Me getting comfortable in second class!

Already I’ve done 2 nights from China to Mongolia, 2 nights from China to Irkutsk, 3 nights from Irkutsk to Omsk and I’m just about half way to Moscow. It’s been an awesome trip, and I’ve really fulfilled one of my backpacking dreams, but I wish I had thought about the stuff I should have brought on each journey! Here are 5 things every traveler should bring on the Trans Siberian with them:

A plug adapter for Europe:

Russian plugs are the same as most of Europe (the circular indented gap with 2 round pins), so all their plug sockets require adapters. You’re probably gonna be the only foreigner on the train, especially if you travel third class, so if you forget yours you’re screwed! And there’s no chance of buying them en route.

A multi-tap adapter:

There are only 3 or 4 sockets per carriage, and each carriage holds between 40 and 100 people, you don’t have to be a mathemagician to work out that those figures don’t work in your favour. Bring an adapter to make one socket into 2 or 3 and you’ll be everyone’s new best friend.

Water and food:

Pretty obvious right? Apparently not, I’m sitting on the train, like an idiot, now without any of the above. The train does have a food cart but it’s nearly $2 per bottle of water, and up to $10 for food so if you’re on the standard $30 a day budget, the dining cart is not for you. Instant noodles are a great addition, you get free hot water at the end of every carriage.

A Russian phrase book:

Russian’s don’t speak English, really. If you’ve been to Japan, China, Pakistan and think that you’ve had extreme language barriers, Russia beats those hands down. Even numbers are beyond Russians, and this is no criticism, it’s there country and they shouldn’t have to speak English, so bring a phrase book and build a bridge, no doubt you’ll be drowning in complementary vodka for making the effort!

Books:

There’s only so much of Siberia you can see until you begin to get bored, even if you squeeze 4 or 5 hours out of the landscape, you’ve still got days and days of it ahead. Bring at least 2 books, you’ll be doing a lot of reading.

Battery packs:

An Irish buddy of mine packed this in China, before that I had no idea about it. It’s the size of an external hard drive and charges your laptop, iPhone, dslr etc. I’ve never had one but I’ll be looking into it as soon as I make it to a major city.

Toothbrush, deodorant, shorts, flip-flops:

I’m sure you’ll have all of these packed in your backpack anyway, but I’m including it here because you’ll want to move all of this stuff into your daypack. There’s so little space that accessing your big bag regularly is a nightmare, so have everything you need in your smaller bag. It gets hot as hall on the train too, so flip-flops and shorts are the way to go.

A bottle of Vodka:

It’s the Trans Siberian, you can’t board it without some Vodka surely, right?! Buying it in a shop for around $6 a litre as opposed to $15 on the train is sound economics too! Also, if you’re in the third class, it can smart smelling a little funky after the third day or so, a night cap to help you sleep might be very well appreciated by you and your buddies!

For me, the Trans Siberian has lived up to every expectation I had. The second class compartments (4 people cabins with doors) were nicer than I expected and the third class areas (sections of 6 beds, with an open corridor running throughout) were a little dingier than I expected, but still very manageable and my transport of choice (being 35% of the price of the 2^nd class!). Russians are a lot friendlier than their stereotypes suggest, and I can’t wait to make it to Moscow and see the Red Square, after everything I’ve seen so far, I’m sure it’s gonna blow my mind. Happy travels!

Things to Bring On the Trans Siberian Train with You is a post from: onestep4ward.com

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1. How to Buy Your Trans Siberian Train Tickets in Beijing, China
2. The Trans Mongolian Train Beijing to Ulaan Baatar: My experience
3. What Visas You Need to Get in Advance to Take the Trans Siberian Railway

Me about to board the first leg of the trans siberian train, so excited!

Being the budget backpacker that I am, I bought the cheapest, 3^rd class tickets for the 30 hour train from Beijing to Ulaan Baatar (1430RMB/$230). I managed to rope two buddies into the trip too so lucky we filled up 3 beds out of the 4 bed cabin. The ticket lady kindly informed us that it’s low season at the moment so there’ll be no one else in our cabin, we’ll have the 4^th spot free. Great news.

