Sure enough, it was there. A thin, small line at the base of the mountains. The barren mountains wer

Traveling in January during the dead of winter, we would cover some 5,000 miles across multiple timezones, through vast empty landscapes and sprawling cities. So, without further ado, here is our take on the epic Trans Siberian Railway journey. It's not in our normal blog style but we wanted this to be informative while passing on the stories along they way. Its long and I mean long, but its full of good information and stories. I've added a table of contents to help a with navigation. Enjoy!
One of the misconceptions about the Trans Siberian is that it is one train. There actually is no single train called the Trans Siberian. It refers to the network of railways than run across Russia and Siberia ending at various destinations extending beyond the borders of Russia. In saying that however, you can take one train from Moscow to Vladivostok which is a seriously long way, but most of the time travelers take a series of trains instead, opting to do a little sight seeing while breaking up the journey. The three common routes are called the Trans-Siberian carnival cruise discounts (to Vladivostok), the Trans-Manchurian (to Beijing via China) and lastly, our route, the Trans-Mongolian (to Beijing via Mongolia).
We took the easy way out and had an agent book all of our train tickets in advance after we customized the trip. It was more of logistics help than a guided tour. The agency booked carnival cruise discounts all of our train tickets, hotels, a few transfers to/from the stations, walking tours or guides in each city and even one bonus outdoor activity in Yekaterinburg.
Why did we go with an agent? At the end of 2011 we were both busy at work, trying to organize our international move from London to the US which included organizing our cats importation, trying to say goodbye to nearly 5 years of friends and colleagues by having Christmas and/or leaving drinks/dinners almost every night, Christmas shopping and trying to pack and plan for 5 months of travels. This meant we just didn't have the bandwidth to do the research or planning needed to buy the tickets ourselves. carnival cruise discounts We paid a premium for it, for sure, but that was the only way it was going to happen for us.
The Russian visa process wasn't nearly as difficult for us as we thought. We had heard horror stories carnival cruise discounts of pages and pages of forms and providing endless documentation of your finances and/or employment. Other than a normal amount of visa paper work we did have to book the train and hotels before we had a visa. It seems backwards and is a little unsettling for the what-if scenario, but its common practice when traveling to Russia. Once you book your hotels and/or tours then the hotel or tour company provides you with the essential "invitation" that you need for the visa application. We thought this was all simple enough.
Almost as important as the tickets, we also promptly bought Bryn Thomas Trans-Siberian handbook an absolute essential guide book for your journey. In addition to giving you a guide for all the cities you could possibly stop in, it also gives you a kilometer-by-kilometer guide of what you are seeing outside the window. The only catch is seeing the markers. They are next to the track and the best way to see them is to smash your face up against the window and wait for one to fly past hoping to make out the number. It took a little practice but we got the hang of it.
It was fascinating to be passing a small unassuming town and to know interesting historical, political or other random facts. One of the best was being made aware that you can see the Great Wall from the train. Thanks to the timetable posted in each train car which showed the timing and duration of each stop for that particular train, we knew what time we'd be approaching the Great Wall.
So, the next morning we woke early and started our morning ritual carnival cruise discounts of instant coffee. With our faces smashed against the windows looking for kilometer carnival cruise discounts markings, we finally arrived at the range where the Great Wall should be within view. Ok, so where is it? It is supposed to be this great, massive structure, right? Kilometer after kilometer passed and we weren't seeing anything. carnival cruise discounts There were mountains in the distance and we knew for sure it should be somewhere on the mountain edge or base but we found nothing. So, we pulled out the zoom lens and began inspecting the mountains through carnival cruise discounts our camera. Ah! There it is. No wait. Hang on, that can't be it. There it is, I think...
carnival cruise discounts Sure enough, it was there. A thin, small line at the base of the mountains. The barren mountains were the color of golden sand and the wall was made of rocks in the same shade making it quite difficult to spot. The view from the train was a little anti-climactic but without the book we wouldn't have known to even look for it. Even though seeing it at such a distance, it really carnival cruise discounts built the anticipation of seeing it in person!
We ended up reading the handbook cover to cover and loved every page sadly, we left our copy on a bookshelf in a Beijing hostel to save on weight I was actually looking forward to having it proudly on a bookshelf in our home.
