Riding the Trans-Mongolian Railway, one of the world’s most epic train journeys

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Horses were Mongolia’s chief means of getting around for thousands of years, and they remain an integral part of the national identity.

But in modern times, the iron horse has gained popularity as an excellent way to cross this vast central Asian nation.

Stretching 2,215 kilometers (1,376 miles) from Mongolia’s northern border with Russia to China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the south, the Trans-Mongolian Railway was completed in 1956 after nearly two decades of construction across some of the planet’s most scenic but arduous landscapes.

The train rumbles through stands of taiga (boreal forest), across the fabled steppes of central Mongolia and then the seemingly endless Gobi Desert. Remote towns and settlements flank the tracks, but signs of civilization are few and far between, especially during winter when much of Mongolia is draped in snow.

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Related article This remote eco-lodge offers travelers a rare opportunity to experience Mongolia’s Gobi

“The Trans-Mongolian Railway was a great ride and a total contrast to the preceding days of Siberian birch trees and small villages with muddy streets and wooden houses,” says British rail travel expert Mark Smith, founder of The Man in Seat 61 website, of his experiences riding through the country while journeying from Moscow to Beijing on the broader Trans-Siberian rail journey before the pandemic closed global borders.

“Mongolia offered