the Trans-Siberian railway!

[bottledpoetry]

Hello

I am really wanting to take the 6 day train that goes from Beijing to Moscow via mongolia. It just seems it would make for a great adventure. My dad took it to visit Russia when he was in college, and has had nothing but good things to say about it, so I'm curious to hear about other peoples' experiences.

Has anyone ever taken this route and have some thoughts to share? Was it worth the ticket?

Also - for people who have done this, how did you book the ticket and how much did it cost? According to the website I've been looking at (linked up there), costs seem to be a lot lower if I book in Moscow (a 4-berth 2nd class ticket is apparently only $250 and in Beijing it's $415) . Is there a way to get cheaper tickets without going to Russia?

Thanks!

ps - roddy, sorry if this is in the wrong section. feel free to move.

the wiki here: http://wikitravel.org/en/Trans-Siberian_Railway

[gougou]

I took it from Moscow to Beijing. While the train ride is interesting enough (especially if you speak Russian!), I would recommend you not to take the train only, but get off a couple of times on the way, e.g. Ulan Bator, Irkutsk (go down to Lake Baikal there, too), Yekaterinburg... Maybe also something a beat off the beaten track, we stayed in Omsk, for example.

I took it in winter, which is not overly spectacular, as all you see is white (at least until southern Mongolia, where you suddenly find yourself in the desert, camels and all). Having seen pictures from a friend who took it in summer, I'd be inclined to take it again myself; Mongolia and Siberia have some incredibly beautiful patches!

In short: yes, definitely worth the ticket! (actually, I can't remember how much we paid, but it was a priceless trip anyway...)

[asheh]

I have not taken the Trans-Siberian but would love to. In Moscow, I met some people that took it and enjoyed it. Others took the one from Vladidostok (?) which is longer. I ditto the above response and would do the stops. (from what I read, it can be done and amazing.)

Why am I replying? I did take a long Russian train (Moscow to Tashkent, Uz) a couple of years ago. It was a great experience, but I spoke a bit of travel Russian. I was the only foreigner in the whole train wagon. I was able to learn a lot of the people and how they lived. There was not much else to do for 72+ hours -- you could not 'get off/stay for 2 days' on this train. Loved it!

My blog entry

http://iwentto.blogs.com/travels/2006/05/train_moscow_to.html

[bottledpoetry]

thanks ::notes to take many stops along the way::

I heard that I should stock up on tons of food for the trip. How true is that exactly?

[gougou]

Not necessarily. Plenty of Russian babushkas are selling lots of their own produce (or instant noodles, if you feel like it) on the stations at every stop. Part of the fun is to go out and see the delicacies they're offering.

[bottledpoetry]

::fantasizing about cherry pierogies::

[George---]

Is there a train from Beijing that goes to Russia, then returns to Beijing via a different route?

I'm planning a pre or post Olympic ride

[gougou]

Most of the route in Russia will be the same, but there are two ways to enter China - one through Mongolia, and one through Manchuria.

[here2learn]

I went from Beijing to Ulaan Baator, both ways. It takes about a day and a half. I loved the scenery even when it was just "nothing" but plains.... I had fun trying to spot a ger (yert) or some animals even in the distance, and the rare glimpse of a herd of something or other near the tracks (horses, sheep, cows). Nice mountains above Beijing.

The stop at the border of Mongolia/China will be 4 hours, probably off the train while they change the wheels of the train. Unfortunately, I think you can't stay on the train or watch anymore. Look up this process before you go so that while you're sitting in the train station at Erlian/Erenhot you know why you're sitting there for 4 hours.

[gougou]

I think you can't stay on the train or watch anymore.

Seriously? Why did they change that? Back when I took it (January 2005) we were allowed to stay on. It seemed a simple operation, so I don't really see a point in making people get off.

[here2learn]

I went last year, late 2007. In both directions we got off; no choice, no explanations, no questions. Most people didn't even know the wheels were being changed, we just all hung out in the train station for 4 hours.

MY thoughts on possible reasons:

It's a several-hour process; and during it, passengers would be up in the air unable to change their mind and get off if they wanted to (at least that's what I heard, were you able to get off during the process? can you tell us a little about it?)

.... why would they want to get off?...

...... you can't use the bathrooms at that time!

...or the little convenience store in the station, or walk & get fresh air or stretch or whatever. Although I'd like to watch, I bet most people would rather get off for a bit than stay in the little cabin with no bathroom available. It's probably that a lot of people asked to get off so they just decided everyone will always get off from now on.

