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Great Railway Journeys of the World
Posted February 20th, 2013 - 2:07 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 10:36 am from Camden, United States
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 2:52 pm from Ottawa, Canada
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 3:21 pm from London, England
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Posted February 21st, 2013 - 2:35 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
I'm so into this.

I'd love to live out my days on islands, trains, and ships.

With other nice and kind people.

I hope it works out.

Cherie

Posted February 20th, 2013 - 3:26 pm from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 3:40 pm from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 7:12 pm from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 7:48 pm from Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 8:09 pm from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 8:17 pm from Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 8:22 pm from Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 11:20 pm from Ottawa, Canada
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Posted February 21st, 2013 - 12:17 am from Collector, Australia
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Posted February 21st, 2013 - 12:48 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
Here you go, George: whoooo whoooo

http://www.amtrak.com/southwest-chief-train


Posted February 21st, 2013 - 1:27 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 24th, 2013 - 3:13 pm by from Sylva, United States (Permalink)
The Amtrak Silver Chief line will take you near to Santa Fe (Lamy) but there is now a new RailRunner that goes from Santa Fe down to Socorro (or close to it.) So you can take the Amtrak cross country to Albuquerque and then the RailRunner north to Santa Fe and it's a bargain. It's now a very popular commuter option and weekender for tourists. I lived in the Burque for 20 years; best thing Gov. Bill Richardson helped to push through. Plans are to extend the Railrunner the entire length of the state in the future but for now enjoy the ability to transfer trains easily from the Amtrak station in downtown Alburque to Santa Fe.

Posted February 24th, 2013 - 3:23 pm from Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Posted February 24th, 2013 - 11:43 pm by from Daylesford, Australia (Permalink)
you've got your lines mixed up a bit, dear carl:

trans-siberian goes from moskow to vladivostok

trans-mongolian goes from kyakhta (near ulan ude)to beijing

trans-manchurian goes from chita via harbin to beijing

the baikal-amur mainline goes fron tayshet to vanino

and the ural line goes from yekaterinburg to moskow

the latter four all connect to the trans-siberian someplace, so there are plenty of choices...

and you, canadian patti, are so naughty.
planning on collecting russian bears, already!

it is a long time till june 2014, but planning is so much fun in itself
check out the ger hotels in ulaanbaatar! so exotic..

we've had an endless hot spell down here. mid thirties every day. getting so tired of it. looking longingly at snow-clogged european and american landscapes on the tv news..sigh.

hot, hot roo
:>)



Posted February 25th, 2013 - 1:10 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
How many of us are going?

Cherie

Posted February 25th, 2013 - 1:58 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 25th, 2013 - 2:47 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
Sounds fun!
I'm in. ;D

This is one I'm seriously considering after returning from France:


http://www.adventurewomen.com/trips/tripOverview.aspx?id=86

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tLpsDyf4Sg&feature=youtu.be

Iceland in August: always light. Warm and full of meadows and flowers.

Cherie

Posted February 25th, 2013 - 4:11 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 25th, 2013 - 4:25 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
Patty

I was equally disappointed when I read in our local newspaper that the elephant wrestling has been delayed.

Cherie

Posted February 21st, 2013 - 2:56 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
When?

Cherie

P.S. What's a world plug?

Posted February 21st, 2013 - 3:31 am from Ottawa, Canada
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Posted February 21st, 2013 - 3:32 am from Ottawa, Canada
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Posted February 21st, 2013 - 4:24 am from Collector, Australia
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Posted February 21st, 2013 - 3:30 pm by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
It's not high speed. Plenty to see out the window.

But the prettiest run is the Coast Starlight:
Los Angeles to Seattle.

Cherie

Posted February 21st, 2013 - 4:06 pm from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 22nd, 2013 - 2:09 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
Probably lots of chipotle...


Cherie

Posted February 21st, 2013 - 6:56 pm from Sydney, Australia
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Posted February 21st, 2013 - 11:11 pm from Collector, Australia
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Posted February 21st, 2013 - 11:56 pm from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 22nd, 2013 - 1:06 am by from Daylesford, Australia (Permalink)
patti, get yourself a volume of lonely planet trans-siberian railway, i got mine on-line, through amazon, and start planning.
it is still on my dream list and i have been looking for a travel companion to do this, to share a two-berth compartment. 2014 would suit me fine.
starting in vladivostok, i'd like to do a few stop-overs, though, and perhaps take the side-trip from chita to beijing and back to the main line via ulaan baatar, ulan ude, lake bikal...
then, after moskow, go to scandinavia, via st petersburg, and couch surf a bit with bente, raija, lars...

what do you think?

roo with itchy feet :>)

Posted February 22nd, 2013 - 2:43 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
Patty and I started talking about this years ago!

Patty, Roo: 2014?

If you're game, I am, too!

Cherie


Posted February 22nd, 2013 - 3:00 am from Collector, Australia
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Posted February 22nd, 2013 - 3:03 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
When I do the Coast Starlight, I ride coach fare.

It's short (overnight seat folds out flat as a platform, blanket and pillow provided), in seat full menu food service is provided.
Onboard events include wine tastings, movies, live musical entertainment, too.
Wildlife and nature surround you.

I plug in my computer, sit back and enjoy the ride. It's a little bit of heaven.
Nature surrounds you and you try to become what you're seeing.

I've done it a half dozen times.
Love it.

Magically, you end up, in the end, in two busy urban cities: what happened?
Where have we been???