I haven’t been this excited about a trip since I went to North Korea. I’ve dreamt about this trip for so long and finally it’s a reality, it feels like I’m really traveling again.

We got to Beijing railway station around 7.30am for the 8.05am departure, as I went through the gate I saw my train – an old school throw back train from the communist era, perfect! We were shown our cabin by our carriage’s conductor, bags thrown in, hearts pumping, it turns out not only do we have the cabin to ourselves we had the entire carriage to ourselves!

Sunset on the Gobi Dessert

One piece of advice I’d have for anyone jumping on this journey is to brings plenty of supplies – water, fruit, chips, biscuits, noodles, bring it all! I brought half a packet of Oreos and a bottle of water, not quite sufficient for a 30 hour journey, schoolboy error johnnyboy! You do get a couple of opportunities every 6 hours or so to try to jump off at a station and buy some food before the train sets off again, you just gotta be quick.

The 3^rd class cabin itself is great, comfortable, spacious and it comes complete with sheets, pillows and blankets. I guess it’s the equivalent to a Chinese soft sleeper (LINK). It’s got a western toilet at one end of the carriage and a hot water dispenser on the other, no showers though. It’s even got a couple of power sockets too, so travel blogging just got a lot easier.

The dining cart, dishes cost around $3, beers about $2

We pulled up to Erlian, the Chinese town on the Mongolian border around 8.30pm, the borders guards take our passports and tell us to get off the train. We have to linger around Erlian until 11.30pm but it gave us a chance to resupply for the second half of the journey. After we reboarded, you move forward for 5 minutes and then wait on the Mongolian side, stuck in the train, for another 2 hours. The Mongolian border guards come into the cabin, stamp us in, and finally 5 hours after pulling into Erlian we finally set off again.

The Gobi Dessert in Mongolia

The reason you have to wait so long at the border is because the Mongolian railway line and the Chinese railway lines are 6 inches different widths, so they have to change the wheels on the train, the only border crossing in the world they do that.

Waking up after a night on the trans siberian to ulaan baatar

Anyway, we carry on through the night – straight through the third biggest dessert in the world, the Gobi Desert. Morning comes, I wake up around 10am – yep, still in the desert. A couple more hours through the barren, yet beautiful, landscape and we finally arrive in Ulaan Baatar. 30 hours in heartbeat. Step one of my Trans Siberian journey complete, and what an awesome train ride it was too.

The Trans Mongolian Train Beijing to Ulaan Baatar: My experience is a post from: onestep4ward.com

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Me fighting with some statues in Xi'an (I won)

Terracotta Army:

8^th Wonder of the World and all that jazz, the Terracotta Army is one of China’s most famous sights. The site is located about 30km from the city centre, you can easily jump on a bus or take a more expensive tour there for the day.

The warriors are a life sized and individually made, with distinct facial expressions and distinct appearances for each and every one, amazing. What’s more amazing was that they were only found about 30 years ago, by 3 local farmers digging a well!

Tickets are 150RMB($24), half price for students

Xi’an City Walls:

I know this doesn’t sounds very exciting, but Xi’an’s city walls really are quite special. They are the oldest city walls in the whole world, over 12m tall and at points over 18m wide, and almost 15km long – wow! You can cycle or walk around the entire thing, and once a year they run marathons on the thing.

Tickets are 40RMB ($6), half price for students.

Huashan Mountain:

2 hours outside of Xi’an, is one of China’s most sacred mountains. Think misty, ancient, awesome Chinese mountain and you’ll be on the right track,  you can climb the insanely steep stairs while clinging on to the chain railings to make sure you don’t plummet to your death!

If you take the cable car up, you can climb around the four peaks in about 3-4 hours. Cable car is 80RMB/150RMB($23) round trip and is located at the east gate and goes directly to the north peak. If you want to walk up you have to go to the Yu Quan Yuan entrance but be prepared for a long hike!

Big Wild Goose Pagoda:

The name alone should get you to visit this place, but if that’s not enough then visiting what is recognised as Xi’an’s 1400 year-old icon should provide you with enough photo opps to last a lifetime. They run daily light, water and music shows in the fountain in front of the pagoda.

Tickets are 50RMB($8) to get into the grounds and another 40RMB to enter the pagoda.

