Thorn Tree travel forum

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1. Do NOT bring travelers checks as they are difficult to cash. Plan to bring cash (either euros, pounds or USD or if either is your country's currency) or to withdraw money from an ATM

2. How can I or anyone answer a question about visas unless you indicate your passport. If you are traveling by train from Poland to Russia, you will pass through Belarus and will need a visa for there as well. All visas, Belarus, Russian, Mongolian, Chinese must be obtained prior to starting your journey. None are available at the borders. Several will require planning (Russian and the Belarus transit visa), please see my website and the New Russia Sticky for details

3. Temps along the TransMong route will offer some information but how you tolerate cold will depend upon where you are from. I can't tell you how much clothing you will need but will advise that you plan to layer, bring warm footwear, hats, gloves, scarves. Newer winter underwear is generally lighter weight and will keep you warmer. Check with a good outdoor store for recommendations. Plan to wear most of what you are carrying at the coldest places.

4. Don't bother with Mongolian. Definitely learn cyrillic. Plan to use a Russian and Chinese phrase book or you might be interested in these alternatives which are picture books that you can point to instead of trying to play charades or draw pictures.

Point It
Wordless Travel Book
Universal Phrase Book
Picture Talk

Also there are plastic language maps, Russian Language Map - this is available in lots of languages, with or without a self study book or Audio CD for basic language learning. It comes from Bilingual Books

5. Try the library or a used bookstore for either of the two TransSiberian guidebooks, one by LP and the other by Trailblazer.

Look at these websites for starters:
waytorussia.net
Man in Seat 61
everbrite's travel pages
New Russian Train sticky
For train schedules, try these sites:
Die Bahn (multiple languages including English but no prices)
Your Train - CIS train schedule (Russian and English but no prices - if you don't know the spelling, just put in the first letter or two and there is a pull down menu)
Alternate Russian Train Site (only in Russia but tells you if seats are available within 30 days of travel and it gives the prices for available seats on travel within Russia.)

Usual stops in addition to Irkutsk to see Lake Baikal include any or all of the following (from Moscow to the Mongolian border):
Yekaterinburg which is worth a day to see the old center of the city and the new church built to commemorate the Romanovs. Also get someone to drive your to see the cemetaries where Yeltsin's parents are buried and take a look at the local mafioso graves.

Novosibirsk which is worth a few hours to see the Stalin architecture and if you are in need of an Irish pub but otherwise can be missed in my view.

Krasnoyarsk which is worth a day or two. Be sure to see the dam at Dvinogorsk and to go for a hike in Stolbi, the national park. The ethnography museum in the city is very good as well.

Irkutsk which is worth a day on its own and then several days in the Baikal area. Just outside of Irkutsk visit the wooden architecture museum to get a sampling of old buildings. Visit the lake front. If you have time, get some rest and solitude on Olkhon Island or visit the hot springs near Arshan in the Sayan Mountains, or take a ride along the circumbaikal train to see the lake up close.

Ulan Ude which is worth a day for the Buddhist datsan outside of town, the bust of Lenin and the ethnography museum.

Other stops that are also highly recommended but a bit off the usual path:
Kazan which is worth at least a day to see the Kremlin (A UNESCO world heritage site), the university that Lenin attended and walk along the pedestrian mall in the center of town.

Tobolsk which is worth a day to see its kremlin and some of the old houses.

Tomsk a university town which is worth a day to see the wooden buildings and soak up some atmosphere.

6. Consider contacting a Chinese based travel agency for this information.

7. Best places are not necessarily the cheapest places. It is usually helpful to provide some information regarding your interests so that the recommendation for a place to stay will be someplace near the places that you might want to visit.

Several more points, if you don't plan to stop on the train from Russia to China, then you might want to consider the trans manchurian route which would not require a Mongolian visa. If you don't plan to stop, you will need to contact a travel agency to purchase your tickets as these tickets are never available at the train stations in Russia. If you do plan to stop along the way you will need to purchase point to point tickets as you cannot buy a through ticket an hop on and off the train.

Please read through the links above before asking more questions about the trans mongolian train. Most of your questions are probably answered on the websites mentioned.

Ruth

First check: Everbrite's travel pages, the New RU sticky,and New RU train sticky

Since I have taken the time to answer your question, it would be nice if you took the time to respond as to whether the information was helpful.

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Heya,

Seeing as I did pretty much exactly the same route last year, London overland to KL, I'll give it a go.

* Money, I just did the route grabbing cash from ATMs along the way and had no problems. However be warned to get rid of all your Reubles at the border, just haggle a decent rate, cause no one will touch them once you get into China. I found out the hard way.

* Visas, Belgium, Germany and Poland are all cool, no visa. But China you'll need to go to the consulate in London and they are pretty quick, just have your form and your cash and you'll have your visa in three days.

Russia forget about it, the staff at the embassy are useless. Just go through a visa service.

Belarus, you need a visa just to catch a train thru it. If you don't have one, you could catch a bus up to Riga, and cross into Moscow that way. It takes about 12 hours.

Clothing, well I had four layers on when outside the train and just jeans and tshirt whilst inside it. Grab them from Kathmandu, during their 50 % sales.

As for life on the train, one or two good books, a deck of cards and a pocket knife should do. It stops once a day or so and there are people selling food on the station.

Have fun.

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As said www.seat61.com..

'Happiness isn't good enough for me, I demand EUPHORIA!'

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how much money u meed min. for all sightseeing?
i assume tours in mongolia must be more expensive...

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If you are asking specifically about Mongolia, I would suggest asking this question on a thread specifically about Mongolia.

Money for site seeing for the entire trip will depend upon where you go, what you seem your interests, etc. You haven't provided enough information to get any useful answers.

Russia site seeing costs are expensive. Mongolia will depend upon where you go and how many people you travel with.

Ruth

First check: Everbrite's travel pages, the New RU sticky,and New RU train sticky

Since I have taken the time to answer your question, it would be nice if you took the time to respond as to whether the information was helpful.