I fondly remember my first trip many years ago aboard the Trans-Siberian Railway, traveling with my Mother on a medical sabbatical as we traversed along steep mountain cliffs and through some of the most remarkable vistas and valleys in the world. Fellow passengers would quickly bond with each other offering snacks and regaling stories from every country. Russian tourists would eagerly want to hear about life in America and were among some of the nicest people I have ever encountered on a train. Our particular journey was not a luxurious experience to be sure but the adventure of the trip is something I will never forget.
Siberia is not usually a destination for luxury tourists due to its violent past and a reputation for being a desolate and barren landscape. However, the area has been fortunate over the years to receive an enormous publicity boost courtesy of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin became president of Russia in 2000, and since then his bare-chested images have gone on to be featured in the largest selling calendars in the world, with many of his adoring fans in Japan where legions of women consider him a bit of a sex symbol. The 2019 "Around the World with Vladimir Putin" calendar highlights his passion for travel and adventure including; taking an ice plunge, playing hockey or fishing in Siberia. The glorified images present the 66-year-old Kremlin leader as the ultimate virile and athletic Russian male while also focusing on a soft heart. Cue the puppy dog image for the month of March.
What started out as a promotional effort from the Kremlin actually turned into a boon for tourism in Siberia with tourists from around the world seeking out the very locations featured in many of Putin's images. The Russian president has focused on environmental issues as well as animal conservation with his adventures taking him in a submarine to the bottom of Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world, as well as trekking tigers, whales and polar bears.
Tourists need a regular entry visa and transit visa to visit and many are taking the famed Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express, an ultra-luxurious private train with en-suite bathrooms, heated floors, and complimentary mini-bars. The train travels across seven time zones and 5,772 miles valleys and mountains, stopping at some of the most amazing locations.
My favorite is the 11 day Trans-Mongolian journey which departs Moscow, with stops to Kazan and the Kremlin Fortress, Yekaterinburg and the Great Divide Ural Mountains (which creates a border between Europe and Asia), Novosibirsk and the banks of the River Orb, Irkutsk (which is considered the Paris of Siberia), Lake Baikal where the train will be hauled around the lake by a Soviet-era steam locomotive, Ulan Ude to visit the Old Believers Village and the Buryat People and ending in Mongolia. Cost for the journey starts at $11,895.
For those who wish to explore Putin's well-photographed vacation spots in Russia, there are multiple agencies to provide assistance. Areas that have been featured in the past include; Lake Baikal which contains 20 percent of the world's freshwater and offers Siberian husky rides during the winter on its frozen surface, the Tuva Republic where you will be amazed by the Tuvan throat singers in an area surrounded by magnificent forest, mountains, and lakes, polar bear trekking at island ice caverns, the dramatic Alpine style Western Sayan Mountains for hiking and river fishing, and Lake Seliger which is a large system of lakes featuring small islands surrounded by forests. You can also visit a spectacular spiritual yurt village that Putin inaugurated in Aldyn Bulak which includes four Presidential yurts in its center.
