Goway Travel has launched a new journey aboard the Tsar’s Gold Transsiberian Railway.

“This train is a veritable dacha (second home) on wheels,“ says Diane Molzan, General Manager for Asia by Goway. The train has 44 attendants, six chefs, scores of guides, waiters and engineers, as well as a doctor, a librarian and even an accordion player!

From Beijing, the locomotive traverses the Gobi desert overnight, crossing into Mongolia at the ex-oil town of Erlian. Meanwhile, there is plenty going on aboard the train, including Russian language classes, vodka and caviar tasting sessions and memorable concerts by traditional Buryat musicians. At the legendary Lake Baikal, everyone joins in a sprawling waterside barbecue of kebabs and fresh fish, as bottles of vodka are passed around, and the accordionist serenades with Russian folk songs while the engineers dance around the samovar.

“Travelling the world’s longest and most iconic train journey is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,“ continues Molzan. The Trans-Siberian traverses two continents, eight time zones and 9656km of Siberian steppe between Beijing and Moscow.

Goway Travel offers this experience with 4 quad cabins starting at $5037 per person, 2 berth cabins starting at $6995 and luxury deluxe cabins at $16,809 per person. The train only operates this route between the months of May to September and space sells out quickly. So much so that some 2012 dates are already close to being sold out. Find out more about the train or just reserve a space for your clients by calling the Asia experts at Goway Travel at 888 469 2988. More information can also be found on their website at Goway.com/asia.

About the Tsar’s Gold
Completed in 1916 at a cost of 1.4 trillion gold roubles – more than a quadrillion dollars in today’s money – the world’s longest continuous train route was built by bands of labourers who suffered floods, cholera, anthrax, bubonic plague, landslides, bandits and tigers to complete it. Even the short stretch of rail that skirts Lake Baikal required the construction of some 200 bridges and 33 tunnels. From Baikal, the Trans-Siberian ventures west through the Taiga, Russia’s coniferous forest, and a landmass more than twice the size of the Amazon that is home to nothing but birch after slender birch tree. Two days is spent in Irkutsk, a one-time caravanserai and point of departure for scientific explorations to eastern Siberia – as well as home to millions of Soviet dissidents exiled to gulag labour camps between 1929 and 1953. With the compass set towards Moscow, the train continues west, traversing the Ural Mountains onto the European continent past rivers, lakes and remote villages with painted wooden houses. In Ekaterinburg, passengers pause in silence at the graves of Tsar Nicholas and his family, executed in 1918 and now venerated as Russian Orthodox saints by much of the country. Fifteen days after departing Beijing, the Tsar’s Gold pulls into Kazansky Vokzal, Moscow’s gargantuan eastern railway station and home to Red Square, St Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin.

Click for High Resolution

The Naadam Festival of the Mongols originates from Hun era (209BC) and has come to our time through centuries. It consists of the 3 Games of Men, namely, archery, wrestling and horse racing. The Naadam was a competition among the nomadic Mongol tribes to test whose horses were the best, who had the strongest men and whose soldiers were the most outstanding archers. The Mongols started celebrating Naadam Festival nationwide on 11-12 July each year since 1921 to celebrate their independence from China. The Opening Ceremony is the most impressive part of this glorious festival as various rituals, traditional music and dance take place in the Central Stadium. The ritual of Genghis Khan’s 9 white flags carried into the stadium by soldiers in the military uniform of Genghis Khan. Hundreds of artists in traditional Mongolian costumes of different eras perform dances and songs for the Opening Ceremony while are parading with hundreds of musicians and Tsam masked dancers.

Goway has been offering travel to Mongolia for years and while the best time to visit this captivating country can be anytime between May to October, why not coordinate your travel dates to participate in this colourful annual festival.

Goway’s 12-day The Gobi and Karakorum Explorer is just one of many independent travel ideas starting at $2416 per person based on twin share. Highlights of the journey include Ulaan Baatar, Erdene Zuu Monastary in Karakorum, the Flaming Cliffs of Bayanzag known for its abundance of dinosaur remains, the sand dunes of the Gobi desert, horseback riding to the glacier gorge of Yolyn Am.

Goway Travel continues to offer some of Asia’s most appealing products. Due to demand for luxury rail journeys, they will now feature a 13 day journey starting in either Beijing or Moscow.

This exceptionally comfortable tour by special charter train takes the traveller far into the Mongolian Gobi Desert. From there, they travel right through Russia – from Lake Baikal, the unique World Heritage Site and the oldest and deepest lake in the world in Siberia to majestic Moscow.

The sophisticated program aboard the Tsar’s Gold, the wide variety of sightseeing tours and exceptionally well-informed and competent tour guides, will turn Globetrotters’ journeys into an unforgettable experience.

“The historic route between Beijing, Lake Baikal and Moscow is the heart of all travel variants and also offers stops in Ulaan Bataar, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk and Kazan ” says Doug Vogl, Product and Marketing Manager for Asia. “Travellers will enjoy the dramatic changes of scenery and savour Europe’s and Asia’s most superb landscapes aboard the train. ”

The Trans Siberian Railroad is priced starting from CAD$4359 (based on a 4 cabin share) and has departures from either Beijing or Moscow through Sept. 14, 2012.

Goway Travel has expanded unique product offerings to one of Asia’s most intriguing destinations, Bali. A lesser-known destination, Ubud’s accomplished culinary scene is the main setting as Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestselling novel Eat, Pray, Love comes to the big screen and filmgoers are treated to the breathtaking visuals of the “Love” setting: Ubud, Bali.

“The movie became an overnight sensation, and the demand for Bali has been overwhelming“, commented Doug Vogl, Goway’s Product and Marketing Manager for Asia. “People are interested in visiting Ubud to check out the same places Julia Roberts did, so we have put together a perfect package for travellers to see the destination first-hand.”

Goway’s 8 Day Eat, Pray, Love….in Bali package offers seven nights accommodation at the Ananda Cottages, tucked away in the lush hills just outside the town of Ubud. Visitors will be treated to 3 morning yoga classes and meditation, a day and a half of touring, cycling in a nearby village and the highlight of the trip – a palm reading session with Ketut Liyer, a medicine man, artist and palm reader featured in “Eat Pray, Love” and much more. This amazing package is priced from $1069 CAD.

Travel professionals can access Goway.com/asia for a complete list of Goway’s Bali and Indonesia products. For more information contact Goway Travel at 1-888-469-2988 or email res@goway.com.