Trans-mongolian

Hi all,

I was considering tackling this as a birthday celebration excuse, around the end of May / early June. I read it is cheaper at the beginning of May though, so I might opt for going in that period instead.

That being said, I'm struggling a bit trying to find out how to "organise" this trip. I hate tours and for as much complicated as it may be, I think I should attempt a DIY.
Well seat61.com tells you a lot about trains, uuhostel.com gives you some hints on Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Ulan-Bator leg of the route. Also try to find similar topics on this thread, there is a lot of info. DIY is more than doable and actually quite fun to do.

Any tips? I would like to stop at Irkutsk and Ulan-Bator, eventually arriving in Beijing. How many days would I require? Would you take another train all the way back to Moscow (I assume another 7 days, at least)? Or would you fly back (to London in my case) directly, thus saving time?

Require for what ... the whole thing? If you're going to Beijing and back, I would recommend you to fly to Beijing and take the slow way westbound. It will be better for your body clock (the days are longer) and also there are more convenient train time schedules this way (not a huge advantage).

Is it better to buy tickets (I guess separately for each route, i.e. Moscow-Irkutsk, Irkutsk-Ulan Bator etc.) online, for ex. on the RZD website or risk buying in person once there (not knowing the language) and maybe discover that they're sold out?

First of all, Moscow-Irkutsk can be little tiring, it's 4 days on train. Try to break it in Kazan, Krasnoyarsk at least. That's how you experience more of Russia and Siberia as well. Consider stopping at Ulan-Ude, buddhist capital of Russia. There is much more convenient and cheaper bus from Ulan-Ude to Ulan-Bator. uuhostel.com can sell it to you online. RZD is reliable and all good, though it has its moments with taking foreign cards. May/June will not be the highest season, so buying in person is fine. It will give a lot more flexibility which is great in travel in Russia, you never know where you like the most. Language is not a huge issue.

What about visas? I suppose I need separate ones for each country, right? I got some info for the Russian one, what about Mongolia and China?

But your nationality?

I know these are a lot of questions...but if you could help me I'd appreciate it!!! And if there's anything I left out that I should be aware of, don't hesitate to let me know.

Thanks so much in advance,
Rita

Take care,
Denis

Hi Denis,

Thanks for your reply.

Reagrding the visa situation: I'm Italian but I live in London.

I wanted to get an idea on how many days the whole trip would take (taking stops into account), as I will need to tell my manager at work.

So, either way (whether going towards Beijing or coming back from there) you would suggest a flight at some point?

I checked the rzd website but I can't understand what is what, go figure if I was to do so in person considering that I don't speak Russian. All I need is the cheapest option available with a minimum of facilities - namely, toilets I'd say!

About booking tickets, don't I need to have them before setting off in order to obtain my visas?

Was it Irkutsk the place near Lake Baikal (which I wanted to see too)?

I want to do this spending as less as possible.

Cheers,
Rita

Hello from Irkutsk local here! If you need any advice, feel free to ask. Could you please tell a bit about your budget so we can give more suitable advices? As for me, a plane back would be way better idea, as you will get tired of the way here - i mean, one way its ok, but seeing all the same on the way back will be boring.

You will need separate visas for all the countries.

How much time do you have? I suggest at least 2 full days for Irkutsk for short stop, or it could be way more if you want to go to Baikal with overnight staying there. One day will be Taltsy for sure with a glance at Baikal from Listvyanka. However, Listvyanka is merely a demo-version of Baikal.

I can help if you want 2 book smth particular. Try http://pass.rzd.ru/main-pass/public/en for english version. Google-translator might help as well.

Feel free 2 ask anything, i can give you my e-mail, i get instant announcements when i get new mail on my mobile, so you wont get lost or anything :D

Hi Denis,

Thanks for your reply.

Reagrding the visa situation: I'm Italian but I live in London.

As far as I know you don't need visa for Mongolia, check embassy website or call them.

I wanted to get an idea on how many days the whole trip would take (taking stops into account), as I will need to tell my manager at work.

I'd say about 30-40 days, you can do it 20 days as well, but it's like running all the time, skipping so much and getting really tired.

So, either way (whether going towards Beijing or coming back from there) you would suggest a flight at some point?
You can do a circle trip going back through Central Asia. It all is just for not taking the same way back.

I checked the rzd website but I can't understand what is what, go figure if I was to do so in person considering that I don't speak Russian. All I need is the cheapest option available with a minimum of facilities - namely, toilets I'd say!

English version of RZD.ru can help you. You need Platzkart (3rd class), I think it's called 'reserved seats' in english version of rzd. The cheapest and basic for facilities.

About booking tickets, don't I need to have them before setting off in order to obtain my visas?
Buy the invitation at the travel company or visa support company for $20 and you don't need anything. You can do it on many websites such as uuhostel.com, waytorussia.com etc.

Was it Irkutsk the place near Lake Baikal (which I wanted to see too)?
Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude are both near lake Baikal but on different sides - west and east. Listvyanka is 70 km from Irkutsk, so that's why people think that Irkutsk is lake Baikal. Listvyanka is truly like a demo-version the lake as was said here. If you want to appreciate more of lake Baikal and understand why it's great, go to middle part of the lake - so Olkhon island from Irkutsk (7 hours drive), or Holy Nose peninsula from Ulan-Ude (4 hours drive). There are also places like Turka 2 hours from Ulan-Ude.

Lake Baikal will be still frozen in May. Don't miss it when you're here, don't go for a day trip to Baikal.

I want to do this spending as less as possible.
Everybody does ;) Now Russia is double as cheap than last year for you. It's good for you. It will be quite cheap I'm sure.

Cheers,
Rita

Cheers,
Denis

Thanks everybody for your replies, needless to say I'm more confused than ever...

First of all, I can't quite sort the visa situation out. I mean, I need to provide various documents and pay and wait - I may be able to deal with this, the procedure doesn't sound so hard to handle but it's actually pretty complicated...ahh, bureaucracy...how can I give them every detail of my trip in order to obtain a visa? What if somebody wanted to do things without planning too much? What about incoveniences? Unpleasant, but they may happen. I really don't understand.

Then, RZD's website. I just have a random look, say I wanted to buy a ticket from Pekin to Ulan-Bator on May 11th...nothing! Possible? So how am I supposed to hope that I'll be able to buy them in person...it seems like there's no availability at all!

But then again it appears to me as if it's a vicious circle....no tickets - no visas...?!?!?!

I'm at a loss :(

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