Trip report Almaty (Kazakhstan) - Ürümqi (China ) by train (Silk Road part 6 NL to China by train).

[@ethankellogg8087]

It's important to note that there is a weekly train from Nur-Sultan to Urumqi.

[@Trainviking]

Thank you for letting me know :)

[@zampieritto]

Thanks

[@ulugbekkiyomov1990]

Is that train operating these days?

[@ethankellogg8087]

@@ulugbekkiyomov1990 Unfortunately, no. All international trains between Kazakhstan and China have been canceled until both countries lift their COVID-19 travel restrictions. I imagine that the train will reenter regular service sometime between early and mid-2023 since it seems that China will reopen its borders in December 2022.

[@maxtassara5190]

​@@ethankellogg8087do you know if it operating now?

[@h.g.2640]

Well, K, T and Z trains in China have pretty same classes, they has soft-sleeper, hard-sleeper, and hard seat. The difference between them is speed. K means pinyin of "快速", "Kuai Su", literally "rapid" (compare to trains without any letter before, trains without a letter is rare today). T means pinyin of "特快", "Te Kuai", literally "special-rapid". Z means pinyin of "直达", "Zhi Da", literally "direct" (just literally, in fact, it usually has some stops en route).

[@Trainviking]

Aaahhh thanks. Good to know.

[@mattlee23]

so which is faster? the K or T since both have the words Kuai

[@ChrisWong-q6l]

@@mattlee23 T

[@brighthorse6981]

@@mattlee23 G is fastest

[@homeport722]

@@mattlee23 special-rapid is faster

[@maartendol6783]

I ll do it in English, for the non dutchies to understand as well. Found you, since I want to travel in some years with my son from HKG via Urumqi to NL by train, prob. taking the more southern silk route. Will keep following you. I am not the biggest train geek, but must be some kind of geek to take a train all the way from HKG. Like your footages so far

[@crewquinn428]

You probably dont give a damn but does someone know of a tool to log back into an instagram account..? I somehow forgot the password. I would appreciate any tricks you can offer me!

[@timothydante8910]

@Crew Quinn Instablaster ;)

[@crewquinn428]

@Timothy Dante thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and im trying it out atm. Seems to take quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@crewquinn428]

@Timothy Dante it worked and I actually got access to my account again. Im so happy! Thanks so much, you saved my account !

[@timothydante8910]

@Crew Quinn you are welcome :D

[@man08839]

Love from Pakistan🇵🇰 to good peoples of Kazakhstan and China🖐🏻

[@BerlinBerlin]

1:29 mr bald: what a lovely Soviet trainstation. What a lovely Soviet mosaic.😂

[@Laura-wf2du]

This green color train is very slow compared with other types of train, welcome you to visit my hometown

[@DanielsUKT]

Nice journey going from Kazakhstan to China I like your style of videos commentary and also some captions and some music too

[@thomasisking]

Took this route on the reverse leg, Urumqi to Almaty before Covid struck. We were on our way from Lanzhou to Tashkent. Very easy to buy tickets at office in train station in Urumqi, just passport needed. 29 hours was the length of our run. Chinese train. Bring some pot noodles or something to eat. Hot water taps for noodles and tea. No visas required for us for China, Kazakhstan & Uzbekistan. Enjoyed your video and have subscribed 😊.

[@TheMacValk]

Awesome trip 🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃

[@sup3rkangkong]

great footage and informative commentary.

[@larry5316]

Thank you very much, good video!

[@dominoaffabatelal6731]

Wow Kazakhstan and China very good.

[@luxibai3426]

Thank you, I really enjoy your video

[@healthseekersgroup4370]

Hi . You didn't mention the cost of fare & the time it takes from Urumqi to Almataay.

[@wackyruss]

Wow! This video is super informative! My wife is Kazakh and I’m always trying to convince her to take a train instead of flying from Kaz to China. So much cheaper. We have Chinese residency permits and visas because we live in Dongguan. However we evacuated to Kaz because of the coronavirus. I gotta go back to work March 2 and I’m so broke now with all this buying plane tickets to evacuate. I just wonder if a train is better than flying

[@Trainviking]

Well I don't know anything about flying but the train is definitely a good option. The only downside is that trains will only go 2 times per week. But there are many busses as well between Kazakhstan and China.

