 |
|
Practical
Advices for Trans-Siberian Travelers
content:
train specifics - tips & safety - hop off / hop on secrets
Trans-Siberian
Train Specifics:
Types of Trains: There are 3 classes of trains in Russia:
1st class – 2-berth compartment, either one berth over the
other berth placement, or one berth opposite the other one (this
is called "spalny vagon" or "sleeping compartment");
2nd class – 4-berth compartment (there's quite plenty of
space, comparing to European trains, it's called "coupe"
in Russian); 3rd class – no compartments, just many berths
in a car ("platzcart").
There are no 3rd class carriages in the trains which are going
along the routes: Moscow - Vladivostok, Moscow - Ulan-Bataar,
and Moscow - Beijing, so if you want the 3rd class train, you
can only take trains that go between Russian cities. Note, it's
hard to buy the 1st class ticket in the summer (most of the tickets
are reserved for travel agencies and Chinese embassy).
Luggage: There is plenty of space to keep your
luggage in the compartment, either in an overhead luggage storage
area, or under a bed. We advise you to keep it under your bed,
then if somebody wants to steal your stuff he'll have to get you
out of the bed to take your luggage. It's your right to have luggage
under your bed: if it's already filled you can ask people to clean
it up a bit or call a conductor.
In the trains that circulate between Russia and China (#3, #4,
#19, #20), there are many sellers traveling, and they always have
a lot of bulky bags. So, if you're taking such a train, we advise
you to get there at least 1 hour before departure, so you can
get your space.
Toilets & Showers: There are two toilets
at each end of each carriage with a WC and a sink. In better trains
the toilets are quite clean, but most of the
|
A standard train toilet |
time they are quite dirty. So, it's better to have cleaning materials
(such as face wipes, etc.) with you.
There are no showers (showers are provided in every compartment
only in the 1st class, train #3 and #4, and in a separate carriage
in some trains for extra payment - about 30 R ($1)).
The compartments are being regularly washed, and vacuum-cleaned,
so they tend to be tidy (but that is on "good" trains
only - see Trains section).
Food in Trains: There are always restaurants
in Russian trains, but the quality of the food and high prices
keep people away. However, almost on every station local people
sell inexpensive and nice home-made food, so you won't be hungry.
Maybe it only worths taking some specific things, like muesli
and milk for breakfast.
Also, a conductor sells some snacks and drinks for not expensive.
Money: Payments on board of the train are made
in local currency only. Normally, you may be able to change US
dollars in the train (conductor will do it or will find a dealer
for you), but the rates are very low. So, it's better to have
some local currency (Russia - roubles, China - yuans, Mongolia
- tugriks) and the whole sum in US dollars. Dollars are very easy
to exchange in Russia, Mongolia or China.
Tips
& Safety:
Basically trains in Russia are more secure than the streets of
the cities. There are few people around and they have no chance
to disappear. Just behave yourself normal (unless you're after
some adventures) and it'll be ok. There are militsioners (policemen)
at most of the trains. So if you have problems ask conductor to
call them. If there are no policemen on the train, they will enter
on the next station. If it's the conductor who pisses you off,
go to the train-master ("na`chalnik `poezda"), he's
usually in his compartment, carriage #0.
•
It's a long way and it might be boring sometimes. The journey
from Moscow to Beijing lasts for 6 days. Of course there's a beautiful
view from the window sometimes, but there will be moments when
you might be very bored. Your compartment mates might save you
with vodka and zakuska, but also try to be prepared: take a book,
something to write, music or something else to have things to
do.
Probably, the best remedy against the boredom is to hop off along
the way.
• Be careful hopping off and on. The trains along
Trans Siberian stop only for 5 to 20 minutes. If you decide to
go outside, be careful: you may hear the hiss and the train might
start leaving. They say they don't wait for passengers.
• Food and water. There’s a restaurant in the
train, which serves more or less good food at usually high prices
for the quality it is.
|
Women selling food outside the train |
Russian people usually bring with them some food, and buy some
at the stops. What they traditionally bring is hard-boiled eggs,
salted cucumbers, bread, dried cakes such as ‘Suckaris’,
and sausage ‘colbasa’. On the stops they buy boiled
potatoes, more eggs, cakes, beer, vodka, dried noodles, fresh or
salted fish, and fresh vegetables such as home grown tomatoes, cucumbers.
