Anyone travelled on the Trans-Siberian Railway from Moscow to Beijing? Am thinking of travelling for a while and this has caught my interest instead of flying directly to Far East.

My mate did it and said it was bloody amazing. He had some great stories about the people and the their lives he met along the way. Been reading about Russia/Siberia recently, too (I thought hold on I only know about 2 Russian cities and few other names? - Siberia's not what I imagine (well it 2/3 of the country), most of Russia's urban population is along the route, with contrasting industrial and cultural centres. Where as the Czar exiled folk to southern Siberia, Stalin imprisoned them in the north (which is more the impression I had).
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"The tighter you grasp Lord Vader, the more it will slip through your fingers."

hello, you would do well to give the Transiberian a try; if you can sustain yourself over long-distance rail travel. I think there is no longer continuous rail journey to match it anywhere in the world. Speaking, maybe, with a slight bias, as from an ex-rail employee, I'd suggest you should for sure do it once and if you like the total experience, repeat it or even invite some hardy friends along as well? I did a bit of a marathon journey from Budapest to Venice and it took us 12+ hours and time did drag a bit, I'd say. No real comparison of course so if you've the time and the inclination, go ahead and brush up your Russian! (A little knowledge of that language would come in handy - even <spasibo> opens eyes a bit wider) (thank you, btw) Yours, Zen.

@Zenophobia
Ive been doing a little research ( Thank god for google eh! ) and come across this site http://www.seat61.com/Trans-Siberian.htm which has a lot of good info.....also been reading up on Platskart but am not really into roughing it for 6-7 days so a guy of my standing needs to travel 1st class lol.....

Thanks "gooddude" for the link. I've also been dreaming of that trip... and continue dreaming...