[@Ahuntsicspotter]

It depends where to China and from where in Kazakhstan because Kazakhstan is the 9th biggest country in the world and China 3rd biggest country in the world.

[@noplantravelyaping2439]

Since you lived in dongguan, I don’t think train is a good idea . It takes long time to arrive and you have to change trains. From Urumqi to Shenzhen should be 55USD,if I still remember (cause my family lives in Urumqi),despite the train across Kazakhstan to China Urumqi....

[@larry5316]

Tanks! Very interesting

[@MuhammadYousaf-yf2pg]

Very good, better you could have mentioned the fare from Almatay to Urumqi, time taken, and the distance.

[@Trainviking]

I honestly don't know the price anymore but the ticket has been booked via an agency called "Stan tours".

[@MuhammadYousaf-yf2pg]

Thanks for the reply, price then time taken and if you knew the distance.

[@watahyahknow]

was wondering if theres a weight / size limit in luggage like there is when you travel by plane , considering visiting china (but way after the war with ucraine has died out ) and plan to buy a lot of stuff there to take home with me

[@tianjima703]

Speed of Chinese trains G > D > Z > T> K> no letter.

[@usmannazeer9161]

What was the ticket price ?

[@omanager591]

Congrats for the great video and the detailed info ! Keep it up !!!!

[@oliversparks1459]

Wow Surprised and Good

[@wonglipmeng3472]

Thanks for the lovely video. I just subscribed to your Vlog and have immerse interest to to do a train ride such as yours. How much is the price of the ticket?

[@Trainviking]

Ooohhh tickets are very different, every country has its own policy. I don't know the price for this train anymore. Because all countries have different policies on how you can book tickets, I'll try to make a video on this as well.

[@ChrisWong-q6l]

I remember all OSJD international train ticket prices are all based on Swiss Franc?

[@painlessrajon2949]

My brother. Yet is it train service available.

[@matthewweber2057]

wie findest du dich auf die Stadt Urumqi

[@adamsmith275]

...very nice music!... What is it?...

[@terriermonisgod]

I hope bullet trains and hyperloops become way more prevalent in Eurasia

[@Trainviking]

Well slow trains can also be really nice.

[@linksrepublikaner]

Hyperloop is just a BAD idea! It is a so called "gadgetbahn". Watch hyperloop related videos of the youtube channel Adam Something and you will know why. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eYKtmHmelMpjZ8k

[@travelwithoutborders2037]

at 03:42 what kind of camera you were using .thankyou .

[@Trainviking]

I'm using a go pro 7 white, just the cheapest version (still a lot of money) the only down side, the microphone is not great.

[@zampieritto]

How did you buy the ticket?please teach me, more information. Thanks

[@Trainviking]

The company that booked my ticket is called "stan tours". It was delivered to my hotel in Almaty.

[@Albion80s]

Trainviking, do you apply ALL visas for each country you visited when you're back in the Netherlands or you apply them only at each border crossing? Thank you in advance.

[@Trainviking]

Hey, since you need to have a visa for Belarus, Russia and China o applied for these visa before I started the trip. When. You're from the Netherlands you don't need a visa for Kazakhstan, so that makes it easy :).

[@kparag01]

Love from India 🇮🇳

[@JunyuXu]

0:17 Typo, said Kazachatan

[@Trainviking]

I also found out later. This is the way we write it in Dutch.

[@TheRealDorran]

6:43 thought he said ashtray

[@iistest]

你是猛男~！ 从荷兰 坐火车来中国。。佩服

[@mychannel3819]

Fei Liao East TURKESTAN uyghur

[@tomizhou8137]

@@mychannel3819 you eat poop

[@npai6612]

@@tomizhou8137 You too?

[@nasirmahmoodqureshi]

nice

[@AlohaBiatch]

How much was the ticket price? I’m thinking of traveling next year on this route

[@Castrop1958]

Great Videos, but the www Site is "out of Order"...?!

[@Trainviking]

Thank you. Yes i still need to work on the website.

[@koalahvk104]

How many days from Kazakhstan to China?

[@Trainviking]

Depends from where in Kazachstan to where in China. From west Kazachstan to east China is a long journey. This specific train is about 22 hours.

[@johnct2618]

Almaty to Urumqi, may I know how much was the ticket and how many hours? Hear from you. Great videos and knowledgeable. Cheers.

