Trans-Siberian/Trans-Mongolian in a Nutshell

Sara's Top 4:

GerCamp

Listvyanka to Ekaterinburg leg
LakeBaikal

Moscow

David's Top 4:
Ger Camp

LakeBaikal

RedSqaure and the Kremlin

Watching the passing scenery from the train

Impressions:  We both loved our journey on the Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Siberian!  I had been a bit worried about the tight quarters, bathrooms, etc., but it was really comfortable (especially compared to the India trains)!  The time flew by on the train.  Between watching the scenery, reading, meeting new friends, eating, and sleeping, we were always surprised by how quickly the legs went by.  We met a few people who weren’t making very many stop.  They told us that the train got very tiring after more than two nights, which is easy to imagine!  The key for us was stopping every one to two days.  After just a few days off the train we were usually excited to get back aboard.

People: 

Mongolia – There was a huge change from the Chinese people to the Mongolians.  Although similar in stature, the Mongolians' complexions were much darker and they had the rosiest cheeks!  They reminded us very much of the Nepalese people we met while hiking to Everest Base Camp.  The Mongolians we met were soft-spoken and friendly.  They seemed to be very happy.  For such a huge country we were really surprised to learn that Mongolia only has about 3 million people (that's less than half as many as Hong Kong).

Russia – There was another huge change from Mongolia to Russia.  For the first time on our trip we were stopped multiple times and asked for directions as if we were locals.  Finally we had found ‘our people’ -- very tall and very light complexions.  We had heard about the Russians' steely eyes (e.g., Vladimir Putin), and it turns out that was the truth.  Steely eyes and few smiles masked the generosity and kindness of many of the Russians we met, especially in Siberia.    

Food: 

On the train – There was a dining car on all but one of the trains we took.  In China and Mongolia it was fairly inexpensive, so we visited quite often.  Once we got into Russia the prices went up, so we tended to find food elsewhere.  The train made stops fairly frequently, often for 15 minutes or more.  This gave us time to stretch our legs and grab some food.  There was usually fresh fruit and pierogi on the platforms.  Luckily our tickets for the longest leg of our journey -- from Lake Baikal to Ekaterinburg -- came with one hot meal each day, either lunch or dinner, which was delivered to our cabin. 

Mongolia – While we loved the people and the landscape in Mongolia, the food wasn’t our favorite.  Mutton is the staple meat, and we ate it at almost every meal while in the country.  There wasn’t much variety in the side dishes either.  We ate a combination of root vegetables with almost every meal.  Mongolian salt tea is also very distinct – a milk tea with a very salty taste.  It is an acquired taste.  

Russia – The food was excellent in Russia!  Our favorites were borsch, Beef Stroganoff, dumplings, and pierogi.  We did try some excellent Russian vodka, but it turns out that beer, especially among the younger generation, is the drink of choice.  Sparkling mineral water is the non-alcoholic drink of choice.  Everywhere we went fizzy water was served rather than still water.  We even went into several grocery stores that didn't even have still water.  Fizzy water grew on us by the end of our journey, but we sure did miss still water.      

The Things You Find on the Side of the Road

It’s funny the things you find on the side of the road.  We were driving from our ger camp back to Ulaan Baatar and saw a couple of golden eagles perched on the side of the road.  Of course I couldn’t pass up the chance to hold an eagle!

David holding a golden eagle

It may not be a cassowary, but those talons are pretty big!

A Day at the Border

Leg 2: Ulaan Baatar to Irkutsk; 1,190 km/739 miles; 34 hours and 42 minutes

This leg was a bit odd and boring!  We spent two nights on the train, but traveled a shorter distance than the first leg when we had only one night on the train.  Why?  Because we spent most of our time, just over 11 hours, going through immigration proceedings, first at the Mongolian border and then at the Russian border.  We will never take the relatively quick airport immigration process for granted again.

We boarded the train at 8:00 p.m. with food in hand because we knew that the train wouldn't have a dining car.  After a bite to eat and a fun evening talking with our Belgian cabinmates, we made up our beds and slept.  At about 5:30 a.m. the train arrived at the Mongolian border.  Our provodnitsa (train attendant) woke us up before 7:00 a.m. to get our passports ready for the immigration officials.  Unfortunately, because we were at a station the bathrooms were locked, which meant no morning bathroom or teeth-brushing breaks.  Needless to say we were all really excited to get off the train and use the station bathroom once the paperwork was complete!

Side note: I was completely naive to the fact that train bathrooms empty directly onto the ground, which is why they are locked while in the station -- I learned this on our first overnight train in Thailand, but it still surprises me and grosses me out a little every time.  A friend pointed out that the track is covered in a lot of flowers because it is so well fertilized -- the silver lining :)

Just because the paperwork was finished did not mean that the waiting was finished.  We spent about four hours total at the Mongolia border.  Then we had our first daylight train travel for about 30 minutes until we reached the Russian side of the border.  It went something like this: welcome to Russia, give us your passport, and please wait six hours!  We had plenty of time to find a market, to buy some Russian bread, cheese, and tomatoes, and to meet several other travelers also waiting at immigration.  We met several people traveling the Trans-Siberian in the opposite direction from us, so we were able to tell them how wonderful Mongolia was and they told us equally wonderful things about Russia.  Finally we were on our way!

