Discussion
Hello PH friends 
I'm off on my merry way backpacking at the end of this month for a year, first port of call, Russia.
I was wondering if anyone on here has done the Vodkatrain/ Trans Siberian express from St Petersburg through Mongolia to Beijing?
If so I would be pleased if you could kindly share what were your favourite parts of the journey etc
Many thanks,
Diddly
I'm off on my merry way backpacking at the end of this month for a year, first port of call, Russia.
I was wondering if anyone on here has done the Vodkatrain/ Trans Siberian express from St Petersburg through Mongolia to Beijing?
If so I would be pleased if you could kindly share what were your favourite parts of the journey etc
Many thanks,
Diddly
Edited by diddly69 on Thursday 10th May 19:17
Edited by diddly69 on Thursday 10th May 21:14
I have done that exact trip. I did a concise write up of it when I got back here
We deliberately took the higher number trains as the way that they work the trains in Russia is as follows.
Low number trains are faster and more touristy, for example No2(?) the Rossya, which is a very famous train. I think that they stop at less places along the way as well.
Higher the number the slower or older the train, and thus cheaper and less touristy.
We were taking trains that were numbered in the hundreds. The buffet cars on these trains were poorly stocked and quite grotty. Many a time we would ask for something on the menu e.g. potatoes (honestly) and be told "NET!" as in "no we don't have any of that". But they did have beer and vodka
If you are on a budget then buy food in the stations or a shop before you go as the restraunt on board was overpriced.
Each carriage will have a "samovar" which is a hot water boiler, it is free to get hot water from these, so you can make any number of drinks or food stuffs, cup-a-soups, pot noodles etc etc.
I would recommend going 2nd class, this entails sleeping in a 4 berth "cabin" with one shared toilet per carriage, which flushes directly onto the track. Take a sleeping bag or sleeping bag liner, depending on what time of year you go. They do provide bedding but its quite scratchy. Do not think that you will get a good sleep. The carriage we were in was roasting hot and the "mattresses" were rock hard and lumpy.
3rd class consists of an entire carriage sleeping in a dorm arrangement 3 high with one shared toilet again.
1st class looked very nice indeed, but it is very expensive.
After each stop where we stayed a few nights somewhere, e.g. Novosbrisk we would have to get a new train of a different number, as obviously the one we had come in on had left.
We worked out where we were going to stop on the way well in advance of even leaving the UK and got an agent to book us on the different trains all the way through to Bejing. Have a look on www.seat61.com to see a vague timetable and other useful links.
I think we only stopped at 2 places in Russia for a couple of nights each, Novosbrisk and Irkutsk. Both places are worth a stop. Irkutsk is worth quite a long stop as there is a lot to see and do around that area. It is the nearest town to Lake Baikal which is amazing, and so beautiful. There is a tourist (mainly Russians)train that goes around the lake for a bit on an old branch line of the Trans Siberian railway. Its worth a day trip. Although you may be fed up of trains by that point. There are also a load of other tourist resorts (mainly Russians again) and whatnot by the lake and on the lake. You can get info on these when you get to Irkutsk.
The train to Ulanbattor is a couple of days if I remember rightly. You will have a LONG wait at the Russian side of the boarder where they kick you off the train. You should have enough time to go for a nice walk to stretch the legs.
Ulanbattor is worth at LEAST a week, we only had a few days which was no where near enough. The difference between the hospitality of the Russians and the Mongolians is like night and day. We stayed at the golden gobi hostel in Ulanbattor, it was great and the family that own it also own a tour business which is handy. They are really really helpful and will pick you up from the train station if you are booked in advance and let them know what train you are on. Great service.
The train to Bejing is very touristy we found, but goes through some amazing scenery and does some impressive climbs. Also a two nighter I think. Its interesting when you go over the border into China as they have to change the bogeys on the carriages as Mongolia and China are on different gauges. Takes ages but is interesting.
Ummm. Any more questions and I will try to answer them.
