I’ve never been one who enjoys taking packaged tours. It keeps you confined and in your comfort element and you end up spending time with other Westerners. Since it’s been a few years since my last real “adventure”, I started to plan a trip across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
(Technically, I’m taking the Trans-Siberian Railway, then the Trans-Mongolian Railway, but I digress.)
Step One: Read the awesome Seat61.com guide to the Trans-Siberian Railway.
All good journeys start with a first step, and this is the best way to get your feet wet with thinking about the journey. And then start buying books. The Lonely Planet Trans-Siberian book sucks, but Bryn Thomas’ Trans-Siberian Railway book is the authoritative guide.
Step Two: Figure out where you want to stop off.
If I wanted to lock myself on a train for a week, I’d take Amtrak somewhere. But I wanted to see Moscow, see some of Siberia, see Lake Baikal and of course, Mongolia. I’m doing two major stops on the train from Moscow to Beijing – Irkutsk and then Ulan Bator, Mongolia. If I had the time or money, I’d consider stopping at the major stops, even though it seems like there’s just a day’s worth of stuff to see.
Step Three: Beg for time off of work.
Enough said. I’m taking three weeks. This seems to be about the bare minimum to do a trip like this. If you’ve got the time and want to stop off more, then I’m all for it.
Step Four: Check out the timetables.
“Duh.” Well yes, I know that this is a no brainer, but it’s important to know which trains run on what days, and plan your trip around that instead of when you want to go. As much as I’d like to stop in various places along the way, it’s going to be drawing out a long process.
Step Five: Construct a draft of the itinerary.
I’ve been sketching one out in Google Documents. I know, a spreadsheet – but at least I didn’t use Microsoft Project and bust out a Gantt chart. As you can see, I’ve got 2 days in Irkutsk and 3 days or so in Ulan Bator with a few days in Moscow and Beijing on either end. Those I can be flexible with – the ones in the middle I can’t.
Step Six: Start looking at flights.
The Seat61 guy, being London based, said that it’s cheating to fly from the UK to Moscow to do the Trans-Siberian. However, since I’m about 3950 miles west of London, I decided that I’d rather spend the time I would have spent going from London to Moscow via rail actually exploring Moscow and having a good time. I cashed in some frequent flier miles and got the ticket taken care of. Otherwise, it’s a major pain to find one-way tickets from those cities, but it can be done.
Step Seven: Start saving money.
I budgeted $1000 for the train ticket itself, and it’s reasonable considering it’s lodging + entertainment + transport. What I need to save my shekels for is Moscow. It’s the most expensive city in the world, and I’m struggling to conceptualize as to why though. If you ever want an eye-opener, look at hotel prices in Moscow. Even 2-3 star hotels are $200 a night.
Next up: Getting prepared for Moscow. It’s a bit of an adventure to get a tourist visa for Russia, so I’ll detail the steps in getting one. Also, I’ll cover pre-planning of Moscow using Google Maps.
