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Trans-Siberian Railway
The Trans-Siberian Railway is one of the most famous
of the world's great train journeys, a six-day trip covering 5,869
miles (9,446km) and eight time zones, from Moscow in Europe to
Vladivostok on the Asian Pacific Coast. It is the longest
continuous railway on earth and is the best way to experience the
vast expanse of Russia, passing small isolated farmhouses and
pastoral lands, churches and brightly painted log-cabin
settlements, rolling hills and forests, steppes, rivers and lakes.
The train only stops briefly several times a day, but it is
possible to arrange a stopover at any of the main cities or towns
along the way. After the appealing city of Irkutsk, the 'capital of
Siberia', the route passes the magnificent Lake Baikal, with a
surface area as large as Belgium and the Netherlands combined, and
its pure crystal-clear waters are the deepest in the world. This is
the most attractive part of the journey, running along the shores
of the 25-million year old lake and passing through numerous
tunnels blasted into the cliffs, beneath arches and over bridges.
Vladivostok, the final destination, with its picturesque hills
overlooking the impressive natural harbour is Russia's major
international trading port, and is a lively and interesting city.
The Trans-Siberian Railway was started in 1891 to link the western
cities in European Russia to its Far Eastern provinces and the
important Pacific port of Vladivostok. It took 26 years to build
and remains one of the most outstanding engineering achievements of
its time. Other popular routes are branches of the Trans-Siberian
Railway, the Trans-Mongolian or Trans-Manchurian railways, which
travel from Moscow to Beijing.
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Fishing
Russia and fishing implies vast forested areas with
more fish than people. The best fishing regions are thinly
inhabited, even by fishermen, but dense with wildlife. The region
of choice depends on what type of fishing visitors prefer.
In the far northwest, Kola Peninsula and its famed Ponoi River is a
known destination for top Atlantic salmon fishing. It has 42 miles
(67km) of fishable river and great camps and lodges along the way.
The Kamchatka peninsula stretches out the other side of Russia into
the Pacific. Flights from Anchorage Alaska have opened these
streams to more business but visitors can still be assured their
paths won't cross another's. Camps helicopter anglers to favoured
fishing holes that are often kept a trade secret. Float trips are
the best for longer voyages. Some advertise exploratory missions to
streams never before fished by westerners. Farther
into the Pacific is Sakhalin Island, stretching from the continent
589 miles (950km) to Japan. Float trips take fishermen past days of
wilderness to do battle with the Sakhalin taimen, the strong and
battle-ready prize of Russian catches. The island is reachable from
Korea.
