The Wanderings of busman7

www.seat61.com gives an accurate description of these 2 routes + the Trans Manchurian route but it fails to tell you that no 2 people are likely to have the same experience. This is due to the fact that your fellow passengers & your interaction with them play an important role in the overall vibes of the trip, after all 5-10 days of sharing a small compartment with up to 2 or 3 strangers 2 toilets for 30+ people & no showers leads to a fairly intiment experience but one not to be missed if you have any sense of adventure!

As seat 61 says most opt for the Trans-Mongolian route as it is mostly westerners using it with English as the predominant language or the Trans-Manchurian route which saves the necessity of a Mongolian visa & Beijing is a much more popular destination than Vladivostok. This is all true BUT!!

You are missing the most diverse part of Siberia by heading south at Ulan-Ude for Mongolia that is what I found with my route which took me on the Trans-Mongolian Chinese train #4, 5 nights & 4 days from Moscow to Ulan-Bator, this was after the night train from St Petersburg to Moscow but not as much train time as the couple that started their trip in London taking 3 days to reach Moscow.

Although there were plenty of English speaking passengers aboard I chose to spend most of the time with my 2 Basque compartment mates & the Spanish couple they talked to most of the day, well afternoon as they tended to party with the younger crowd at night & sleep the morning away, brushed up on my rusty Spanish that way.

The Chinese train wasn’t bad but when the half roll of toilet paper was finished it was never replaced so it’s a necessity to take your own. The Russian dining car attached to the train wasn’t bad or too expensive but a lot cheaper & more interesting to buy your food at the station stops where it depended on the location what the local ladies were selling (if any thing) but the kiosks always had the staple noodles, just add hot water. Even had one guy mastered the art of boiling eggs from the hot water supply & of course beer was 1/2 the price at the kiosks than the dining car.

So the time passed fairly quickly with the exception of the 4 1/2 hr border stop to clear Russian customs & immigration which was completely unnecessary as when entering Russia from Finland that was all done while the train was moving between 2 stations. They just collected the customs declaration form & the tourist card, similar to Cuba’s, took our passports, went & played cards for 4 hrs then brought them back. Was profitable for the washroom attendants though as it was 8 Rubles to use them at the station as the train ones are locked when in stations & I will let your imagination figure out why! Dining car left in Russia also, heard one was supposed to be put back on in Mongolia but never checked.

Then at the next station it was the Mongolian’s turn but they were only 1 1/2 – 2 hrs including the sniffer dog.

The return from Ulan-Ude was on train #5 this an older Russian train with BIG Russian women staffing the cars & the border BS took place in the evening & night so not much sleep that night. Was a large group of back packers on & shared a compartment with an Irishman who had been mugged in Ulan-Bator + had some money stolen at his hostel (by a fellow back packer) so he didn’t have much good to say about U-B but think he wasn’t letting his common sense work for him.

Only about a 14 hr trip back to Ulan-Ude so not much happened. Did however get my introduction to squat toilets at the station there. Definitely encourages you to get the job done quickly (no taking a book in with you) LOL

Trains on the Trains-Mongolian stay on Moscow time until the border (4 time zones)  while the Trans-Siberian stays on it the whole trip through 7 time zones (told you Siberia is  BIG!).

After a 7 hr layover in Ulan-Ude the #8 train for Vladivostok arrived, for the 3 day trip, about an hour late, we would at one point in the next day be 2 1/2 hrs behind however pulled into Vladivostok dead on time.

This Russian train had 3 new cars for the 2 nd class passengers with 3 power outlets in each car for 110 + 3 for 220 a great improvement over the Chinese cars with only 48 volt DC outlets in the cars with one 220 in the Russian dining car. These cars also had a tad more room in the compartments but that was a poor (imo) trade off for less space in the hallway. Might of helped in the 6 berth CUPE but not necessary in the 4 berth ones. This was in contrast to the 3rd class bunk house style hard sleeper, most Russians used, that made up the majority of the train.

In 2nd class we also were treated to a free lunch daily + one bottle of water daily + every hour or so there was a lady going through with drinks & snacks. Most of the 2nd class passengers were Russian but obviously the better off ones. However I did meet one Frenchman who spoke not bad English so had a couple conversations during the trip. A word of advise, don’t be lazy like I was but at least learn the Cyrillic alphabet before leaving for Russia then at least you will know what city you are passing through & use the Metro in Moscow. That said you can communicate a bit by pointing & drawing pictures & the people in my compartment enjoyed it when I pulled out the trusty ACER & showed them my pics of St Petersburg & Moscow. While the guy liked the pics of Carlisle the girl wasn’t interested. Just goes to show a trip is what you make of it.

The leg from Ulan-Ude to Vladivostok is fascinating & it’s a shame most westerners miss it. The landscape is very similar to northern Canada where you can be traveling through a river valley when you go to bed & wake up in the prairies. Only a lot more of it than Canada + every once in a while in the middle of nowhere a major city springs up, definitely unlike Canada.

The Primorye Hotel where I am staying could be anywhere in southern Canada complete with the surly bartender in the lounge. At the restaurant in the hotel last night you could have been anywhere in southern Canada (US never would have put up with the slow service).

Note to Radster, I will put the Russian ladies up against any you can find in Amsterdam, especially since they all seem to have been born with a pair of 6 inch heels, now put those heels on a par of high black boots & Amsterdam is out no contest LOL

On a final note I give the Russian train system first place in my books followed by Britain, Scandinavia with Euro rail a poor last place. Canada doesn’t even rate & have only ridden Amtrak once years ago so can’t comment on it.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at 15:28 and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.