Many old Babushkas living in the cities where the Trans-siberian
train stops prepare fresh food before each halt. It’s a nice
business for them, and what they prepare is often very tasty. For
example they make all kind of ‘Pirozhki’ e.g. cakes
filled in with cottage cheese or meat, or vegetables, or fish.
Tea is a traditional Trans-Siberian train beverage. There is a
special cup, specific for the train: a glass slipped inside a
metallic holder with a hand. One can ask a tea to the provodnik,
who will fill up this special cup with hot water and drop inside
a tea bag. The nice thing is to ask for the tea once and then
to keep the cup and drink your own tea inside it. The hot water
provided in the train is free, and as it is boiling it shouldn’t
be dangerous to drink it.
The food that is sold on the stations by locals is just great,
delicious, and very cheap. You can buy everything: from a bottle
of beer or water to home made potatoes, chicken breast, or smoked
fish from Baikal lake. So, it's not necessary to stock any food
with you, maybe only some things you won't find along the way,
like muesli and milk. In the Trans-Siberian
Route section of this
|
Trans - Siberian train tea boiler |
guide, we list the stations, where you
can find the best food on the Trans Siberian.
Usually, a meal bought from people outside costs about 30-50R
($1-$2).
Every Trans-Siberian train has a special tea-boiler, that works
on fire! It is a very nice thing, and you can have hot water for
free, or make yourself some tea (teabags can be bought from conductor
very cheap).
Also, conductor usually sells some snacks (chips, chocolate bars)
and soft drinks (water, cola, beers).
• Hygiene: If you take a second class place, you'll
have no shower. It means that in 6-day travel from Moscow to Beijing
(or from Beijing to Moscow) you'll have no chance to wash yourself.
There are toilettes (with sinks) at every car.
We recommend you to take some soft wet "baby's" pads
with you (sold in any pharmacy), and liquid soap. The toilet and
bathroom in the train is likely to be not clean, so you will need
things like this to wash yourself.
The towels are given with bedsheets.
• Take a personal first aid set with you. There's
only one in the train, the train-master has it (his compartment
is usually in the #0 carriage just after the conductor's one).
Doctors are available only at the stations.
• Do not drink much alcohol and keep an eye on what are
you drinking. I saw on some messageboards people saying how
much they liked to drink traditional Russian drinks - vodka, for
instance - while traveling in Trans-Siberian train. Well, be careful,
the vodka might be not good quality and robbers like to put a
soporific (to make you sleep) in tea or vodka or something.
• Russian and Chinese dealers on the train. These
trains are popular among Russian and Chinese dealers. They take
all their commodities (cheap clothes, food etc.) and pack the
trucks with it. So during short stops in Russian towns the stations
seem more like markets. The only way not to ride with them is
to take the 1st class.
• Do not keep your money in one place. And read money
safety tips at Practicalities
/ Money section. Keep most of your money, documents and your
tickets always with you. It's more secure and in a case you will
be left behind by the train you'll be able to do something about
it.
There are ATMs and banks to cash travelers' cheques in the big
Russian cities along the way, but there are problems with ATMs
and banks in Mongolia, so be careful.
• Keep your luggage under your bed. If you have a
bed on top, it's better to keep luggage at the overhead storage
area, and fasten it with a chain or a rope to any metal construction
(there are plenty of them and 1 meter rope is enough), so robbers
can not steal it fast and silently in the night.
• If there are any serious problems cry: "Pozhar!"
(Fire!), so that most of the people will come to you for the sake
of saving their own life.
• Always tell the truth to the customs officers about
the amount of cash you have (if you have more then you are allowed,
you will just give some to the officer and no problems, but if
they find more then you have told, they can even take you off
of the train). So again, if you have lots of money, it's better
to carry them on a credit card or in travelers' cheques, that
way there'll be less problems. But remember, it's hard to find
ATMs in Mongolia.
Hop
On / Hop Off the Train:
Really, the best way to travel along the Trans-Siberian, is to
hop off the train a few times. In the Introduction
section we list the places (in Russia) we think it is interesting
to visit.
However, there's one little problem. Standard train tickets in
Russia (including the Trans-Siberian) are not open — you
will have a specific date and train that you should travel. So,
if you would like to hop off along the way, you will have to either
plan everything beforehand, or buy tickets as you go. But there's
a danger (especially during high season) that there won't be any
tickets left.
