The Tokaido Shinkansen
The Tokaido Shinkansen is currently the busiest and fastest single hig…
Read More >
Edinburgh to Tokyo
Having been temporarily defeated by red tape on my plan to take the Silk route across Asia, I decided instead to head for Tokyo. It turned out to be a good decision. After crossing Europe, I took the original Trans-Sib route from Moscow to Vladivostok and then a ship to Japan via South Korea, covering over 15000 km.
Leg 1
UK – Holland
From Newcastle to Amsterdam
DFDS ferry
Commodore class
401 km, 17 hours
Leg 2
Holland – Germany – Poland
From Amsterdam to Warsaw
EN447 “Jan Kiepura”
1st class sleeper
1094 km, 16 hours
Leg 3
Poland – Belarus – Russia
Warsaw – Moscow
D10 “Polonez”
1st class sleeper
1502 km, 20 hours
Leg 4
Russia
From Moscow to Vladivostok (Trans-Siberian route)
Train 002
1st class sleeper
9298 km, 6 days
Leg 5
Russia – South Korea
Vladivostok – Donghae
MV Eastern Dream
2nd class cabin
500 km, 1 day
Leg 6
South Korea – Japan
Donghae – Sakaiminato
MV Eastern Dream
2nd class cabin
400 km, 1 day
Leg 7
Japan
Sakaiminato – Yonaga (The Kitano Family Train)
Yonaga – Okayama (The Yakumo Limited Express)
Okayama – Kyoto (The Hikari Super Express)
Green Class
6 hours
Leg 8
Japan
Kyoto – Tokyo (The Tokaido Shinkansen)
Green Class
3 hours 20 minutes
15000 km on the classic Trans-Siberian route crossing 10 time zones
The 002 train was a total pleasure and I really started to feel at home in Siberia. The alienation of life in South Korea and Japan provided plenty of excitement.
From my travel journal
To find out more you can read popular posts about this adventure.
Kings of the Wild Frontier
The Eastern Dream is a Japanese built ship run by a South Korean compa…
Read More >
The Fish Wives of Barabinsk
Morning! 06.53 Moscow time. Happy Christmas from Barabinsk, where it&#…
Read More >
Matthew Woodward @ 2022