My advice is do it. You will see some amazing things and experience some amazing things as well. Do take a book or 3 though cos there are days and days of the same scenery between Moscow and Irkutsk. Trust me it gets tedious. Stop off along the way as well, you will need it to stay sane! There are so many places you could stop and visit, but it depends how much time you have to do the journey. The way we did it it took 3 weeks to go from Montrose in Scotland to Bejing, and we didn't have enough time in any of the few places we stopped at.
Go for it, its a really interesting trip!
We deliberately took the higher number trains as the way that they work the trains in Russia is as follows.
Low number trains are faster and more touristy, for example No2(?) the Rossya, which is a very famous train. I think that they stop at less places along the way as well.
Higher the number the slower or older the train, and thus cheaper and less touristy.
We were taking trains that were numbered in the hundreds. The buffet cars on these trains were poorly stocked and quite grotty. Many a time we would ask for something on the menu e.g. potatoes (honestly) and be told "NET!" as in "no we don't have any of that". But they did have beer and vodka
If you are on a budget then buy food in the stations or a shop before you go as the restraunt on board was overpriced.
Each carriage will have a "samovar" which is a hot water boiler, it is free to get hot water from these, so you can make any number of drinks or food stuffs, cup-a-soups, pot noodles etc etc.
I would recommend going 2nd class, this entails sleeping in a 4 berth "cabin" with one shared toilet per carriage, which flushes directly onto the track. Take a sleeping bag or sleeping bag liner, depending on what time of year you go. They do provide bedding but its quite scratchy. Do not think that you will get a good sleep. The carriage we were in was roasting hot and the "mattresses" were rock hard and lumpy.
3rd class consists of an entire carriage sleeping in a dorm arrangement 3 high with one shared toilet again.
1st class looked very nice indeed, but it is very expensive.
After each stop where we stayed a few nights somewhere, e.g. Novosbrisk we would have to get a new train of a different number, as obviously the one we had come in on had left.
We worked out where we were going to stop on the way well in advance of even leaving the UK and got an agent to book us on the different trains all the way through to Bejing. Have a look on www.seat61.com to see a vague timetable and other useful links.
I think we only stopped at 2 places in Russia for a couple of nights each, Novosbrisk and Irkutsk. Both places are worth a stop. Irkutsk is worth quite a long stop as there is a lot to see and do around that area. It is the nearest town to Lake Baikal which is amazing, and so beautiful. There is a tourist (mainly Russians)train that goes around the lake for a bit on an old branch line of the Trans Siberian railway. Its worth a day trip. Although you may be fed up of trains by that point. There are also a load of other tourist resorts (mainly Russians again) and whatnot by the lake and on the lake. You can get info on these when you get to Irkutsk.
The train to Ulanbattor is a couple of days if I remember rightly. You will have a LONG wait at the Russian side of the boarder where they kick you off the train. You should have enough time to go for a nice walk to stretch the legs.
Ulanbattor is worth at LEAST a week, we only had a few days which was no where near enough. The difference between the hospitality of the Russians and the Mongolians is like night and day. We stayed at the golden gobi hostel in Ulanbattor, it was great and the family that own it also own a tour business which is handy. They are really really helpful and will pick you up from the train station if you are booked in advance and let them know what train you are on. Great service.
The train to Bejing is very touristy we found, but goes through some amazing scenery and does some impressive climbs. Also a two nighter I think. Its interesting when you go over the border into China as they have to change the bogeys on the carriages as Mongolia and China are on different gauges. Takes ages but is interesting.
Ummm. Any more questions and I will try to answer them.
My advice is do it. You will see some amazing things and experience some amazing things as well. Do take a book or 3 though cos there are days and days of the same scenery between Moscow and Irkutsk. Trust me it gets tedious. Stop off along the way as well, you will need it to stay sane! There are so many places you could stop and visit, but it depends how much time you have to do the journey. The way we did it it took 3 weeks to go from Montrose in Scotland to Bejing, and we didn't have enough time in any of the few places we stopped at.
Go for it, its a really interesting trip!
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