25th of July, 2019, 2 suitcases,  equipped with 6 wheels, and filled with a supply of delicious cheese! 4 feet fitted with comfortable sport shoes…  the journey to Dalanzadgad, Mongolia can start, from Paris, 12th district.

A 30 minute walk to Gare d’Austerlitz and we hop on the night train (the first of many!) to Sisteron, Provence, just to bathe in lavender scents and enjoy a few of those long sunny summer days, before heading to the Great East.

A week later, a 3 hour flight from Marseille takes us to Moscow.

As you may have gathered, I love trains but tickets through the EU are very expensive this time of year and you need a visa to cross Belarus… so that was the exception.

I can’t recall how many times, while in Russia, I was asked : “why take a train for days when you can fly…?” , which makes perfect sense, but I just believe the journey is as interesting, if not more, than the destination. And, anyway, it was just one of those childhood dreams, so it was then or never.

As we got to Moscow in the middle of the night, and our train to Irkutsk did not leave until 1pm the next day, we had time to enjoy Dr. Jivago’s restaurant, facing the Red Square, and open 24 hours a day!

Dr. Jivago Moscow

 

A great address for eggs benedict or some very tasty “piroshkys” (I highly recommend the mushroom filled one, buy half a dozen if you are travelling by train, they are the tastiest you will find on the road!).

We stopped there on the way back too, and after a month and a half travelling through Mongolia and Russia, it was a real delight to eat a full breakfast with real coffee!

Before heading on the train, let me list of few generalities that may be helpful if you ever plan such a journey :

• There is no such train as “Transsiberian”, this term actually refers to a railway network starting in Moscow, and ending in various destinations, as you can see on the map below. The “classical” routes end either in Beijing or Vladivostok. Different trains travel on the routes, at various speeds, the fastest ones will average around 60 km/h, as there are many stops on the way!

2. Visas : most foreign visitors will need a visa for Russia, which is relatively easy to obtain by filling an online form (available in English) and providing medical insurance (most credit cards have it included in their services).

Mongolian visa is fairly easy to obtain, I got mine in 2 days at Irkutsk consular representation (Lapina Street), very efficient and no queues!

China visa is the trickiest one (long form to complete, hotel and flight bookings required, etc…), and our mistake is that we intended to apply from Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia : wrong timing as summer is the time of year when many students head to Chinese universities… so, very long queues, and barely anyone to get information from, unless your Mongolian language skills are sharp!

 

3. Train tickets : I recommend buying them directly from Russian Railways (official webiste) or Rail Russia, they both work quite well and have English versions… you can also buy them from an online travel agency, at a much higher cost of course.

In my next post I will take you onboard this truly magical ride through Russia, highlighting spots where to stretch your legs from time to time…, from lake Baikal to Dalanzadgad, going through the Republic of Buryatia, the Mongolian steppes and Gobi desert, buddhist temples near Ulan Ude, Russia, and back to Moscow…

And, of course, restaurants reviews along the way, stay tuned!