Budget rail trip, Beijing-Moscow

The excellent article about traveling by train from Vladivostok to Munich (July ’12, pg. 46) at a cost of $10,649 might lead some readers to believe that taking the train across Siberia is beyond their reach. It can be done much more cheaply, however. I traveled with a friend, Bob Geiman, from Beijing to Moscow in 2011.

In early May, the weather in Ulaanbaatar was cold and windy at times, with light snow flurries, but in Siberia it was perfect. We found the train not at all crowded in second class.

To get our visas for China, we had to submit evidence of our hostel reservations; once the application was approved, we were given one-year multiple-entry visas. No visa is needed for a US citizen to visit Mongolia. We obtained Russian visas once we had an e-mail confirmation from a hostel in Moscow; we submitted a copy of that and of our planned itinerary.

On our trip, we retained our train tickets in case there was any question about registration.

Arriving in Beijing, China, on May 5, we went to what our taxi driver called “Beijing Ga” (Beijing Zhàn), the main railway station, and bought tickets on the Mongolian train to Ulaanbaatar in “hard” (second) class for $207 each.

On May 7, we took the 2-year-old, 12-car train straight from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar and found “hard class” to be quite adequate. While there were four berths to a compartment, we had one compartment to ourselves. Bed linens, including a silken pillow, were delivered right after departure. Clean Western toilets were at one end of each car.

My expenses for the first day, including a share of the taxi to the station, three simple meals (two in the train’s dining car) and some provisions, totaled $26.18.

The dining car was used by many railway workers but not by many passengers. We saw railway workers drinking Snow beer. It wasn’t on the menu, but we tried some. There are some excellent Chinese beers, such as Tsingtao, but Snow is not among them. I don’t recommend it.

It is wise to be prepared for the toilets’ being locked as long as an hour for each station stop.

At Erlian, at the border between Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, we spent some time in the station and then walked through the dark to see the bogie-changing operation.

The bogie is a chassis with axles and wheels and a pole that sticks up. The body of the train car was cranked up by large jacks, then one set of bogies was rolled out from under and another set was rolled in under the train car. They didn’t change the bogies on the engine; instead, our engine was changed every time the rail gauge changed.

We arrived in Ulaanbaatar very nearly on time, found a room in the Seoul Hotel for MNT40,000 (near $30) a night and had dinner for another MNT5000 ($4) per person. Our total expense for the second day was $45.58 per person.

There are not many trains from China to Mongolia, and our visas to Russia required us to wait for a few days before taking the train into Russia to Irkutsk in Siberia, a trip of two nights and a day; the second-class ticket cost $63.84. Over four days and three nights in Ulaanbaatar, we each spent about $40 a day for hotel, meals, trolley fares and museum admissions.

The stop at the Russian border was to take five hours, and it was at least that from our first stop on the Mongolian side of the border until we arrived at Naushki, the first station on the Russian side, where the dozen passengers finally were allowed to get off the train. Again, it is wise to plan a pit stop and make any other preparations before arriving at the station, as the train’s restroom facilities are locked for the duration of the stop. The train got warm, as the windows were closed and there was no power.

In Naushki, armed with rubles from the ATM in the station, I ran for the shops and scored turnip muffins and ice cream. The bogies were changed here again, as well. We left at 4:15 p.m., local time. (Note: all Russian trains run on Moscow time.)

Having studied the guidebooks, we were prepared for a day in Irkutsk — after first buying tickets to Moscow. Using a phrase book, I had carefully printed a request for “two second-class tickets to Moscow on the next express.” When I presented it at the ticket window, the lady handed me a card giving directions to a window in another part of the station.

There, the attendant spoke English, and we charged tickets on our credit cards at about $465 each for the 77-hour trip on Russia’s fine Rossiya, due to depart at 6 p.m.

Then we took a trolley to see the beautiful old wooden houses where nobles in exile lived in the 1800s.

That day’s total cost for toilets, meals, left luggage (one carry-on bag) and admissions was $113 per person. Russia was expensive!

Rossiya’s dining car was expensive, so we bought food at kiosks on the platforms as we went along, making many 20-minute stops. $20 per person a day was adequate.

We arrived in Moscow on May 16. My total expense from Beijing to Moscow had been $1,178.51.

However, Moscow was expensive! It was not difficult to find a cup of coffee costing $10.

Flying home on Turkish Airlines via Istanbul was a great experience.

Readers with questions or those interested in seeing a journal of my complete trip (we actually started in Shanghai in April ’11) can e-mail me at cboyer3154@yahoo.com.

CARL BOYER
Santa Clarita, CA

After receiving the above letters from Ms. Wilhelm and Mr. Boyer, ITN contacted the writer of “Riding the Rails from Vladivostok to Munich,” Mr. Hayes, to ask for a more details of the travel expenses he cited in his July 2012 Feature Article. Here’s his report.

MIR Corporation priced my July ’11 trip from Vladivostok to Munich as a whole; they didn’t break down the prices for the train tickets, hotels or guide services.

My invoices show the following: MIR’s land services — including first-class train travel in a shared compartment from Vladivostok to Moscow; travel in a sole-occupancy compartment from Moscow to Berlin; guide and driver for one day in Vladivostok; transfer from Irkutsk to Listvyanka; guide for two days in Listvyanka; four nights’ hotel in Listvyanka with breakfast; four nights’ hotel in Moscow with breakfast; a guide for one day in Moscow, and one transfer to the train to Berlin from my hotel in Moscow — cost $8,790.

My visa fee was $211, and trip-cancellation insurance totaled $840. This made up the bulk of my stated price, $10,649, the rest comprising meal costs and incidentals.

Traveling in second class would have been considerably cheaper, but there would have been four people in the same-size compartment as the one I had in first class, and I didn’t think that was a good idea, for me. The hotels in Listvyanka and Moscow were international business class and had excellent locations.

I was extremely satisfied with everything I’d planned and with MIR’s services.

For example, when I had to leave the train in Belarus due to lack of a proper visa, I was able to contact my wife’s cell phone voice-mail in Kassel, Germany, to let her know I’d be delayed. She contacted MIR, and MIR, through their contacts, was able to tell her exactly what was happening. Now, that’s service!

I wouldn’t use any firm other than MIR Corporation (Seattle, WA; 800/424-7289). I could have dispensed with the transfer from the hotel in Moscow to the train to Berlin, but that convenience was well worth it.

Anyone doing any international train travel should consult www.seat61.com. It provides the ultimate in information.

Have questions? Contact me c/o ITN.

JONATHAN HAYES
Corvallis, OR