the Russian interior, travelers ar- rive in the capital city of Moscow — Europe’s second-largest city after London. Here passengers disembark for a two-day, two-night visit, giv- ing them the opportunity to visit the Kremlin, the Novodevichy Convent, Red Square, and the Bolshoi Ballet. The final leg of this journey ends
Petersburg on the Baltic Sea. This trip crosses eight time zones in two weeks and is ideal for seeing Russia’s interior. The journey begins in Vladivostok — a challenging town to access. Trav- elers either can take a car ferry from Japan or a flight from a larger Rus- sian city. From here, passengers travel across Siberia alongside — and then through — the Yablonoi Mountains to Ulan-Ude on Lake Baikal, the Earth’s largest freshwater lake. Here, the architectural influence of Mongolian cultures conquered by the Russians is evident, and the massive Head of Lenin in City Square looks strangely out of place. This area also is rich with Buddhist influence, and just outside Ulan-Ude is Ivolginsk Datsan, a re- stored Tibetan Buddhist monastery. From here, travel-
ers experience a journey across the vast West Si- berian Plain, crossing the River Ob. At Ekaterinburg, named in honor of Peter the Great’s third wife, the train arrives at the entrance to the Ural Mountains, which straddle the border between Europe and Asia. It was in this third-largest of Russia’s cities that Rus- sians murdered Tsar Nich- olas II and his entire family in 1918. The family’s final remains were unearthed here only two years ago. After a week of jour- neying across Siberia and
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
in St. Petersburg, the nation’s imperial capital city, built under orders of Peter the Great. The city’s sumptuous archi- tecture is a major draw to tourists, and travelers aboard the Trans-Siberian Railway have two days to explore the Peter & Paul Fortress and its cathe- dral, which holds the tombs of the tsars. St. Petersburg also has hundreds of palaces and residences that once belonged to Russian nobles.
California Zephyr A 2,300-mile journey across America’s plains and into the wild scenery of the Colorado Rockies and the Sierra Ne- vada of the Pacific coast, the California Zephyr has been called the nation’s most scenic train ride. Beginning at Chicago’s Union Station, this Amtrak journey goes through the town of Galesburg, Ill., the home of American writer and poet Carl Sandburg, and
across the Missouri River at Omaha, Neb., where Malcolm X was born. The third day of this five-day trip brings the Colorado Rockies into view with a run through the Mile High City of Denver before passing through the 6.2-mile long Moffat Tunnel and then climbing the Con- tinental Divide at 9,000 feet. Next, passengers will find themselves trav- eling through the popular ski areas of western Colorado and past the rock formations of Fraser Canyon. The California Zephyr continues
through the high plateaus of the American West into Utah, through Reno, Nev., and then climbs into the Sierra Nevada via Donner Pass. In California, the route continues into Sacramento, home of the California State Railroad Museum, and then to the beautiful hilly city of San Fran- cisco, where passengers can check in at a hotel on Fisherman’s Wharf and enjoy a day of sightseeing along San Francisco Bay, taking in the Golden Gate, Chinatown, and perhaps even boarding a boat tour to Alcatraz.
MO
— Deborah Huso is a freelance writer based in Virginia. Her last article for Military Officer was “Move to Main Street,” March 2010.
Enjoy the scenery of the Rockies by train.
RESOURCES Rocky Mountaineer
www.rockymountaineer.com (877) 460-3200 Canada Train Vacations
www.canadatrainvacations.com (800) 667-4744 Vacations by Rail (877) 929-7245
www.vacationsbyrail.com Russia Experience (020) 8566 8846
www.trans-siberian.co.uk The Man on Seat Sixty-One
www.seat61.com This website of train traveler Mark Smith is a great source of tips and resources.
AUGUST 2010 MILITARY OFFICER 63 B
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92