Introduction: Revisiting the Beginning

Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Moscow, Russian Federation
HOW OUR TRIP BEGAN.... 
Journey 1. The North Caucasus
Alan had always wanted to travel to Dagestan. In fact, in more recent years it had become a compelling passion. Conversely, I was somewhat nonplussed about the idea. For the me, it was more like "Umm, where is Dagestan"? 
In truth, until Alan began talking about it, I am ashamed to admit that I had never heard of the place. After all, no region on earth could be called Dagestan, could it? And when I did find out it was a republic in the Russian North Caucasus, shared by fearsome warring regions such as Chechnya, Ingushetia and Northern Ossetia, I wasn't quite sure I supported his ambitions....
During our plans, I pondered over the sense in travelling to yet another volatile region. I still had vivid memories of the two horrendous Russian-Chechen independence wars (1994-96 and 1999-2009), and of the relentless, brutal bombing of the Chechen capital city Grozny until it was virtually annihilated; eerie skeletal remains of a shattered Islamic city. And who could possibly forget the shocking daily media coverage, most often grimly presented in monochrome, of a completely razed republic and a gutted, terrified population? Relatively recent footage which held brutally raw memories.
And fairly or unfairly, Chechen freedom fighters had been blamed for numerous terrorist attacks in the early 2000's throughout the Russian Federation. The terrifying siege of the Moscow Dubrovka Theatre in 2002 came immediately to mind where over 130 hostages lost their lives, mostly it was reportedly from poison gas pumped in by Russian forces.
Similarly, who could possibly forget the confronting footage of the 2004 siege by Chechen separatists of a primary school at Beslan village near Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia; the storming by Russian troops and the shocking deaths of more than 300 innocent children, parents and teachers? Our sobering visit to the Beslan site during our travels in North Ossetia is one we will never forget.
To add to the lack of attraction, Dagestan and other republics of the North Caucasus were formally declared by our Australian government as No-Go Zones with very clear "Do Not Travel" warnings issued on the Foreign Affairs Smart Traveller website. This of course meant that in addition to being unlikely (aka "not") to receive any consular assistance should we encounter trouble, we would not have access to any travel insurance. It was a confronting mission. 
These factors should have been enough to well and truly put off the most intrepid of travellers. But not Alan.... After all, as he breezed, it would be most unlikely that we would have to contend with too many tourists. And yes, there was one spark of good news - the North Caucasus was widely described as being geographically diverse, stunningly beautiful and culturally fascinating. 
I had to admit, it did sound interesting. To cross the Caucasus from east to west (or vice versa), one would tread the paths of ancient Silk Road routes; the haunts of peoples from a diverse array of religions, from Islam in the east to Christianity in the west - and a myriad of cultural blends, religious faiths and practices in between*.
* For many years we had been fascinated by the Old Silk Road and had previously travelled extensively along various networks of these routes throughout Central Asia, Iran, Pakistan and China.
Admittedly, over the years we had travelled to numerous politically unstable and highly unpredictable destinations. Some were undertaken in really dangerous situations. Arriving in Pakistan and staying for a week in the Kalash Valley on the northern Afghan border region the day after Osama bin Laden was assassinated came immediately to mind. While obviously not part of our planning, it sure was not a good idea. And I confess, it was not the most relaxing of journeys, especially as we were accompanied every second, of every day and night by two Kalashnikov wielding armed police.
Most of our travels had in fact, been very much "off the beaten track" destinations, and probably for very good reasons.... And it wasn't as if we hadn't had enough adventures either. We had only just returned from an Extreme Arctic Russian trip which involved a death-defying 300 km trip in an open five-metre whaling "tinnie" boat through the treacherous Bering Sea to the iconic Cape Dezhnev, the most easterly point in all of the Russian Federation.
Similarly, a winter Russian trip the year before had become just a bit too exciting when our all-terrain Trekol vehicle broke down on no less than ten separate occasions in a minus -50 C blizzard on an ice road to Pevek, one of the remotest regions of northern Chukotka.
Did we really need more adventures of this type? Perhaps we had used up too many of our nine lives? Needless to say, we were constantly reminded of the dangers by friends and well-wishers. In the end, we kept our North Caucasus travels as quiet as we could.
