Planning - Stage One
It has been a long-held dream to fly to Vladivostok and head west across Russia. I retired a couple of years ago, with the Trans-Sib on my mind. The Ukrainian War was still underway, however, making a trip through Russia rather distasteful, even if practical with all the sanctions. It’s still ongoing and I’m not sure I will ever get to step foot on Russian soil.
An alternative plan started to form itself in my mind last year, sparked by two events. First was the opening up of train travel through South East Asia to China. Second was learning that the World Ploughing Competition in Estonia in October of this year. Why not go from Singapore to Estonia, entirely by train? When the Nong Khai to Vientiane link is in place, it will be possible.
The wheels have come off that plan, just a little. The Ploughing Worlds are in August, not October - I just will not be there in time. Besides, in a couple of years, they’ll be just up the road, in Methven New Zealand. Then ads for China Southern started showing up on my socials, showing I can get to China remarkably cheaply. I am booked to fly Auckland to Shanghai, via Guangzhou, on 24 June for $NZ363.50.
To get my visa for China, I have to present the Chinese Consulate in Christchurch with an itinerary, showing hotels and bookings for getting between places. I am progressively booking a string of hotels, but trains cannot be booked more than 15 days in advance.
Before doing any of this, of course I had to work out how to get out of China. There are land border crossings to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but transport options are very sketchy - once across the border, it looks like I’d be at the mercy of track drivers, and border officials wanting to get me off their door step. On the other hand, a train will get me almost to the border with Kazakhstan (Huoerguosi), where I’ll be able to catch a couple of taxis to take me the few km to the train for Almaty.
So with that destination sorted, I have been able to plot a journey across China:
Shanghai
Qingdao
Xi’an
Lanzhou
Wuwei
Zhangye
Dunhuang
Jiayuguan
Urumqi
Huoerguosi
There may be a slight adjustment, as I’m trying to fit in a side trip to Kashgar. Trains take up to 24 hours each way, so that won’t work, but it looks like I can fly for under a hundie.