THE DETAILS In celebration of 60 years ‘Sharing Asia Overland. Differently’, Sundowners Overland is very excited to announce the special departure of our 60th Anniversary overland journey: Singapore to London by train: The Great Trans-Asia Railway Odyssey. Embark on this truly momentous overland journey and traverse nearly half the globe from the tip of the Malay Peninsular to central London in 60 days – by train. For transcontinental travellers, overland adventurers and rail travel enthusiasts alike this will be a unique journey. Destination
The Journey Malay Peninsular to Yunnan Province Beginning in the modern city-state of Singapore we enjoy a welcome drink at the historic Raffles Hotel following our predeparture briefing. We board our first train across the Straits of Johor and onto the southern most tip of the Asian continent. Travelling up the Malaysian Peninsula to Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok before continuing north to the Thai-Laos border where a short road transfer takes us to the Laos capital Vientiane. After an ‘express’ start we slow down to enjoy the sights and flavours of Vientiane and Laos’ beautiful ancient capital; Luang Prabang. Then it’s aboard the new railway to China’s exotic Yunnan Province and its capital, Kunming.
China’s far-flung frontiers: Qinghai, Tibet, Gansu & the Dzungarian Gate Home to China’s most diverse range of cultures and ethnic groups Yunnan is set in the southern foothills of the Tibetan Plateau. We skirt the mountains first to spectacular Sichuan and its capital Chengdu then by way of the incredible high-altitude QinghaiTibet railway, to Lhasa. At almost 2000 kilometres long and reaching an elevation of over 5000m this is one of the world’s greatest rail engineering feats. The Potala Palace dominates the city skyline and the sightseeing of our brief stay before we descend to Lanzhou and beyond to the Taklamakan Desert and Tien Shan mountains. We cross the Dzungarian Gate aboard the Trans-Kazakh railway to the oases and old city states of the Central Asian Silk Road.
The Silk Route: Turkistan to The Caspian Sea We follow the northern Silk Route across the Kazakh Steppe in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, Marco Polo and Tamerlane. From Almaty and Taraz to Turkistan and Aralsk we will discover ancient Silk Road cities and architectural splendours – as well as the impact of more modern environmental impact in Alalsk; the once busy port and ship-building city now 20 kilometres from the receding Aral Sea. Finally on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea we await our ship for the next instalment of this incredible adventure. 6 | The Great Trans-Asia Railway Odyssey
Baku to the Bosphorus: Across the Caucasus to Istanbul Ancient at heart, the old Silk Road town of Baku showcases some remarkable modern architecture. Leaving the Caspian Sea we board the overnight train to Tbilisi, Georgia where we can enjoy the food & wine, grand avenues and cobbled back lanes of this charming city before continuing to Yerevan. With its pavement cafes along tree lined boulevards, prolific public sculpture and basement jazz clubs you will feel you have already reached Europe. Leaving landlocked Armenia we board the overnight train to the shores of the Black Sea and the resort town of Batumi, from where a short road section takes us across the border to Kars,Turkey where we re-join the railway. Aboard the Dogu Express to Ankara you will enjoy the spectacular scenery of eastern and central Anatolia, then on our final overnight express into Istanbul, our gateway to Europe.
An Orient Express: Istanbul to Paris and London Following the route of the original international sleeper service ‘Orient Express’ we cross Europe East to West with overnight stays in Bulgaria’s ancient capital; Veliko Tarnovo, Bucharest, Budapest, Vienna & Paris before embarking on the Eurostar train to Kings Cross-St Pancras Station, London. Our epic rail adventure across two continents, through 16 countries, travelling over 19,000 kilometres in 60 days is at last complete.
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No. of nights
Singapore Kuala Lumpur Bangkok Vientiene Luang Prabang Kunming Chengdu Lhasa Lanzhou Urumqi Almaty Taraz Aralsk Aktau Baku Tbilisi Yerevan Batumi Kars Ankara Istanbul Veliko Tarnovo Bucharest Budapest Vienna Paris London
1 1 1 2 2 2 1 3 1 1 2 1 2 2 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 -
Total Hotel nights Nights on Trains Nights on Ferry
38 19 2
Total nights
59
