips: Riding the Trans-Siberian Railway
American author Lisa Dickey has ridden the famed Trans-Siberian Railway four times over four decades, seeing the train — and the country — transform over time. Her new book about those journeys, Bears in the Streets (St. Martin’s Press, $25.99) comes out Jan. 31. She shares her hard-earned tips, and what riders should consider if they’re planning a trip.
The first thing to know about taking the “Trans-Siberian Railway” is that there are actually three to choose from. There’s the classic Trans-Siberian, from Moscow to Vladivostok, which at 5,771 miles is touted as the longest railway line in the world. There’s the Trans-Mongolian, which hooks south at Lake Baikal, traverses Mongolia, and ends in Beijing. And there’s the Trans-Manchurian, which skirts daintily around the eastern edge of Mongolia, veers down into China via the busy border town of Harbin, and also ends in Beijing.
Going straight through on any of these trips takes a full week, give or take a day. For anyone but the most rushed traveler, however, the fun is in making stops along the way. Memorable detours include Suzdal, with its plethora of gorgeous old churches; Yekaterinburg, site of the murders of Czar Nicholas II and his family; Novosibirsk, the bustling capital of Siberia; sparkling Lake Baikal, the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world; and Ulan-Ude, site of the largest Lenin head in the known universe, a 42-ton, 25-foot-tall bronze sculpture of the Soviet leader’s noggin.
Four decades of riding the Trans-Siberian
But even if you have no time for stops, the trip itself is a marvel. Crossing seven time zones, hurtling through birch forests, the Ural mountain region and Siberian steppes, the train is a bustling, self-contained society on wheels. And with prices as low as $85 for the full journey, it’s the world’s greatest transportation bargain.
The trains offer three classes of travel: first class (“sleeping car”), with two beds per room; second class (“coupé”), with four beds per room; and third class (platskart), with bunk-style beds in an open-plan rail car. Second-class is the most popular option, as it’s half the price of first class but offers privacy and comfort not found in platskart. And if you’re hoping to meet any Russians along the way, second class or platskart are the way to go; in first class you’re more likely to encounter only foreign travelers.
In your second-class car, you’ll find two lower bunks and two upper ones, with a small table underneath the window. Pro tip: If you’re traveling as a pair, book one upper and one lower, as upper bunks offer privacy and lower bunks offer a place to sit during the daylight hours. Your conductor, or provodnik, will provide linens, a blanket and a towel; you are responsible for making up your own bunk and for stripping it at the end of your journey. Your provodnik will scowl mightily if you do not do this in a timely fashion.
Russians will often bring from home most of what they intend to eat and drink on the trip. I’ve seen travelers unwrap vast smorgasbords of meat, cheese, pickles, bread, salads and cookies, with two kinds of beer and a bottle of vodka, within minutes of boarding. On the flip side, I’ve also seen passengers (usually men) eat almost nothing for three days, surviving on what appears to be a diet of alcohol and sleep.
You can eat in the dining cars, which tend to vary wildly in quality, or you can purchase food from the crowd of vendors at each stop — mostly older women selling homemade meat pies and pastries. For those with hardy gastrointestinal tracts, these home-cooked treats can be a delicious way to sample the local culture. For others, I recommend stocking up on the ever-present Styrofoam cups of noodle soup that can be bought at any train station food kiosk.
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Another benefit to bringing food with you is that it’s great way to meet people. The Trans-Siberian can be an extremely collegial undertaking for those who are willing: There’s no better way to meet and chat with real Russian people than by sharing your food with your train-mates — and they will not hesitate to share with you.
Sean Moloney, a bartender at Characters Irish bar in Manhattan, took the Trans-Siberian over three weeks in May of 2016, and found there was no end to the generosity of his fellow travelers. “We had a lot of beer, vodka, rum,” he says. “And then someone gave me this big jar of pickles, which I carried around for about two weeks.”
Moloney speaks no Russian, though he didn’t find that a hindrance. These days, it’s easy enough to download a translation app onto your phone; the best ones, such as Google Translate, will allow people to write a word directly on your screen and then provide an instant English translation.
Crystal Cook Marshall, who traveled the Trans-Mongolian in 2000, had a less stellar experience. “I’ve often described it as the hardest vacation I ever worked,” she says with a chuckle. Her family’s travails included dealing with a drunk passenger who vomited inside the coupe, having their beds double-booked, and her father coming down with pneumonia. With all that, she says she’d still recommend the trip — though she advises traveling with someone who speaks Russian.
If you do decide to rough it and travel in platskart, it’s best to follow the advice of Russian interpreter Maria Shibanova, who did it with her husband in the summer of 2016. Her pro tips include taking a bunk at the end of the car, preferably the one farthest from the bathroom. Also, “the end of the car is where the electrical plugs are,” she says — and because there’s always a queue for plugging in devices, she brought a charging accessory with multiple USB outlets. “People were so happy, they brought us chocolate and other gifts in exchange for charging their phones.”
Finally, for those who want to take the Trans-Siberian but are daunted by the hardship, there’s always the super-luxe Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express: A “private luxury train” featuring such amenities as a “private en-suite bathroom with power shower and the luxury of underfloor heating” as well as complimentary mini-bar and a personal library. Options include either the Trans-Siberian Express to Vladivostok, or the Ulan Baatar Express, with prices starting at $11,895.
