Mix Agatha Christie with Marco Polo, the architectural wonders of the legendary Silk Road with a masterpiece of railroad building dating back to the 19th century and add a bit of German tourism know how and you get the Orient Silk Road Express. Turkmenistan, Usbekistan, Kyrghyzstan and Kazakhstan are connected by the Trans-Caspian railway which was built by the Russian Empire after its expansion to Central Asia. The route follows much of the path of the famous Silk Road and combines the Caspian Sea with the Karakum desert. The idea of using this railway for Western tourists emerged more than twenty years ago when the German train journey operator LERNIDEE and the Usbekian Railway company founded a joint venture to create a semi-luxury train on this route called Orient Silk Road Express. The name reminds of the famous Orient Express but the train is not really a luxury train. Most of its compartments lack a shower and a toilet and dining is not gourmet standard. Nevertheless it is a great way to travel this part of the world rather comfortable and passing by landscapes which are otherwise not so easy to travel through. On offer are 10 to 16 day tours and there are five categories of compartments. Around half of the nights are spent in hotels, the rest on the train. For some nights on a train rolling trough the vast lands of the legendary silk road are a great experience, others can´t sleep well as it is shaky, the beds are narrow and you have to make your way through half the car to get to the toilet or get a shower (unless you are booked in one of the 20 luxury compartments boasting a personal shower and toilet). You will also meet border control officers while you sit in your narrow compartment bed in your pyjamas as the train passes several borders. The border checks are quite okay. If you take a tour to Tajikistan you go by bus and then at the border you have make your way walking to the passport inspection and further to minibuses or jeeps on the other side of the border (in Tajikistan). On board bring your own morning gown (not needed in the luxury compartments) and hair dryer. There are two dining cars but no “bar car” or a car with an open air deck as some luxury trains offer. All in all it is really an intersting trip but definitely not a relaxing one as sleeping on board is a bit short for many and day excursions on gravel roads (like in the wild mountains of Tajikistan) take their toll. The group size can be up to 26 persons, if you have booked a luxury compartment there is one guide for a maximum of twelve persons. The rates of the German tour operator or its british retailer do not include visa fees and international flights. All in all it is a great experience, it is not luxury even in the luxury compartments, it´s a must for lovers of train journeys and the Orient Silk Road express in a way is an Agatha Christie experience. The exoticness that travel once brought is in modern times harder to find unless you go off the track like on a tour with this very special train.
Prices (indicative, subject to change): 4 bed cabins with no shower in the car (no flights) starting from 3.450 Euro. 2 bed cabins with shower in the car 6.170 Euro, luxury compartments top categoriy 10.460 Euro. (14 day journey from Almaty to Tashkent, 2024).