Grand Mosque:

The first, and therefore, oldest Mosque in all of China. It’s slap ban in the middle of the Muslim district, and blends Chinese and Islamic architecture beautifully. Non-Muslims can’t get into the centre of the actual mosque but you can walk the majority of the complex. Woman need to dress conservatively. Cover those heads ladies. 3

Tickers are 25RMB($4)

5 cracking things to see in a very livable city, this is China at it’s best. Happy travels!

Top 5 Things to See in Xian is a post from: onestep4ward.com

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CCTV Building:

The headquarters for China Central Television, this 44 story badboy was finished in 2008. It was given it’s nickname by a taxi driver when he first pulled up to it, he called it ‘big boxer shorts’ and it’s stuck ever since. It’s found in the Chaoyang district ,just north-east of Guomao station along the Third Ring Road, you can see it from all around the city so it shouldn’t be too tough to find!

The Bird’s Nest Stadium:

Made for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Bird’s Nest is the world’s largest steel structure and maybe the coolest stadium in the world?! I was lucky enough to be here in 2008, I watched Usain Bolt smash the 200m world record, great experience! The stadium isn’t actually used for sports anymore, more of a shopping complex but you can still enter the Bird’s Nest stadium for 50RMB ($8). Take the subway to Olympic green.

Me being an idiot at the stadium

National Centre for Performing Arts:

Walking distance from Tiananmen Square (get out at Tiananmen West subway stop), in the Xicheng district, the new Performing arts centre is home to Beijing’s most famous concerts and operas. It was finished in 2007, holds almost 6,000 people and has a moat running the whole way around. Really spectacular. 

The Water Cube:

The national aquatics centre made headlines all around the world during the 2008 olympics with it’s colour changing walls. Nowadays, they still light the cube every night, until 9pm. Tickets are 30RMB ($5). This is next to the Bird’s Nest Stadium so you can see them both in one journey.

4 Awesome Modern Buildings to See in Beijing is a post from: onestep4ward.com

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It took quite a lot of work, and a fair chunk of cash, to get all my papers in order to take the train so I thought I’d just share with you the visas you need to get in advance before you embark on a similar journey.

Visas you NEED before you take the Trans Siberian train:

China: Getting a Chinese visa is a constantly changing environment and the difficulty level is directly correlated to the current political situation within the country (read: Tibet). That being said, I got my Chinese visa in Bangkok  a couple of months ago without too much stress however I hear the rules have changed again.

Currently you can get a Chinese visa in almost every foreign country, whether you’re a resident there or not. You need a print out of a flight into China and an onward ticket showing you leaving China. You also need 3 days hostels booked when you arrive.

If you have all this, a single entry 30 day Chinese visa costs around $40 for most nationalities. Citizens of the US half to pay around $120.

You can pay more for express visas (same day or next day), normal time frame is 4 working days.

Mongolia: Not difficult at all. You can apply in any foreign country, all you need is your passport, an application form and a passport photo.  Visa costs around $40 and, if you’re nice, is available the same day. Failing that, 3 working days.

Russia: An absolute nightmare! Strictly speaking you must apply in your country of residence which means you may have to post/fed-ex your passport home. I had to do that, back to Ireland, then process the visa, then fed-ex it back here. My American friend had to do the same. There are rumours that it can be applied for, as a tourist,  in Hong Kong and Jakarta, Indonesia but it’s a gamble.

Depending on your nationality you need a letter of invitation, a sponsor letter, medical insurance, 3 months recent bank statements, a passport photo and confirmed dates. You can get a 30 day single or double entry.

With all my fed-ex charges, and the actual visa fee ($140), I spent almost $300 and took 20 days to get my Russian visa – hard work, but certainly worth it.

Visas you might want to add in to make the trip even more awesome:

Kazakhstan:

After all the hard work for the Russian visa, I got a double-entry, allowing me to visit another country so I thought I’d pop into Kazakhstan. The visa take 5 working days, costs $40 and requires a passport photo, a written letter explaining your intentions, and an application form.

You can apply in any foreign country, I got my Kazakhstani visa in Bangkok no stress at all.

