CLASSIC SILK ROAD BY LUXURY TRAIN

Our journey begins in Beijing, with a stay at the luxurious Peninsula Hotel. Ride a rickshaw along one of the city’s many laneways and take part in a traditional Chinese tea ceremony or, perhaps, meander through the Temple of Heaven park and gain a sense of local life.

Explorations of the historic Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City form the prelude to our visit to the Great Wall of China. The Mutianya section of the wall is less frequented than other parts and we enjoy views of rolling, green hills, while the wall itself stretches out ahead of us. A high-speed train delivers us to Xi’an, home to the Terracotta Warriors. It is here that we board the Shangri-La Express for the beginning of our rail journey.

We arrive in the small oasis city of Dunhuang. Trek the surrounding dunes of the Gobi Desert on board camels. At the fascinating Magao Thousand Buddha Cave Complex, we admire sculptures and other works of art. Approaching Turpan, we behold the Flaming Mountains, a mountain range of various shades of red which seem to scorch the horizon, before travelling to the ancient fortress city of Jiaohe.

Having passed through dramatic mountain scenery, we reach the Chinese border station of Alashankou and disembark the Shangri-La Express. The lavish Golden Eagle awaits our arrival in Druzhba, the Kazakh border station, for the next leg of our epic journey. Arriving in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, we find ourselves surrounded by the majestic Tien Shan Mountains, before a cable car grants us spectacular views.

In Tashkent, we disembark and explore its Old Town. At an unassuming library, we have the privilege of viewing the world’s oldest Koran. Samarkand marks the crossroads of Eastern and Western cultures, and it is here that we explore Bibi-Khanym Mosque, Ulugh Beg Observatory and Registan Square. Bukhara’s history and grandeur reveal themselves during a visit to The Ark, the fortified residence of the Emirs of Bukhara who ruled in earlier times.

The Golden Eagle rolls on to the outskirts of the once-mighty city of Merv which for a brief moment in history was the largest city in the world. At Ichoguz, we have the option of leaving our train and making a short journey to Darvaza’s famous burning gas crater. In Ashgabat, visits to the national museum and Kipchak Mosque prove highlights within this mesmerising city of marble, set among the sands of the Kara Kum Desert.

Our train pulls in to the city of Khiva, one of the most important trading posts along the Silk Road. During our time here an astonishing array of architecture is revealed through Khiva’s wealth of mosques, madrassas and minarets. A relaxing day on board our train then follows, as we travel across the vast expanse of the Kara Kum Desert. Gaze out at the arid landscape, or take the opportunity to participate in a Russian language lesson.

On the banks of Europe’s longest river stands Volgograd. A visit to its war museum grants us a greater perspective of the city’s involvement in World War Two, when it was known as Stalingrad. In Moscow, we are granted a private viewing at the Kremlin Armoury, as well as a private performance by the choir at St Basil’s Cathedral. Theatre lovers also won’t want to pass up the chance to step behind the curtains of the Bolshoi.