Huddled together in a corner like dry sticks, people shivered inside a cold compartment. It was a harsh winter, and nobody had given them any food or water for days. Their long and hard journey to the dead center of Siberia was finally beginning its stride. Once ordinary Russian citizens, they had become prisoners of the Bolshevik forces overnight, about to be exiled from civilization as punishment for rebelling against the government.

At Novosibirsk station, locals and travelers alike anticipate the long ride through the countryside. (Photo by Jim Linwood)

Who would have thought that this scene was once played out inside the cabins of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the longest and most famous train route in the world? Travelers who take the train to see sprawling vistas of mountains, desert plains and villages across Russia and beyond are largely unaware that the railway served as a vehicle of unspeakable terror, far from the romantic and epic adventure it currently symbolizes.

How it began

The Trans-Siberian Railway was originally conceived in 1891 by Tsar Alexander II, as he was looking for a viable solution for connecting the Russian Empire’s former capital St. Petersburg to the port of Vladivostok. It was a daunting task, considering the enormous distance and working conditions at the time. The project cost an incredible 1.455 billion rubles and enlisted the services of no less than 20,000 workers during its construction between 1891 and 1913.

Irkutsk is one of the Russian cities where travelers usually take a stop before continuing their journey. (Photo by Jason Rogers)

Today, even with the major strides made in transportation technology, the railway has remained relevant by serving as a key route linking hundreds of cities big and small across mainland Russia, while forming branches that stretch all the way to London in the West and China in the East. At the end point in Vladivostok, most travelers take the Trans-Manchurian Railway to proceed to Mongolia and China.

Covering a dizzying distance of 9,259 kilometers on its main route alone, the railway spans some seven time zones – a world record – and requires no less than eight days for a passenger to traverse it from end to end. Nothing literally connects the East and West in a more physical way than the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Travelers have taken notice

Despite the ease and speed of travel offered by planes and ships, travelers have been attracted to the Trans-Siberian Railway because it delivers a unique and intimate interaction between voyager and a place. Various tour packages allow passengers to spend a day or two in a city (such as in St. Petersburg to check out its magnificent domes) and interact with the locals such as in a beer-drinking or camping session. While on the train, travelers can simply part the shade of their window to catch the passing scenery of quaint houses and grazing livestock.

The train enters the Zima station of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the longest in the world. (Photo by Jim Linwood)

An 18-day package, for example, includes (aside from sight-seeing in the capital) traveling through the Ural Mountains and crossing the River Ob at Novosibirsk, spending overnight in a Siberian village in Irkutsk, staying with nomads in the Gobi desert, having rest and recreation in Ulaanbaatar, and finally arriving in the Chinese capital, Beijing. The trip costs around 2,500 Euros.

Those who travel with the environment in mind are also attracted with the Trans-Siberian Railway, as it puts only a minor strain on Mother Nature for using less fuel and emitting less pollution compared to planes that guzzle jet fuel. The fact that the trains running across the railway serve thousands of passengers at a given time also adds to their sustainable appeal.

Ready for the adventure of your life?

A journey that lasts for days is not as hard as one may think, as what traveler Daniel Brewster has proven. From London, he reportedly took the train all the way to Beijing, passing through cities like Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Berlin in Germany, Moscow in Russia, Irkutsk in Siberia, and Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

It takes guts, extensive preparation and serious money to make a West to East travel via the Trans-Siberian Railway. First, you have to plan your itinerary and determine your final stop, whether it will be Vladivostok, Beijing, Tokyo, and so forth. Next, decide on a budget – the longer the trip, the more you’ll need to set aside funds not only for the journey but for incidental expenses. Decide on whether you will ride the distance in one trip (sight-seeing from you train window), or have a series of stopovers (fully interacting with locals and villages).

Once you’ve got your trail settled down, you can start purchasing your Trans-Siberian tickets, as well as for the connecting trains and ships after the main route. You can also book a return flight home, if you don’t intend to take the same way back. As visa situation is a sticky affair in Russia and China, be sure to have arranged all your visas from your home country or current location beforehand. Once all of that is accounted for, you only brace yourself for the biggest adventure of your life.

The Novosibirsk station exudes a quiet and haunting beauty when night falls. (Photo by tensaibuta)