Cherie

Posted February 22nd, 2013 - 5:33 am from Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Posted February 22nd, 2013 - 5:37 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 22nd, 2013 - 5:52 am from Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Posted February 22nd, 2013 - 6:01 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 23rd, 2013 - 1:54 am by from Daylesford, Australia (Permalink)
zdrast-vuy-te (hello), dear pattti
the original trans siberian goes from moskow to vladivostock or vladivostok to moskow.

there is a round trip from chita, into china via manzhouli, harbin, shenjang, tjanin to beijing. then back to the main line, via ulaanbaatar in mongolia and re-join in ulan ude.

i thought if one started the journey in vladivastock in, say june, then there would be plenty of time to hop on and off the train to spend a few days here or there.

then spend august/september in skandinavia and the rest of europe...?

if you'd really rather start in beijing, we could, perhaps meet there and then travel on together.

if you, or any other csers, are serious about this, having the same info, for example the lonely planet travel guide, makes planning so much easier.

i shall look up some links on google, as well, to read up on the latest pricing.
isvinite (sorry) but being a bit of a luxury madam, i'd lean towards first class. the compartments have only two berths and tv/dvd/computer connections. second class costs half that, cabin same size, but 4 berths squeezed into it.

more when i have checked out the prices. i remember that i was astonished how cheap it all really was, when i looked last, couple of years ago. might have to do with the aussie dollar vs rubel exchange rate?

one must bear in mind that this is a very, very long journey and a little comfort, in my opinion, much preferable to a crowded situation that could spoil everything....

dosvidanja (bye now)
babushka roo :>)




Posted February 23rd, 2013 - 2:27 am by from Daylesford, Australia (Permalink)
dobridyen (good afternoon)again.
check out seat61.com/Trans-Siberian.htm
look at the photos of class 1 and 2 cabins, check out the prices.

example for the whole route, vlad to mosk:
through a russian travel agency, first class would cost about $1260, plus $50 for all food, and that for a journey of nearly 10000 km, 7 days all up.
second class is about $640 plus $30 for all meals.

would i squeeze myself into such a small space, for 7 days and nights, with three other people, to save $600? probably not....

nichevo (never mind)

rooski :>)

Posted February 23rd, 2013 - 2:34 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
I'm game.

Sounds interesting.

Does that make me #3?

Cherie

Posted February 23rd, 2013 - 4:21 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 23rd, 2013 - 4:29 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 23rd, 2013 - 4:59 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
Sounds delightful!

Cherie

Posted February 23rd, 2013 - 8:19 am from Camden, United States
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Posted February 23rd, 2013 - 4:43 pm from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 24th, 2013 - 12:08 am by from Daylesford, Australia (Permalink)
i just had a look at air tickets:
one-way flights:
i can fly from melbourne to bejing, via malaysia, for $500, in june.
from melbourne to vlad, via shanghai and bejing, for $820.

intriguing, when one thinks of the stopovers. few days in shanghai, few days in bejing, then vlad all for $800 travel money? sounds very good to me...

then i could cut the long round trip to bejing and just go to ulaanbaatar, and back, for a few days, perhaps with you.

re frugality:
if there are a few of us, (please do come along, dear cherie),oh economical and reasonable patti, then i could share a twin compartment with a fellow spendthrift and you could be in tight, very cosy company with three other csers in second class. or just fellow travellers, like three snoring russian men bears...just joking, i hope.

we'd still keep good company, in the dining room and so on, and people could, perhaps, even share a few excursions/stopovers together.

there are tours, one for people over 45, from oz, all organized with hotels and excursions, visas, flights, the lot, but 10-12 thousand dollars...to dear even for me.
:>)

Posted February 24th, 2013 - 1:40 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 24th, 2013 - 1:53 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 24th, 2013 - 5:46 am from Camden, United States
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Posted February 24th, 2013 - 2:06 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
Sounds good.

Game on, Roo. ;D

How are you, Patty?
Thumbs up or down?

Cherie

Posted February 24th, 2013 - 5:56 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 22nd, 2013 - 5:58 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
If it's meant to pull together, it will.

I didn't have an inkling of going to Paris until Cindy was up for going.

That's the senergy.

Cherie

Posted February 22nd, 2013 - 2:12 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
Breathtaking view of Mt. Shasta at dawn with the river winding next to the train tracks. BIG Elk munch grass as you wave and fly by.

There's so much more to it. ;D
It's SO cool!

Enjoy!
Cherie

Posted February 21st, 2013 - 5:44 am from Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Posted February 21st, 2013 - 6:03 am from Victoria, Canada
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 7:37 pm from Camden, United States
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Posted February 20th, 2013 - 8:16 pm from Invercargill, New Zealand
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Posted February 21st, 2013 - 2:38 am by from Langley, United States (Permalink)
Patty

I'm interested in this new high speed from Europe to Istanbul.

What do you think?

Cherie

Posted February 24th, 2013 - 7:48 am by from Beijing, China (Permalink)
Actually I hosted quite a few csers who took transberian train from Russia to Mongolia then to Beijing, and then I hope I can make one in reversed direction, hahaha

Patty if u come to Beijing welcome to contact me!

Posted February 24th, 2013 - 7:56 am from Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Posted February 24th, 2013 - 9:14 am from Invercargill, New Zealand
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Posted February 24th, 2013 - 9:22 am from Rotterdam, Netherlands
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Posted February 24th, 2013 - 2:57 pm from Victoria, Canada
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