Trans-Siberian Railway

LegacyUser

Anyone ever travelled on this, or know someone who has?

I've been researching bits and pieces on the internet, and it would be good to get some personal experiences if anyone's been on this journey.

Cheers

bru

thirtyfoot

Did the Trans-Mongolian this time last year. From Beijing to Ulaan Bataar to Moscow. Got openjaw flight ticket to Beijing from Dublin and then Moscow-Dublin from BA, was fairly reasonable.

I was under time constraints so after spending time in Beijing headed to UB, took just over 24 hrs on the train and spent 4/5 days in Mongolia. Mongolia was class, headed out the sticks and stayed in a Ger, UB is a great city, just be wary after dark. I then went non-stop to Moscow, took 4 days non-stop on the train, would loved to have stopped in Irkutsk or other places around Lake Baikal but didn't have the time.

Had a mad time on the train though, was bunking with 3 Mongolian fur traders, who would jump off at each Russian stop to sell their wares to the locals, sometimes the local police would be ready and would kick the sh*te outta the traders if they tried to sell their stuff, was great entertainment, by the end I was nearly selling the gear with the lads myself. It was off-peak so carriages were full of traders and I counted only two other westerners ( yanks in 1st class).

I booked through a London company who organised the train tickets, visas, hotels in Beijing, Moscow, Ulaan Bataar, Ger trip etc. If you are going to do it, go through Mongolia and not eastern Siberia, Mongolia cannot be missed. Talking to others who had stopped in Irkutsk, its well worth the stop too. Passing through Siberia was beautiful, was covered in snow.

Bring you own food too, train food is not too good. If eating in Ulaan Bataar, must eat in Kahn Buuz on the main street, the best buuz in town (buuz is like a dumpling, full of fat, but great in the cold weather)

LegacyUser

Thanks Tingle,

Mongolia sounds great, I'm also possible considering taking the original line to Vladivostok, and maybe heading to Pyonyang from there. From the brief research I've done, entry into North Korea is easiest visa and travel wise from Vladivostok by train, or Beijing by air.

Anyone any experience of the northern line, the Baikal Amur Mainline?

Tingle, taking flights, visas and tickets into account, how much do you estimate it cost you in total?

thirtyfoot

The flight was the most expensive, it was around 570eur. I got the Russian Visa in Dublin for 50eur I think, but I know the Chinese was 80eur and the Mongolian was 50eur (but I had to courier those from London coz of time constraints so that bumped the cost). The train tickets was under 200eur, so all in all, expensive enough but after that it was dirt cheap.

I got lots of good tips on the lonelyplanet thorntree if you haven'y used that already.

maccarthy

Tingle wrote:

Did the Trans-Mongolian this time last year. From Beijing to Ulaan Bataar to Moscow. Got openjaw flight ticket to Beijing from Dublin and then Moscow-Dublin from BA, was fairly reasonable.

Couple of questions!!

How was the weather, what kind of gear did you bring?
How did you get on communication?
If you know what you know now, would you do it at a different time of year?

thirtyfoot

China was very pleasant, high teens, low 20's. Mongolia was cold, we got the first big snows while there, Siberia was freezing, -5 to -10 at night and Moscow was a bit chilly but ok. A good fleece, hat and gloves with 2 or 3 light layers did the trick in Mongolia. Didn't really experience the Siberian cold except for the few occasions you'd jump off on stops, but I reckon you'd need the thermals to be comfortable, and a very good hat and gloves.

Communication in the cities was fine, while on the train I met a Mongolian who had worked on the building sites in Dublin for 6 months so he was my interpreter, other than that it was sign language and their broken english.

If I was to go again, I'd go in autumn/winter again as you do see Siberia/Mongolia in its wintery glory.

robindch

> considering taking the original line to Vladivostok, and maybe
> heading to Pyonyang from there. From the brief research I've
> done, entry into North Korea is easiest visa and travel wise
> from Vladivostok by train, or Beijing by air.

There are flights from Vladivostok (on a Yak-40, AFAIR) to Pyongyang, but I can't imagine that you'd ever manage to get enough paperwork together to be able to get yourself onto one. It's far, far easier to get yourself to Beijing, then join a tour group organized by somebody like Koryo Tours http://www.koryotours.com and leave them take care of the visas and permissions as well as the travel details within the DPRK.

I visited the DPRK in August with Koryo Tours got to see not only the Mass Games (where else can you get to see a Nuremberg Rally these days?), but also, amazingly, we got to catch a glimpse of the Dear Leader on his first foray into the public in over two years. The DPRK is weirdness on stilts and you'll never see anything like it again.

littlejp

Tingle,
How did you get to Moscow to start your trip. I've booked the train for February and am planning on going to moscow by train. Does anyone have any info on passing through Belarus. Is a visa required? how do I get one since there is no embassy in Ireland?

thanks

FX Meister

I know a guy who's doing it at the moment. You can check his blog out here http://www.travelpod.com/first-travelogue-entry/glawler/keepgoingeast/tpod.html

Johnny_Fontane

I did the trans siberian from Vladivostok to Moscow this year.

We took the ferry from Japan to vladivostok. Arrived at the train station and booked the tickets ourselves. There are a number of different trains. We went on one of the cheaper services, but had a 4 person cabin to ourselves for the first segment from vladivostok to irkutsk.

The whole train ride cost about 300 dollars all in. That over 9000km and six nights accomodation!! pretty good deal.

The myth that you have to book your tickets months in advance only applies if you are going from beijing. Even then, you would need to do it in high season. In july when the big festivals are on in mongolia, the trains are booked well in advance, but you can still get the bus to the mongol border and go from there.

We arrived at the station for all tickets and it was in early August. Some of the more plush trains (for tourists) can be harder to get tickets for, but the older trains are just as quick and its more authentic.

Food on our two trains was muck. We brought loads of salami and picked up things on the way as it stopped. you can always get decent food (spuds, a chop and some veggies- all neatly packaged, off the sellers on the tracks when you stop).

Also very handy was the trans siberian handbook by bryn thomas. Even handier was printing off the exact timetable of the train you are getting, so you know exactly when its stopping, where and for how long. You can print that from here. Just type in the number of your train and its all there.
http://www.poezda.net/en/

Enjoy it, its one of the most relaxing things I have ever done.