trans-mongolian madness revisited

this is a picture of a sleeping berth on the trans-mongolian railway. back in may i blogged this about that specific railway and yesterday, while answering an email from a potential client, i was able to draw upon that information.

we get all sorts of amusing email from people on our website wanting strange and illogical information. this one was especially amusing as i considered the route this person would need to take to actually do this trip.

the email went as follows...

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Question:
i am planning my trip from Islamabad, pakistan for Sweden can you suggest me the travell? well what i think the possible route is pakistan-china, china-russia, russia-finland, finland-sweden please assist me if you can.

Answer:
Dear Travel Enthusiast,

Thank you for your inquiry. I am not familliar with the rail systems beyond Eastern Europe, but there is a routing between Bejing and Moscow on the Trans-Mongolian Railway. It takes about 6 days, and the only information I had was starting in Moscow. This is a list of the route, but if you come from Bejing (Peking) you will want to look at the bottom of the list and go up.

Moskva Iaroslavskaja
Wladimir Pass
Gorkii Mosk
Kirow Pass
Balesino
Perm 2
Swerdlowsk Pass
Tjumen
Ischim
Omsk
Barabinsk
Novosibirsk(RUS)
Mariinsk
Bogotol
Achinsk 1
Krasnojarsk Pass
Ilanskaja
Tajshet
Nishneudinsk
Sima
Angarsk
Irkutsk-Sort
Irkutsk Passajirskij
Sljudjanka 1
Ulan-Ude Pass
Zagustaj
Gusinoe Osero
Djida
Nauschki
Naushki(Gr)
Suche-Bator
Darchan
Dsun-Chara
Ulan-Bator
Chojr
Sajn-Sanda
Dsamin-Ude
Erljan
Cszininnan
Datong
Chjancszyakounan
Kanchjuan
Nankou
Peking


It is a German-based database, so the spellings of some of these may reflect that. I'm not sure where you would purchase these tickets, or the cost, but I'm sure a search on www.google.com would help you find that.

Best Regards,
Sheena L
Internet Help Desk
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why would anyone do that to themselves. fly, people! fly!