Train Travel

Train travel to Mongolia

The train travelling from Russia to Mongolia is known affectionately as the Trans-SIberian Railway, and is becoming a key route for backpackers. Trains leave Moscow and travel the 9,289 kms over seven days to Vladivostock.It is cheaper to buy the tickets in Russia rather than at home in England.

Sleep in a prison

If travelling to Ljubljana book into the Celicia Hotel. It is under a kilometre outside the city centre but offers a unique experience. The hotel is a converted prison! The hostel's bedrooms have bunkbeds and have a Scandinavian design. Guests eat breakfast outdoors, there are communal showers, there is a meditation room and artists have designed all the cells. Not far away is Lake Bled which is well worth a visit.

Before planning any trip ensure you check which countries require visas.

New Orleans to Chicago on the trail of the Blues.

The depression of the '20s followed by agricultural disasters in the '30s and '40s forced thousands of poor black Americans to forsake the Southern States and to travel Northwards in search of a living. Many of them rode the rails to make the nearly 1000 mile journey, the vast majority jumping onto freight trains.

We chose to ride in a little more style and booked our tickets on the daily City of New Orleans Amtrak service. We have to tear ourselves from the delights of the Big easy and make our way to the station to get our train. Once ensconsed we make our way to the observation car. Today we are lucky and there are seast available. We don't have to wait long for the first stunning vista. Just north of the city the track passes the huge lake Pontchartrain. The swampy vista allowing us glimpses of herons, hawks and waders. The lake behind us the train takes us past green farmland covered in a patchwork of fruit and vegetables. In the late afternoon we cross over into Mississippi and a brief stop at McComb. Barely time to draw breath and we are off again passing fields of cattle and small farmhouses. At last we reach our half way house, Jackson. The station has recently undergone a renovation and gleams. The town oozes musical history. Many famous blues performers lived, worked and frequently died here.

Back on the train and we press on northwards heading for the Windy City. It is easy to see why so many poor blacks made this journey. Here is a land of plenty, rich farms and large industrial towns. In the 1940s these places were crying out for labour and the exodus from the South provided it. Finally we reach our destination, Chicago, a city that benefited greatly from the influx of the Blues not all that long ago.