Trans Siberia > Vietnam etc

JackKelly

Well, myself and a few friends want to do a huge travel (~2months) trip to the east next summer and i suggested going trans russia on the trans-siberia/mongolia.

While i have a big interest in seeing china the other lads would also love to go further south to vietnam/cambodia/thailand and even singapore. This sounds perfect but its obviously a very ambitious plan

Esentially:

Dublin>London>Moscow>Beijing>Vietnam/Thailand/Cambodia>Singapore with a lot of stop offs on the way.

Now we have all year to plan it out and save up, but is that pushing it a bit much? Could you realistically travel that many countries for a reasonable amount of money (say around ~E4000)?

I'd love to hear from anyone who's done something like this.

breadmonkey

I don't think 2 months is anywhere near enough time to do this.

Russia is pricey enough for a budget traveller (from travellers I spoke to) but SE Asia is very cheap. I spent E2000 in there in 9 weeks.

Timay, look at an atlas, you are talking HUGE distances here.

empirix

Huge distances indeed and you would also want to check out the seasons in each country, June - Aug is rainy season in SE Asia na d can make travelling uncomfortable and slightly difficult but by no means impossible(i done it), Mongolia i hear can have extreme conditions - doesn't it drop below zero at night there in summer?

Travelling overland can be hard going whether it be by train bus or car, all i am saying is prepare well, your route is doable but i imagine you'll be knackered after it, maybe break it in half and do russia/mongolia and then fly into Bangkok etc

breadmonkey

Seriously, if you plan on covering this much ground in 2 months, you are going to spend most of that two months on a train or a bus.

jonnybadd

Myself and a few mates are gonna try do this as well, maybe around march, though are route is slightly different and going to end up in Japan. We're flying to Estonia, then train to St Petersburg then onto Moscow, then the transiberian where we have a choice, we can either go to vladivostok and get a ferry to fushiki or head towards shanghai and get a ferry to Osaka. Good luck if ye do decide to go, a once in a lifetime trip really.

JackKelly

yea, that's what i was thinking to be honest. It might be a better plan to just fly as most of the guys are more interested in thailand etc than china. Maybe leave the trans siberia for another trip.

Fly to thailand and visit veitnam cambodia etc might be more realistic.

thirtyfoot

Think again about skipping the trans-sib because you will regret it. I did it 3 years ago and it was the best travel I've done. Russia to beijing can take less than a week non-stop (but you don't want to do that).

Mongolia is the place you really want to visit. Its an unbelievablly poor country with very little tourism but the people and countryside are amazing. When I was there winter was just arriving and the snows were coming. I spent a few nights in a Ger on the outskirts of the Gobi desert visiting nomad families, drinking mares milk (strong stuff) and horse-riding on the plateau. Irkutsk is a superb area too and stops can be done in any of the big russian cities. Moscow to Ulaan Bator is 4 days and UB to beijing is another 24 hrs. Train is cheap and you meet serious charachters, I went off-peak and was the only westerner in standard class, shared the 4 days with mongolian fur traders - they had no english and I had no Mongolia but we got on great. Ulaan Bator, the capital, was really interesting too. There is a bar, can't remember the name of it now, where all the local celebs, travellers, diplomats, ex -pats etc hang out, and I had a couple of mighty sessions in there, talking sh*te and sharing stories with Germans, Brits, Mongols, Russians and a dodgy american who looked like something out of Spies Like Us.

Site below is a good starting point. If you are a hardy traveller don't be worried about the seasons, siberia is at its best when the snows have come (only thing is some of the support tourist agencies might not operate in the depths of winter)

http://www.seat61.com/Trans-Siberian.htm

If you want a good holiday go to Thailand and have the craic with the lads but if you want a great adventure do the trans-sib, depends what you are after. Get an open jaw flight, fly into Dub-Moscow and then when you finish wherever-Dub.

mikemac

The was discussed on The Right Hook on Newstalk 106 last night
It might be worth your while to get the podcast

juanace

Bump!

Hi Tingle. Just reading an old post of your about your transsiverian trip. Were doing it in November and planning to stop off in Mongolia.

What month did you go? We've heard its too cold in Mongolia to stay very long but ii would louve to see the country a bit? Any advice??

Many thanks!!

Price of Turnips

HI thirty Foot did you book it through with an agent or did you just buy the tickets at the station?