Belarus:

If you’re going from Beijing to Moscow then Belarus would be a great country to visit at the far end. One of the only countries in the continent that require a visa, if you want a look at how the former Soviet Union looked, then this is your chance. And because of the visa, you’re likely to be one of only a handful of tourists.

The visa isn’t difficult to get, but it is difficult to find a country with a Belarusian embassy, certainly in Asia and South America. Make your way there and apply next door, in Lithuania. $40 USD.

3 visas minimum, 5 if you want to make your trip different from most others. It takes the best part of a month to organize all these visas so base yourself somewhere awesome while you organize it (I did mine from Bangkok, Thailand although doing from home would be easiest). It’s not cheap, and it’s not easy but the trip that it allows you to do is a once in a lifetime chance. Happy travels!

What Visas You Need to Get in Advance to Take the Trans Siberian Railway is a post from: onestep4ward.com

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Hard seat:

The cheapest class of seat. No recline available but not as ‘hard’ as the name suggests, 5 seats across each row (3 on one side, then an aisle, 2 on the other). It’s quite cramped and loud. The lights don’t go off during the night and in winter it’s quite chilling, summer it’s quite hot due to the lack of air-con or heaters. It’s considerable cheaper than the other classes and it’s fine for most people for any journey less than 8 hours or so. For the hardier amongst us, a night on this is fine too, just don’t expect much sleep. Don’t worry, it’s not just a bench, it’s got a little bit of cushion lining it.

($X)

chinese hard seat

Soft seat:

The equivalent of a long-distance bus seat, complete with reclining ability and soft upholstery. This is pretty comfortable and you could easily spend a long journey on the seat. Air-con pumps in the summer and heaters in the winter.

However the soft seat is similarly priced (70%) to the hard sleeper which, for me, makes this choice redundant, unless there is nothing left. These do sell out fast though so book early.

($2X)

Hard Sleeper:

My class of choice but sells out fast. The hard sleeper is like a dorm room in a train, with a narrow corridor running down the side of the carriage. Then there are 3 beds lined up from bottom bunk, middle bunk and top bunk. The bottom is slightly more expensive than the middle which is slightly more expensive than the top, although only by a dew dollars.

The hard sleeper is open, and often there’s a lot of talking, smoking and drinking going on. The actual bed is fine though, with a pillow and blanket and while it won’t win any comfort awards, it’s certainly possible to get a decent nights sleep on this.

($3X) 

Soft Sleeper:

The most expensive by a distance. Almost a real bed, in 2 or 4 bed cabins which can close off from the rest of the train. There are 2 beds on each wall, instead of 3 and often a table and chairs in the room too. This often runs a similar cost to a domestic flight though.

($5X)

Chinese trains always sell out early so book as early as possible. If you want a sleeper then you need to book a couple of days in advance, turning up on the same day you’ll find it very difficult to get a sleeper, and you’ll be stuck on a hard seat (like I have many of times!). Happy travels!

What’s the difference between a hard sleeper and a soft sleeper on Chinese trains? is a post from: onestep4ward.com

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Xi’an is a really cool city, one in which I’m currently considering living and studying Chinese in actually (that’s another story!), but initially the sole reason I came here was to finally see the Terracotta Warriors, something I’ve wanted to see since I was a little kid.

There are so many places to stay, you can check hotels.com discount codes, look at your guide book or get walking and find somewhere yourself. I found a hotel, sorted out a tour to the warriors the next day and I was off. The tour cost me 250RMB ($40), so it certainly wasn’t cheap, although you can do it much cheaper so read on.

The Terracotta Warriors were only discovered in 1974, when 3 farmers were digging a well! Now those 3 guys take it in turns to sit at the entrance and have their photo taken.  The story behind the army is that basically, the Terracotta army was built for Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, in 210BC so when he died, he was buried with the army to protect him in his afterlife.

Now the Army is housed in 3 huge vaults, showing 8,000 lifesize warriors all with individual faces and expressions, 300,000 weapons, 100 chariots etc. The actual site disappointed me a little actually, I think I was too excited about seeing something I dreamt about for years, I was left a little underwhelmed. That being said, it’s still awesome but temper your expectations a little so you’re not left disenchanted.