We began our journey carnival cruise discounts in St Petersburg, Russia, standing on the platform ready to embark on one of the greatest train journeys on the planet. We were full of excitement and itching to get started. This was the first of our four legs taking us to Beijing, but it was the shortest leg. We are planners and don't like being unprepared so this was the perfect way to start for us - a quick journey almost like a trial run to get a better picture of what was ahead. After that leg we could re-evaluate, picking up any needed supplies or making carnival cruise discounts any changes for a more comfortable ride. At the station we watched intently as others boarded the train, looking for routines and tips. Do what the locals do right?
For these train journeys carnival cruise discounts it is helpful to get there as early as possible for two reasons. First, to give yourself plenty of time to find your carriage. Running to a carriage carnival cruise discounts at the other end of the platform with all your luggage isn't fun. Second, to try and be the first people in the cabin so you can get settled before the crowd arrives. Get in, pull out what you need and store your bags, so you can relax as you meet your fellow cabin mates.
carnival cruise discounts Boarding our first train was fairly straightforward, even with the cabin attendant only speaking some English. We showed our tickets and passports then were allowed to board. The first thing we noticed was the temperature on the train, it was HOT! We quickly tucked carnival cruise discounts our bags away awaiting our cabin mates who arrived early too. They were a young Russian couple and in watching them settle in the cabin, we took notes. They had a more comfortable set of clothes/pajamas easily accessible which they pulled out to change carnival cruise discounts in to. They immediately stored their main bags and had a separate smaller bag that had "train provisions" such as their food, forks, napkins, drinks, etc. which they just slid under the bottom seat (our version carnival cruise discounts included a few extra items below). After they settled in we found that he could speak a little English which made for some light conversation.
train shoes - any kind of flips flops, house shoes or slide on shoes. You don't want to be doing up laces every time you want to walk around or go to the bathroom. Josh didn't have any slide on shoes for the first train but lucked out that our lovely Yekaterinburg hotel had those free cheap house shoes for use in your hotel room. They wore out by the time we got to Beijing but perfectly fit the bill!
silk sleep sacks - we didn't need much covering at night; these are lightweight and we enjoyed the freshness of our own sleep sacks. These babies are one of our favorite pieces of travel gear, by the way! Expensive, yes, but they are very comforting in "rough" sleep environments.
our food bag which we slide under the lower bench seat, complete with a pack of small plates, forks, knives, spoons, normal plastic cups, vodka shot sized plastic cups and napkins. The larger grocery stores in cities along the way aren't unwise carnival cruise discounts - they have handy little packs of all of these mentioned goodies. We couldn't believe they even had the vodka shot cups! Strange as it may seem, our guide pulled out one of these packs the day we went ice-fishing for our lunch so I guess they're not just used on the trains.
It was about 7:30pm as we entered the dining car on that first train from St. Petersburg to Moscow. We expected it to be full, wondering if we'd get a seat or if we'd have to share and who we'd meet. Opening the door most of the lights were off. Walking to the bar we found some menus when a lady came out of the kitchen and flipped on the lights revealing a bright green spaceship looking dinning room. But, we were the only customers.
Sitting down we brushed up on our Cyrillic and settled on a "hidden chicken dish, a pork dish with mushrooms and a side of potatoes to share. They came out in about 10-15 minutes served on small salad plates. It was a good thing we didn't have a massive appetite but they tasted good and we were satisfied. As for prices, its not good value. All in all, we paid about $25 without any drinks. carnival cruise discounts Not the best value but we didn't have any problems with the quality or taste.
On another carnival cruise discounts train, we tried again. The first was a shorter train journey and maybe people just didn't eat in the dining car on that train. This time on the Mongolian bound train, the lights were on but the attendant and chef were watching carnival cruise discounts a movie on the TV, again without any other customers at dinner time! Although, one other passenger came in for a quick meal while we were ordering.
This menu had one page in English which made ordering a little easier, opting for a chicken dish and a beef dish. They had different dish names and different descriptions but when they were served, each had the same topping of tomatoes, cheese, pickle and maybe a little mayo or sour cream looked exactly the same. Since we were 2 of the only 3 diners, we figured the chef couldn't be bothered to make two distinctiv