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Tags: Train Travel / Trains / Siberia / Tibet / → All Tags

Times Tips on Train Trips

The end of the year seems to have come early in Britain with the UK's Times newspaper running a series of "best of the last 12 months" wrap-ups on all kinds of travel topics. The pick of the bunch was a round up of the top ten train trips around the world.

We love a bit of clickety-clackity train action, and heartily agree with most of their picks, especially the train to Tibet and the Ghan up the middle of Australia. A couple of the more unusual entries on the list include the 1,000km El Transcantábrico in northern Spain and the should-be-traveled-more route between Bangkok and Singapore.

In trying not to be predictable, however, the Times left off the grandest train journey of them all, the unmissable Trans-Siberian. If you're going to take a long train journey, the best place for it is really one where there's plenty of vodka to numb the pain of being trapped in a train cabin for hours or days on end.

Related Stories:
· Ten Classic Railway Journeys [UK Times]
· Train to Tibet Runs Dalai [Jaunted]
· Train Snobs Flaunt Self-Proclaimed Good Taste [Jaunted]

[Photo: yeowatzup]

Tags: Siberia / Russia / Environment / → All Tags

Watch Out! Siberia's Melting

Where's the coldest place on earth? The North and South Poles probably rate a mention, but so does Siberia. There's one small problem, though: it's melting. Despite the fact that over 6 million square miles of Russia is permafrost--to make that clear, permanent frost--Siberia seems to be thawing out.

The facts are pretty scary. In the last thirty years, satellite photos prove that the total areas of lakes in Siberia have increased by some 12 percent. So animals are on the move, houses are sinking and, worst of all, this whole process is releasing massive amounts of methane gas, five times more than scientists predicted.

Two lessons: try not to add to methane emissions if you're traveling through Russia; and book your Siberian trip before it's all just one big puddle.

[Photo: C_ONO_R]

Related stories:
· Siberia's Once Frozen Tundra is Melting [Radio Free Europe]
· Ride the Cold Train [Jaunted]

Tags: Trains / Siberia / → All Tags

Ride The Cold Train

It is damn cold here in the Northeast, but just think, you could be in Siberia.

If you are in Siberia, then you probably know all about the Trans-Siberian train, which runs from Bejing to Moscow.

Who rides the cold train? Families, couples, students, and army folk.

What do folks do between Novosibirsk and Irkutsk (and other remote Siberian towns)?:

Some guests get too drunk and want to sleep where they are. The 'Provodnik' comes and brings them to their berth. Men wear slippers, and snore. Intimacy is shared with everybody, and couples sometimes find it hard to share it together. If they have the chance to be in the same compartment with friends, they send them outside in the corridor with a book and a glass of trans-siberian tea while they enjoy privacy for some time.

Related Stories:
·   Trans Siberian Railway Reviews [TripAdvisor]
·   Trans-Siberian Train Info [Monkyshrine]
·   Life on the TransSiberian Train [Way To Russia]