KUALA LUMPUR: Age is no obstacle for senior citizens to go backpacking if their spirit and health permit.
Recently, 25 senior citizens over the age of 55 years, backpacked by train on the Trans-Siberia Railway (TSR).
The 21-day journey from Sept 5 across China, Mongolia, Russia, Estonia and Finland via seven old and also the latest trains, and cruise ships, left a beautiful memory for them.
Kindergarten operator, Jariah Baharom, 66, was very active and energetic during the whole journey, despite having to repeatedly board and disembark from trains with her heavy backpack.
Similarly, Sahib Singh, 66, who was still working in a private sector company, was happy because his dream to travel on the TSR was achieved.
‘’I am also ecstatic because I made new friends and underwent an interesting experience,’’ he said.
The tour group, with 44 participants, aged two to 67, started their journey on a mail train from Beijing to South Jining before changing train to the Chinese border at Erlian.
The participants then took a bus to the Mongolian border at Zamiin-udd before continuing their train journey for 14 hours to Ulaanbaatar.
In Mongolia, the participants experienced life in a tent or ‘’gers’’, namely, the home of the Mongols, who were nomads at one time, outside the city.
The gers they lived in, Magic Rock Tourist Camp in Terelj National Park, Nalaikh, about an hour journey from the Mongolian capital was run by a Malaysian, Kelvin Chong.
From Ulaanbaatar, they also stopped at several Russian cities, namely, Irkutsk, Kazan, Moscow and St Petersburg before continuing their journey to Tallinn, Estonia to board a cruise ship to Helsinki, Finland before returning home, while some continued their travel to Europe.
The backpacking tour by train was the effort of hardcore train fan Mohd Faizal Che Aim, 45, or more well known as BCA Faizal who had traveled extensively by train, not only in the region but also in Europe. -- BERNAMA