Hi, I'm looking to be in Mongolia in July and then head to Shanghai to catch the eclipse. There doesn't seem to be any direct flights connecting the two so it looks like I'll be going via Beijing, and I'll probably fly due to time constraints. Does anyone know roughly what that'll cost (ULN-PEK)? Can anyone recommend a good agent for getting the ticket?
Alternately how much is the train, and how far in advance will I need to book? I gather this is a very busy time.
Thanks
I recently purchased tickets thru an Agent in UB for UB to Beijing and paid about USD250 per ticket. When I got the e-tickets they had a value of USD130 on them. I am not in UB, and the envelope was Fedexed.
So, I don't know if that's normal or what??? Any body got an ideas? Do we pay more than locals or did I just get ripped off.
UB to Beijing ticket can be purchased at the train station.
turtlesx2 - did your ticket prices include the cost of the fedex charges? Hopefully you understand that someone probably need to go to the airlines to buy the tickets, then go to the fedex office and arrange to send you the tickets. Certainly you paid more than locals but then you were receiving a service, a local would go and do it directly.
OP - Only two airlines operate from UB to Beijing - MIAT and Air China. Why not try to contact them directly yourself and see what price quotes you get.
The train operates 3 times a week from UB to Beijing. Trip takes 30 hours. How far in advance you need to book depends upon when you are traveling. For certain dates in July (immediately following Nadaam which is 11-13 July) tickets already may no longer be available.
Ticket costs for the train depend upon the day of the week that you travel and the class of service.
If you want to purchase the tickets through an agency in Mongolia try Selena Travel, Legend Tours or Ocean Travel. The latter is Chinese but has a UB office. Try contacting Richard Tian of Ocean Travel, whose email is oceantravelcn@yahoo.com.cn or richards@public3.bta.net.cn. Reportedly these companies are quite reliable about obtaining the tickets at a fair price (though higher than if you did it yourself.) Be sure to add them to your address book so that your spam filter does not "Eat" their responses.
Ruth
Thanks for the info.
I was also wondering , if these limited options are taken up, could it easily be done by bus, either a bus to the border and another onwards, or a direct bus connecting the capitals?
Ruth
I paid a total of $700 over the price printed on the tickets for us. That covered a Fedex envelope and e-tkts that the agent may have been able to print themselves.Don't know. Seems excessive to me, but what can you do when you don't have a clue about a remote country you've never been before. I certainly feel ripped off, and hope the rest of our travels don't pan out that way.
Jliv - there is no bus connecting Beijing and UB. The only bus is from Beijing to Erlian (Erenhot), the Chinese border town.
There is a daily train from the Mongolian side to UB and 4-5 times a week there is also an express train but tickets for both are often sold out by mid afternoon according to reports and there are no good places for people to stay in Dzamin Uud, the mongolian side of the border.
You might be able to arrange a ride but I would not count on this.
This post from summer 2007 by manulike with update from Nov 2008 has useful information: Erlian Fact Sheet. Also look for some posts by manulike in which he describes his overland journey from Dzamin Uud to UB.
Ruth