When was your trip and how long did it take? It always nice to have an idea of when events happened because things change so much. (They don’t do it like they used to.)
P.S. I’m envious! What a trip! I can’t imagine the scenery.
It was 1990,(Late August, September, to the middle of October) and it took 6 weeks because of the tourist stops.
The Berlin Wall had just come down and the remnants were still there, as was Checkpoint Charlie. Mongolia had just shaken off Russia and was an independent country. There was a stark contrast between drab Russia and the color of Mongolia! The Russians all wore dark, plain colors and walked without pep — or so it seemed. I didn’t think anything of it, until we went into Mongolia and the people were spirited and were brightly dressed. Marked difference! And a difference in the farmlands of Russia and China. Busy workers all over the Northern Chinese farms, but deserted in Russia.
I’d love to do the trip again just to see the differences, now.
One thing about train travel is that you get a bird’s eye view of what you see in the countryside as compared to the modern cities. There is the intrigue of foreign geography, of course, but you also see the people just living their lives. Impressions I will never forget.
Scenery? I’ll never forget those White Birch forests in Russia — or the living Gobi Desert. I always thought of deserts as being deserted. Well the Gobe changed my mind. So much wild life!!! Little tiny villages — I mean TINY, and lone horse men off in the distance. A life I can’t even imagine!