Editor\u2019s Note: This CNN Travel series is, or was, sponsored by the country it highlights. CNN retains full editorial control over subject matter, reporting and frequency of the articles and videos within the sponsorship, in compliance with our policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Horses were Mongolia\u2019s chief means of getting around for thousands of years, and they remain an integral part of the national identity.<\/p>\n But in modern times, the iron horse has gained popularity as an excellent way to cross this vast central Asian nation.<\/p>\n Stretching 2,215 kilometers (1,376 miles) from Mongolia\u2019s northern border with Russia to China\u2019s 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\u2019s most scenic but arduous landscapes.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d says British rail travel expert Mark Smith, founder of The Man in Seat 61 website<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n \u201cMongolia offered wide-open grassland, camels and frequent \u2018yurt alerts\u2019 as nomadic settlements hove into view.\u201d<\/p>\n Which makes it all the more surprising when high-rise buildings appear in the distance and the train rolls into Ulaanbaatar. With more than 1.6 million residents, the booming national capital is home to more than half of Mongolia\u2019s entire population and, when the full Moscow-Beijing Trans-Siberian line was up and running<\/a>, a great place to break the journey for a couple of days.<\/p>\n Travelers in the Mongolian capital not planning to board a train should even consider visiting the station, which opened in 1949. With elaborate chandeliers dangling above the waiting room and a vintage steam locomotive and coal car permanently parked beside the platform, venturing into Ulaanbaatar\u2019s stocky Soviet-era train station is an instant flashback.<\/p>\n