[@GrantMcWilliams]

What time did you get on in Almaty and get off in Urumqi? Since no trains are running right now due to COVID I can't see schedules. Thanks.

[@Trainviking]

I left station number 2 at 08:36, it will need some extfa time at station number 1 in Almaty where this train will depart at 09:22, i arrived in Urumqo at 10:06 local time (3 hour time difference, so a 21 hour journey). By the way i can't wait to go a bit further again, i did a lot of video's this summer but this was all really close to home. Because of a new jov and covid i could only do day trips last summer.

[@GrantMcWilliams]

@@Trainviking Thank you, I was trying to correlate what it looked like to the only schedule I was able to find on the Man in Seat 61 website.

[@Trainviking]

I started this channel to tell people about international and long distance railway travel. When I started this journey, it was so hard to find good information about this specific train (and also the train between Moscow and Kazakhstan, although that train is pretty simple). It's so good to see that this video is one of my best viewed video's now. Although my newer video's are not that exciting due to corona.

[@GrantMcWilliams]

@@Trainviking It's still hard to find good information! For very popular destinations it's easy but for across border trips It's hard. Also most youtubers want to be movie stars, not teachers. They talk about what they did and what they went through as opposed to what they did and how we can do it. In the next year we'll be going from Slovenia to Hong Kong by ground/water.

[@stefandee1970]

One like from me. Very interesting and informing. What is train max speed? Why u choose this chinese city to travel?

[@Trainviking]

Thank, the max speed is 120 km per hour. And all trains from Kazakhstan terminate at urumqi, so obvious when you travel along the Silk Road you go here.

[@omarchanuvdjaxon1957]

Trip report Almaty (Kazakhstan) - Ürümqi (Uyghuristan) by train

[@Trainviking]

Yup

[@sabotagezzm]

Hello guys, my girl and i pretend to do this trip on oct/nov, we go from spain to china by train/bus, and it's getting difficult to find info about this journey, anyone knows if its working almaty-urumchi train, when it runs, where to buy, etc???? Thanks 🙏🏻

[@ksitigarbha9787]

He said in a different comment Stan tours in Kazakhstan .that's where he bought his. But the route was closed for COVID. It may or may not be open now

[@ksitigarbha9787]

How to travel from Almaty to Urumqi by Bus. Search Google for that, I found a good page

[@Trainviking]

This service has unfortunately not been reactivated yet.

[@отпирайте]

Kiva video

[@pertinieminen8426]

From your accent it feels you are from Finland

[@Trainviking]

Haha close, I'm from Europe though but I'm very Dutch. When I started this channel I really had my doubts, should I try to do my very best to hide it or just like this. I think it's okay to hear that someone isn't a native speaker, as long as it's understandable (and I guess it is most of the time at least).

[@lalusukron7481]

Is it still working now? To China by train

[@Trainviking]

I honestly don't know, I guess you can best check the website of seat61.

[@wibowopr952]

variable gauge train is needed here 🤔

[@Trainviking]

Technically that's really difficult, but the wheels can be changed so that's fine :).

[@szm-qf4lp]

Actually, Kazakh railway wanted to use Talgo for their service to Urumqi however there are complications with Chinese railway so they have to stick with their old equipment

[@Trainviking]

@@szm-qf4lp really? Somehow I already thought something like this. But at the end custom formalities take so much time here, I think this wouldn't make a big difference at the end. I really like Talgo trains. I have 3 trip reports in sleeper trains now but within one month I'll post a video of a high speed talgo train as well between Sevilla and Madrid.

[@szm-qf4lp]

@@Trainviking yes there was some talks about using talgo for Urumqi to Almaty service. However apparently Chinese railway claims it is too difficult to deal with the maintenance of talgo. Also the current railway technical regulation does not allow the train without bogie(talgo) to operate in china

[@szm-qf4lp]

@@Trainviking I like talgo train too. I took the Amtrak cascade from Vancouver BC to Seattle last summer and the experience was great.

[@sienchiloh]

You are able to enter China by train during Covid lockdown and no quarantine?

[@1tiomas]

Is the train still operating?

[@Trainviking]

I honestly don't know.

[@rono818]

How many hours from Almaty to Urumqi and what is the cost?

