Gallery: The epic, educational, unforgettable Mongolian Express
The rail journey from St. Petersburg to Beijing offers history, culture and even a few tidbits about the railway itself
By Bruce HolmesThe train-spotter photo
Some railway facts:
Construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway: 1890-1916.
Tsar Alexander III was the one who really got things going.
The Trans-Mongolian route from Ulan-Ude to Beijing via Ulaanbaatar was completed in 1961.
Being a lover of railways, a student of history and someone whose favorite movie was once "Doctor Zhivago," I'd always wanted to ride the Trans-Siberian Railway.
I got my chance at one section of it recently with a small group tour over 21 days, organized by Sundowners Overland.
The Trans-Mongolian journey is particularly gratifying, but the whole journey is one of those rarities in the travel world -- an event that lived up to the hype.
The 7,865-kilometer trip began in St. Petersburg, with stopovers in Moscow, Irkutsk-Lake Baikal and Ulaanbaatar-Terelj National Park, before concluding in Beijing.
See a map here and click through the gallery above for images and info.
More on CNN: Spectacular, rarely seen images of China's railways
Bruce Holmes is an Australian freelance travel writer and photographer who lives in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales.
Shaolin Kungfu sparring & applications - by disciples of Shi Dejian & Wu Nanfang
Comments