I thought about - give each person a choice - "stay on or stay off!" but then you'd have strangers alone with your personal belongings for a few hours.

[gougou]

Thinking about it, maybe they did give people a choice back then, but I don't remember clearly as I stayed on. One reason I could think of that people could stay one is that we got there late at night, so maybe they didn't want to disturb people's rest (though that would be the first time I'd noticed that in either country )

If you're on the car during the process, you're definitely not able to get off. You're in this big hall with workers going to and fro, plus you're in mid-air with no platform around, the last thing they would want is tourists running around.

[xuechengfeng]

I'd stop in 海参崴 if I had the opportunity to. Great city. Few foreigners, so you would feel special too.

[querido]

Would anyone else like to share a story or advice on this topic?

In conjunction with a hypothetical trip from the U.S. to China, my (person I never mention on the Internet) suggests we go the long way, from Europe. She's part Ukrainian and had some Russian, decades ago, as did I. I said "Hey, why don't you start working on your Russian now, or are you going to make me do all the studying?" She said maybe yes this time. We've had this exchange several times (at my prompting) but I was bluffing; I'm probably warped by old spy movies and propaganda, etc., about this trip. I'm surprised by the pleasant tone of the thread.

Anyone else?

[Brian US]

I also hope to take the train from Beijing to Moscow in the summer of 2011. Yet, my one concern is that you can't stay in towns along the way. I pictured something like the Euro rail, but I hear you can only get off for 15-20 minutes at each stop and your ticket is not good for the next train.

[Lu]

I took the Transsiberian, but from Vladivostok to Moscow (and on to the Netherlands) (2008, very hard to get a visa to China at the time). Absolutely worth it, great trip. It helps if you know a little Russian I think, used as I am to travelling around places where I can understand the language I feel I missed quite a bit because I hardly understood anything.

We stopped in a few cities along the way (I recommend Tomsk, it's beautiful; Ekaterinburg is nice for a day, maybe 2, but not more), and just bought our tickets at the train stations there. Brian: it's not a hop on, hop off train, but you can certainly stop in cities along the way. Only you have to buy more tickets, say, from Vladivostok to Irkutsk, then from Irkutsk to Tomsk, then from Tomsk to... you get the idea. Buying tickets was not a problem, few people speak English, for the first few stations we had help, after that we managed on our own. I don't remember how much it all cost.

There are babushkas selling assorted food at some stops, and some trains have restaurant wagons (that was the first time I had a nice meal on a riding train), but bring food anyway, as the babushkas may not be around when you get hungry, and not all trains have restaurants. As in Chinese trains, boiling water is available on board.

[Pascal Ma]

I would expect it would be more expansive to buy tickets for each segment, at every stop.

Is that the case?

Do you know by how much, approximately? Like will it end up being twice the price compared to having a single non-stop ticket?

[gougou]

'm probably warped by old spy movies and propaganda

So must have been the old Russian lady that alerted authorities when we photographed some trains, which led to our arrest by some armed cops that were asking for money.

True story, except that they just wanted an opportunity to talk to foreigners, and were asking for Euro coins because they were collecting them.

[atitarev]

I'd stop in 海参崴 if I had the opportunity to. Great city. Few foreigners, so you would feel special too.

That's Vladivostók (Владивосток), another Chinese name is 符拉迪沃斯托克 (transliteration). There are many foreigners there now. It's no longer a closed city as it was in the Soviet time. You can find many Chinese people there, also Japanese and Korean. Some Chinese construction companies are quite active in Vladivostok, building hotels, high residence buildings, etc.

Trans-Siberian Railway on Wikipedia, it has maps and some other useful info.

Edited February 2, 2010 at 02:00 AM by atitarev

[Lu]

I would expect it would be more expansive to buy tickets for each segment, at every stop.

Is that the case?

I'm not sure, it might be, but on the other hand, the direct train is faster I think, which might make it more expensive.

But it's really about what you want. If you want to be on the train for a full week (which can be quite relaxing), you buy a ticket straight from Moscow to Beijing. If you want to get off in some cities in Russia, you buy several tickets. You can save money by buying tickets at train stations in Russia instead of through a travel agency, but again, that depends on whether you feel up to making your own way in a faraway country with not an English speaker in sight.

If you want to get to Beijing cheaply, the best way is by plane.