The border stop in Russia - we spent about six hours here!

The view down our carriage from just outside our cabin.  It was a very comfortable train!

Looking back across Siberia toward Mongolia from the rear window of our train

~Sara

Goodbye Mongolia!

With our Mongolian tour guide Toogii just before getting on the Ulaan Baatar to Irkutsk train

Toogii was fantastic and helped us see what an amazing country Mongolia is.  He spent last summer in Keene, NH - a fun connection!  We hope he comes back to visit the States again soon (and gets a Braves shirt this time).

Ger Camp on the Mongolian Steppe

The Mongolian steppe with our ger camp in the background

On the Mongolian steppe you feel like you can see forever!

We spent a couple of nights out on the steppe in a ger.  Ger are the traditional round tents that Mongolian nomads live in as they herd livestock across the grassland.  Did I mention that there are 41 million head of livestock in Mongolia versus only 3 million people?  The horse-to-human ration is 13 to 1!

Outside our ger

Inside our ger

 It was such a cool experience.  We were up until midnight playing games with sheep anklebones against local Mongolians – very fun, once you get past the animal bones!  We’re hoping to bring some home with us if we can get sheep bones past Russian customs!

Playing with anklebones!

During the day we took long walks, tried our hand at Mongolian archery, and even threw around a baseball and football that one of the guides brought back from the U.S. last summer.  The highlight was a horseback ride from our camp to a Genghis Khan memorial about 5 miles away.  Mongolian horses are half-wild, but mine was particularly crazy, and had to be on a short leash the entire time!  The memorial is only a few years old and is absolutely huge.  We had some great views from the top.

Riding Mongolian horses out on the steppe

In front of the Genghis Khan memorial

-David

Catching a Great Show in Ulaan Baatar

After the great shows we saw in China in Yangshuo and Beijing we didn’t expect to be too impressed by the traditional Mongolian song and dance show we saw our night in UB.  Boy were we wrong!  More than 30 amazing dancers, the national orchestra, a contortionist, and some amazing singers kept us literally on the edge of our seats.  Throat singing (a guttural/nasal type of singing), long songs (traditional folk songs), and the horse hair fiddle are all unique to Mongolia and were showcased.  We bought a CD to remember the amazing music, and we will be excited to share the sounds of Mongolia when we get home!

National Drama Theatre in Ulaan Baatar

Ulaan Baatar

Overlooking Ulaan Baatar from the Zaisan Memorial honoring Soviet soldiers killed in World War II

 
We had an afternoon and evening in Ulaan Baatar (called UB by most Mongolians) before heading out to a ger camp outside of the city. 

Although it isn’t the prettiest city we have been to, it was well worth a visit.  The themes of the town: Genghis Khan (pronounced Chingis Khan in Mongolia) and Mongolian BBQ.  We spent time enjoying both – nice statues of Ghengis Khan in the main square in town and a delicious Mongolian BBQ dinner.

Gandan Monastery in Ulaan Baatar

Ghengis Khan statue at the Mongolian parliament building on Sukhbaatar Square

Beautiful wedding couple and their family in Sukhbaatar Square

All Aboard!

Leg 1: Beijing to Ulaan Baatar; 1,356 km/843 miles; 29 hours, 15 minutes



Arriving at Beijing Railway Station



Our train, the Trans-Mongolian

The trip from Beijing to Ulaan Baatar flew by!  As soon as we hopped on our car and found our cabin we knew that we were in for a treat.  After our Indian train experiences, this was 5-star luxury! 

Sara relaxes in our cabin

We shared our 4-berth cabin with only one other traveler, a Swiss girl who is staying in Mongolia for a couple of weeks.  We passed the time chatting, looking at the ever-changing countryside from our huge picture window, reading, and hanging out in the dining car.

Lunch in the dining car with fellow travellers Ginette and Anita

It was amazing how quickly the scenery changed from the green mountains north of Beijing, through the arid Gobi Desert, and finally into the rolling grasslands of the Mongolian steppe.  Once we reached the Mongolian border, I think that we saw more horses than trees from the train window!

Mountains of China, north of Beijing, passing by our window

The Gobi Desert in China before reaching the Mongolian border

The train left the station at 8:05 a.m. on Saturday and arrived at 1:20 p.m. on Sunday.  Late Saturday evening we reached the China-Mongolia border.  The border crossing took five hours!  Not only did customs officials check passports and search the train from end to end, but the train actually disappeared from the platform for over an hour so that the railroad could change all of the wheels (bogies).  China uses a standard-gauge track, whereas Russia and Mongolia use a wider gauge.  Apparently the Russians decided to use a wider gauge to make foreign invasion more difficult!

In front of our train as we wait to cross the China-Mongolia border

We were having so much fun on the train that we were a little sad to see the outskirts of Ulaan Baatar appear on the horizon.  It’s okay though, because we have four more legs to go on our way to St. Petersburg.

The outskirts of Ulaan Baatar outside our window