There is a way around it: some agencies (including the one that
proposes services on our site - Services
/ Train Tickets) sell a special kind of train tickets, which
allow you to hop off any place along a certain route. And then,
after reserving another part of the journey, hop on the next train
(and so on, as many times as you wish).
To illustrate, say, you want to go from Moscow to Beijing, and
you know you want to stop in Novosibirsk for sure, but then, you
don't know for how long you want to stop there, or if you will
stop anywhere else afterwards. Then you book the whole journey
Moscow - Beijing, and also claim you will stop in Novosibirsk
for sure, but then want to be free about how long you'll spend
there, and about your next train, and about where you will stop
next. You will buy the ticket Moscow - Beijing, with the route
Moscow - Novosibirsk paid completely, the rest of the route (Novosibirsk
- Beijing) will be paid half price. When you stop in Novosibirsk,
and spend enough time there, you will need to come to the railway
station, show them your ticket (with Novosibirsk - Beijing paid
half price), and tell them you want to take a specific train going
on a specific date from Novosibirsk to a certain destination (Irkutsk,
for example). You will need to pay extra on top of your ticket
(in this case, about $30), and will have another part of your
ticket paid completely (the part Novosibirsk - Irkutsk, that is).
After you arrive to Irkutsk, you enjoy there, and when you are
sure about your plans, go to the railway station again, and buy
the other part of the route. Finally, when you reach Beijing,
you will have used your ticket. Before you reach the final destination,
always keep all tickets you bought with you — don't throw
them out.
Again, you can get this type of tickets through agencies only
(not at a railway station), and the agency we work with can provide
you these tickets (we used their services ourselves Summer 2002
and were very satisfied).
To book your ticket, you can go to Services
/ Train Tickets.
Your
Comments & Questions:
If
you have something to say (or ask) and you want it to be posted
on this page, please, leave your message below. We will put on
this page the most interesting comments and questions.
You can also leave a message in the Trans-Siberian section of
our Talk Lounge forum.
Question (posted 14/03/03): "hello
I would like to know the price for a transsibàrian train
ticket in july for exemple for a young person that is to say 20
,from moscow to irkuskt. And if that was possible too the price
of a return by plane between Irkuskt and moscow?
Thank you very much if you can answer to this message before tonight.Anyway
thank you."
Answer: A ticket from Moscow to Irkutsk should
cost about $130 US (2nd class, coupe). There are no discounts
for young people. I really don't know how much the price will
be in July, but it shouldn't be more than 10%. A plane ticket
is about $130 one way as well.
Question (posted 2/04/03): "my question is. I wouild
like to know if it would be possible to make stop offs at various
destinations from Moscow to bejing. would i have to make it clear
my stop offs beforehand, is there anything like an open ticket?"
Answer: Yes, it is possible. You have two options:
(1) Buy all tickets by yourself in every new city you stop. This
may involve queues and waiting (the tickets will most likely not
be available for the same or next day.
(2) Book an "open ticket" through a travel agency. With
this ticket you need to come in every new city, confirm your place,
and pay a fee, which is normally less than the ticket price. In
this case you have priority and there's more chances. See Services
/ Train Tickets to reserve a Trans-Siberian tickets.
Question (16/01/04): "Hello,
I want to go to mongolia by motorbike (small one, old mz).
Is it possible to use the transsiberian for some hundred kilometres
to transport me AND the motorbike? If so, what would it cost
(let`s say Kazan' Novosibirsk?"
Answer: This may be possible, but only with a post train. In
any case, it will be hard to arrange it in a "proper" way, and
you will need to talk directly to the railroad officials and
ask them for a favor maybe.
One good idea could be to directly to the director of the railway
station you're taking the train from ("nachalnik vokzala" in
Russian) and ask him how it would be possible to put your bike
on the train and how much it would cost. I think it is realistic
to have it travel with you for something like twice the price
of your own ticket.
Question (20/01/04): "hi!I?m thinking about travelling alone
in transiberian this coming summer.is it very dangerous?
thanks!!"
Answer: It's not dangerous, not at all. I travel
there every summer, and never ever had a slightest problem!
Question (5/02/04): "I am looking to travel from Moscow and
finish in Hong Kong. How much should I expect to pay for such
a ticket, and how long would it take?
Secondly, are there power points in the cabins?"
Answer: I think it's going to cost you not less
than $350 US for one way Moscow - Beijing, and then Beijing
- Hong-Kong would be about $200.
|
|