It was not an easy journey to organise. In short, travel companies were just not prepared to risk taking tourists to the North Caucasus. Our breakthrough finally came through in mid-2018 when Alan came across of number of reputable companies that had just begun to conduct tours in the region: UK-based Wild Frontiers and Russian-based Baikal Nature. And to our amazement, we came across a number of companies that would not only provide insurance to this volatile region, but also would provide medical cover for Alan who was aged 81 years.
We chose Baikal Nature to organise our trip. And to Alan's delight and my slight disappointment, we were quite suddenly "on our way" to the Russian North Caucasus. 
RATIONALE FOR JOURNEY 2
The Trans-Siberian Rail Trip from Moscow to Harbin, China. 
Our next decision was where to travel after our 13-day North Caucasus tour. After all, as it a 10-day return journey just to travel to and from a lot of these far-flung destinations, it was important for us to maximise our touring time while we were there.
We were keen to stay in Russia. Firstly, we had 30-day Russian Tourist visas and also, we wanted to explore more of the country we had surprisingly come to love. Furthermore, we had a connecting round-trip flight home from Harbin, in far northern China and not so far from the south-east Russian border. So, when Alan suggested we utilise our time by travelling along the Trans-Siberian Rail route back from Moscow to Harbin, with a stopover in Lake Baikal (a much sought-after destination for me), it sounded like the perfect partner to the first leg of our trip. Well, that is not without a few nagging doubts....  And after all, it would be a full seven-day's travel by train through what we understood could be pretty monotonous birch and larch forest.
In all honesty, we had not had good experiences with long distance train travel. Some were truly shocking.... A glaring example was our journey in far western China from Urumqi to Kashgar in Xinjiang Province; a rail trip no less than an absolute disaster. Despite having paid for a First Class berth for just the two of us, our militaristic carriage attendant demanded that we stayed in a bottom level Second Class cabin shared with another man. There was no argument. Not only did we have to share in a shabby cabin, but viewing was impossible. Our berth was below the railway platform level and the windows were so filthy, it was impossible to see out anyway.  It didn't help either when our Chinese businessman cabin-mate pulled down all the window shutters at midday and went to sleep the whole way.... It was an uncomfortable and disappointing 21-hour trip that we won't forget. A few other shorter rail trips in several other countries were not much better....
Despite our apprehensions, our friend and my Russian language teacher Olga and her Australian husband Davy were very positive about their experiences with the Trans-Siberian train trip. They had done several trips and assured us it was a very relaxing way to see the countryside and meet local people. Furthermore, they were keen to explain that the stations where you could disembark, often had interesting markets selling local food products, and all sorts of goods and souvenirs. I did quietly note however, Davy's story of Olga taking to the dirty train windows with a mop she had found in the Providnitsa's** cabin. Now, our feisty Russian friend Olga could get away with that, but we knew we had no chance. After all, these Providnitsas had fearsome reputations and we were well aware that to get offside with them could impact hugely on the comfort of your journey!
** Providnitsas are Russian railway carriage attendants. Mostly women, they are renowned for their formidable power. 
Alan was understandably cautious about the trip, but Olga and Davy's enthusiasm was infectious. Together with my long-anticipated visit to Lake Baikal, I was starting to think the Trans-Siberian was a wonderful idea. After all, it was safe and I could perhaps practise my Russian with other passengers.... And surely it was a good opportunity to meet other Russian people and chill out after our North Caucasus experiences.
Once again, we decided to use the services of Baikal Nature. Our travel agent Anna who had organised our Caucasus tour had been very professional, and so we asked her not only to organise the trip including our stay in Lake Baikal, but also to purchase our rail tickets for us. Anna was only too happy to assist.
The Trans-Siberian Railway Routes
There are a number of rail options for the Trans-Siberian Railway which is in fact, a network of rail routes running roughly west to east (or vice versa, depending on your point of view) across the southern end of the Russian Federation. They main routes are: 
1. The Original Trans-Siberian Express Railway Route.
This route travels from Moscow to Vladivostok, and is commonly known as the "true" Trans-Siberian Railway route. It extends for 9,258 km and takes a total time of seven days. These days, it is the least popular tourist route as it misses out travel through Mongolia and China. The route however, runs the best scheduled train in Russia - the much famed "Rossiya". The rail route was completed in 1916. 
2. The Trans-Mongolian Railway Route