[@Trainviking]

It's about 20 hours, the time yoy spend at the border takes relatively long and i don't know the exact price a anymore, i thought something like € 80,- / $ 85,-

[@TheRealDorran]

thought it was a border

[@eduwinsMIS50PAISES]

I'm planning to do this journey in 2025 year.... where I could buy the tickets?? what website??

[@Trainviking]

I don't know if the train is running now to be honest, I bought my tickets via a Kazach travel agency, I think it was Stan Tours

[@eduwinsMIS50PAISES]

@@Trainviking that train runs on Sunday (leaves Almaty on Sunday). Where I can buy it?? ok you said kazaj agency... I guess chinese too. Until march I have time to prepare it ;)

[@Axer_]

Hi I'm planning to take a train next year from Astana to Beijing, did you get your tickets beforehand or is it better to get them on the spot? :)

[@Trainviking]

I reserved in advance via Stan Tours. I honestly don't know if thus service is still running, because China is acting really strange in terms of Covid.

[@ThiawNaiDee]

How much does it cost?

[@roderick2105]

Is single occupancy available and how much does a ticket cost?

[@Trainviking]

Yes, you can buy 4 tickets. I booked my ticket via an agency, called Stan Tours in Kazachstan. Maybe they can help you out on these questions.

[@idrismohamad5958]

How much train fare from almaty to urumqi?

[@Trainviking]

I honestly don't know the price anymore, I think it was something like € 85 or so.

[@ulugbekkiyomov1990]

Is this train still operating? Does anybody know about it?

[@Trainviking]

At this moment I don't know to be honest. The best thing is to look this up at the website seat61.

[@Ahuntsicspotter]

Chinese customs they asked you where are you going and how long will you stay.

[@Trainviking]

Of course, the Russian and Kazachstan customs asked the same questions by the way.

[@satishgupta8366]

👍👍👍

[@lewow]

It pronounces Lan Joe

[@Trainviking]

Haha my pronunciation isn't good at all, thanks for letting me know.

[@madtownbbbear]

Should lower the volume of the background music when you're narrating. Was difficult understanding you in a couple spots.

[@Trainviking]

I know, this is one of my first video's. I guess the newer video's on my channel are much better.

[@ZRHTrainspotter]

Free East Turkestan 🇺🇿🇰🇿 🇹🇷🔵

[@Trainviking]

I know very well whats going on in this part of China, however this was the fastest route between the Netherlands and China. I make a video about the train not about politics whatsoever. My girlfriend is from Taiwan and therefor also has a Chinese residence so I hope you understand I keep some distance from any political opinions on this topic because I don't want to bring anyone in trouble. I only share my opinion on railway politics on this channel.

[@nayaknaresh]

Music drowns out the narration

[@Trainviking]

I know, this was when I just started with youtube and editing. It should be way better on my more recent video's.

[@matveypavlov495]

You mentioned that Russian rail gauge is common for Soviet countries, and that’s kind of incorrectly. These countries got it from Russian Empire. As well as Finland which was never a part of the Soviet Union. Though there’s some truth in your words, because in Soviet times rail gauge was shorten by 4 mm. Finland still has 1524 mm, but it’s okay for Russian trolleys.

[@Trainviking]

Yeah, I found out later as well. Potty it's hard to adjust (somehow no one mentioned my stupidest mistake yet, that is on a KTX video).

[@majlo4430]

I don't know if it's so environmentally friendly to drive a diesel train for over 10 hours, and adding that the electricity in all of this unfortunate Russia comes from coal (rgearding your whole route), so I thank you for such environmentally friendly vehicles ... For example, Airbus A320Neo with mega standards for reducing exhaust gases is on top here, taking Air Astana ona route from Almaty to China. So all this information about the environmental impact in this particular case is unfortunately exaggerated, a la "eco hoax" however great trip, hopefully it will be available soon, best regards!

[@Trainviking]

It's easy, the a amount of kilowatt hours energy that is needed is way less than for flying. Of course this is not the most sustainable resource however I'm sure it's better than flying, even in countries where there's a lot of coal energy trains are by fare more sustainable.

[@importanttingwei7747]

Silk road goes everywhere by road except USA

[@Trainviking]

That's pretty challenging indeed.

[@mirapokharelsapkota6078]

China 🇨🇳 is China 🇨🇳🙏🇳🇵

[@hokutosei.hershey-ho.high-8203]

CHINA~

[@artisrivastava907]

Yep! Welcome to hell

[@Trainviking]

??