Our Trans-Siberian Experience

Why would you want to do that? The question every Russian person we encountered asked when we told them about our long rail trip across their motherland. Why wouldn’t you just fly? They asked, openly bemused that we would choose this journey for our honeymoon. This differed to the wistful I would love to do that one day kind of response we had received from people back home in Sydney and London.

It turns out that the longest railway line in the world (on the bucket list of so many keen travelers) is not regarded with the same romanticism by Russian people. It isn't even referred to as the Trans-Siberian by locals, who would only choose to take the train over a plane due to economic necessity or fear of flying.

Perhaps they have a point. The Trans-Siberian railway is far from luxurious. There is little difference in comfort between first (2 berth cabin), second (4 berth) and third class (35 berth) other than the amount of privacy you afford. The scenery is rugged but monotonous. The train cabins are usually full. The toilets, which simply empty their deposits onto the tracks below, leave a lot to be desired. Sometimes intimidating, hairy, beer-bellied Siberian men want to walk around topless and…