This route follows the ancient tea-caravan route from Siberia through Mongolia and the Gobi Desert to China, where it connects at the city of Jining. It is regarded as the most interesting route from Russia to China with stunningly beautiful countryside through Mongolia. The six-night journey from Moscow to Beijing is 7,621 km in length. The Trans-Mongolian is a Chinese train. The rail route was completed in 1955.  
2. The Trans-Manchurian Railway Route
This route travels from Moscow to Beijing and spans a length of 8,986 km. The route is not as popular as the Trans-Mongolian as it misses out travel through Mongolia. The advantage however, of the Trans-Manchurian trip to China is that it only crosses one border; that of Russia into China (or vice versa). Travelling across these borders by train is a decision not to be taken lightly. It can take many hours and the procedures are not pleasant. The Trans-Manchurian is a Russian train. The route was complete in 1904. 
3. The Baikal Amur Mainline (BAM)  
The BAM is a 4,324 km long railway line that runs between 600 to 770 km north of, and parallel to the Trans-Siberian railway. It departs from the Trans-Siberian Railway at Tayshet and proceeds past the northern tip of Lake Baikal past Tynda and Khani, crossing the Amur River to reach the Pacific Ocean at Sovetskaya Gavan.  
Interestingly, the BAM was built by the Soviet Union as a strategic alternative to the Trans-Siberian Railway which was seen as vulnerable, especially along the sections closer to the China border. The train route was specially designed to travel over sections of permafrost, and to withstand severe terrain, and weather. It was completed in 1980.
The Planning of our Trans-Siberian Railway Trip  
Despite having our experienced travel agent Anna on the ground in Russia to purchase rail tickets and book our accommodation around Lake Baikal, the organisation of our rail trip was nightmare-ishly difficult. 
Admittedly we had some real logistical constraints. We were limited for time because of our pre-booked return flight from Harbin to Sydney, and of course, wanted to maximise our stay at our only stop in the Lake Baikal district. We were however, fortunate - or so we thought - that our flight from Sochi to Moscow allowed us more than sufficient time to reach Yaroslavskiy Railway Station and catch the Trans-Siberian the same evening, allowing us to save another night's travel time. 
To maximise our stay in Lake Baikal, and given the departure times of the various trains and, there was in the end no option other than to travel the first leg of the journey to Irkutsk, on the Trans-Mongolian then re-join the trip after our stay on the Trans-Manchurian which would take us across Siberia before heading south, crossing the Chinese border and onto Harbin.
From past railway experiences, we were determined to travel First Class. But our Trans-Mongolian train apparently only had Second Class berths available for foreigners and to our disappointment, there were no washroom facilities. Even worse, it had no air-conditioning. Anna suggested that if we could not obtain First Class seats, then we should book a four-berth Second Class cabin just for the two of us, adding brightly that at that time of the year, the weather should be pleasant and hopefully there would be no need for air-conditioning. Furthermore, Anna added that there were windows in our cabin which we could open. We were not so sure. But we had no option. The Trans-Manchurian to Harbin however, had First Class berths available. At least for one of the two train legs, we should be in relative comfort. We thought.
As sales of the rail tickets open some 40 to 60 days out from any voyage, we were left in limbo as to what particular train we would be able to book from Moscow until quite close to trip - which of course affected our accommodation bookings in the Lake Baikal District, and also our rail trip on the Trans-Manchurian to Harbin. And that was yet another problem. Apparently it is not possible to book international trains early and it was not until about a month prior to our departure from Australia that we were able to make a booking on the Trans-Manchurian to Harbin. And of course, we needed evidence of their purchase to apply for our Chinese visas. Oh, what a nightmare!
The real issue as we were to find out is that tour companies purchase tickets for an entire train, leaving couples like us in an impossible situation to have a chance of booking what we wanted. It was not a good start. But at last we were finally booked on two trains to Harbin. Even if one four-day leg was in Second Class....
TRAVEL AGENTS AND GUIDES 
Baikal Nature
Anna Brykalova, (then) Tour Manager, Baikal Nature, Tbilisi Office, Georgia for our Northern Caucasus tour, and then our Trans-Siberian Rail journey and stay in Lake Baikal and Irkutsk. 
Sergei Baikov was contracted by Baikal Nature as our tour guide for our Lake Baikal and Irkutsk Tour.
Other Travel Agents
Dan Brown (then), Manager, Flight Centre, Forster, NSW, Australia for a number of external flights. 
David Hu, Director, China Travel Service, Sydney, NSW, Australia for China visa support. 

Comments

londone7
2022-10-03

I enjoyed Russian sleeper trains and they have different types too with ensuite showers in Business class compartments

2025-02-15

Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank