This was published 1 year ago
Russia and China border closures: Trans-Siberian and trans-Mongolian train journeys no longer possible for tourists
The endless Mongolian Steppe on board the trans-Mongolian.Credit: iStock
There's no shame in being a train nerd. Though of course I would say that, because I'm a train nerd.
There's no better way to see the world than from inside a train carriage. The scenery goes by out the window, sometimes slowly, sometime lightning fast, and you sit there ensconced in your carriage, this little microcosm of society, this moving diorama of commuters and tourists from every conceivable walk of life.
Trains in India are some of the greatest tourism experiences on Earth. Trains in Japan are attractions in themselves. Trains in Europe are fast and comfortable and the ideal alternative to flying.
There's no experience in the world quite like chugging your way through Siberia.Credit: iStock
In this world where carbon emissions are having such an obvious effect on global wellbeing, and where we've all fallen into the habit of trying to move too fast and do too much, train travel is the antidote. Train travel is the best.
And so it saddens me as I'm sure it saddens so many fellow rail dorks around the world that probably the world's greatest train journeys are currently unavailable to us, and will be for the foreseeable future.
The Trans-Siberian (Moscow to Vladivostok), the Trans-Mongolian (Moscow to Beijing, via Ulan Baator) and the Trans-Manchurian (Moscow to Beijing, via Harbin) all provide incredible experiences for travellers, whether you're travelling via the cheapest six-berth sleepers on regular commuter trains, or the fanciest first-class cabins on purpose-built tourist trains.
There's no experience in the world quite like chugging your way through Siberia, watching as the Earth unfolds before you, seeing in real time the way things change, the way houses change, the way food changes, the way people change.
You can stop along the way and see the Gobi Desert, wander the endless Mongolian Steppe, visit Lake Baikal, call through Novosibirsk on the edge of Siberia, see where Europe becomes Asia in Yekaterinburg. You can share vodka shots with Russian commuters, buy smoked fish from platform vendors, play cards with fellow travellers.
Or at least, you could. Because right now, none of these train journeys are viable options for travellers. China is closed to tourists due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and appears set on a course of zero-COVID with no foreseeable end point. A reopening seems logistically impossible, and politically risky.
Russia, too, is effectively off-limits. The country is engaged in an increasingly horrific invasion of Ukraine, and though entry for tourists is technically possible right now, it's not only unconscionable, but also dangerous, and logistically difficult.
Though the invasion seems to be going poorly for Russia, this is still a drawn-out affair with no end in sight – and even when it does come to an end, a visit to Russia, to have a fun time in a country that has so recently been responsible for so much bloodshed and pain, seems undesirable to say that least.
Two of the world's largest three countries by land area are closed off to the greater globe right now, and probably will be for years to come. A huge swathe of the Earth – almost 20 per cent of the planet's entire landmass – is off-limits to travellers. An almost uncountable number of sub-cultures and language groups and semi-autonomous zones are unable to welcome visitors.
In the case of Russia at least, the selfish desires of travellers fall far behind the importance of supporting Ukraine. I'm not here to suggest otherwise. In the case of China there are more reasons that just closed borders to delay or maybe cancel a visit to the country, not least the ongoing state-sanctioned abuse of the Xinjiang Uyghur community.
But it's interesting to consider the way the world has changed since the COVID-19 pandemic began, particularly as it begins to right itself.
A reader of this column asked me a few weeks ago how she could travel overland from Australia to Europe now, how to avoid flying and really see the world properly while taking into account the closure of China and Russia.
I had to tell her that it's just not possible right now. The security situation in countries such as Myanmar and Pakistan, coupled with those vast swathes of Asia that are off-limits to travellers, means you're getting on a plane, no matter what.
Travellers used to be able to get from Singapore to London by rail (with a few bus journeys to connect the dots), travelling through Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, into China, along the Trans-Mongolian and into the wider European rail network. You didn't have to be particularly intrepid or fearless to tackle that great journey – it was a well-trodden path.
For now, however, it's a path that's closed. Train nerds like me will just have to get their fix elsewhere. I would suggest India.
Sign up for the Traveller newsletter
The latest travel news, tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox. Sign up now.