Also guys, don’t go on a tour (like me). Take the bus 306 from the city, the Terracotta army is the last stop., 30km from the city It only costs around 10RMB ($1.60), and then the ticket is 150RMB($24) or 75RMB ($12) for students. Or you can share a taxi for 120RMB. If you’re smart about your money, places like Xi’an can be so cheap, with good bartering skills,  deals on hotels.com voucher codes, street food, and local transport, China doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to travel around. Enjoy and happy travels!

Seeing The Terracotta Warriors in Xi’an, China is a post from: onestep4ward.com

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I thought I’d give an idea about how much it costs to travel in China on a daily basis, and from there calculate an approximate monthly budget that you can feasibly stick to:

Accommodation:

China is home to the best hostels in the world, I’ll be sad to leave them behind. Most places with any tourist attractions will have a plethora of hostels to stay in, generally speaking a dorm bed costs around 25-50 RMB ($4-$8), with private twin/doubles costing around 100 RMB ($15).

If there are no hostels (rare), you can always stay in a chain hotel like Super 8 or 7 Days Inn for around 140 RMB ($20) for a twin room.

Average daily spend on accommodation: 40 RMB ($8)

Chinese hostels are the best in the world!

Food:

Chinese food isn’t quite what we get fed in the west, and it’s certainly not the same prices! A meal on the street runs around 8RMB ($1.30). A meal in a locals restaurant will cost around 15-30RMB ($2.50-$5). Obviously if you wanna eat western food or high end dining, you can pay a fortune but that’s not for backpackers, so steer clear!

Average daily spend for 2 or 3 meals: 30 RMB ($5)

Chinese street food is so cheap, portion of dumplings? $0.80!

Sights and activities:

This is where things can get a little pricey. The Chinese have a lot of very awesome things to see, and they don’t half know it. An amazing national park or a famous sight can cost around 200RMB ($30) for a ticket, but naturally that’s not an everyday event. If you can squeeze a couple of these a week in, you’ll be doing well.

Smaller temples, activities and sights etc and much more reasonable priced and cost around 10RMB ( $1.60).

Average daily spend for sights*: 70RMB ($11)

Calculated at 2 major sights per week, plus a minor sight per day 

The Summer Palace, Beijing

Transport:

China is a huge country but the transport links are good, and if you’re willing to rough it, they can be quite cheap. A 10 hour bus will run around 65 RMB ($10), whereas a 10 hour train will run at 50RMB ($8) for a hard seat or 120RMB ($20) for a hard sleeper. So if you’re tightening your budget, use a train and take the seat!

Local transport within a city or area costs 2RMB ($0.30) per subway ride, or 1RMB ($0.15) per bus ride. Once you get your head around the transport system, it can work out very cheap indeed.

Average daily spend on transport*: 25RMB ($4)

Calculated at a 10 hour bus every other day

Train from Beijing to Harbin

TOTAL DAILY BUDGET FOR CHINA: $28 per day + $5 wiggle room

So for around $900 per month you can take China by storm. Remember, if you wanna stick to a budget like this you always have to consider what you’re buying, is the extra comfort worth the extra money? Should you eat on the street? Do you wanna hold a panda for an extra $200? China is still a cheap country to travel in, so get here soon before they take over the world. Happy travels!

How much does it cost to travel in China? is a post from: onestep4ward.com

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Lama Temple:

This place is tailor made for speedtourism. In all probability, you’ll be in and out within an hour. The Lama Temple, or Temple of Peace, is a Tibetan Buddhist temple with Tibetan Buddhist monks still in residency here. It’s claim to fame is the 18m statue of Maitreya Buddha carved from a single piece of sandalwood, although pics throughout the Lama Temple are frowned upon, that being said, they are a few places where it’s acceptable. Subway lines 2 and 5 can take you to Yonghegong Lama Temple subway station. 25RMB ($4) to enter the temple.

Temple of Heaven:

If Beijing’ chaos is weighing you down, or you’re fed up with touts selling you tickets to the Great Wall, then follow my lead and escape from the madness at the Temple of Heaven. The temple itself is an awesome sight, you need to get into the inner compound for the best pics. Around the temple though are loads of parks where older Chinese people are practicing Tai Chi, calligraphy, dancing – especially early in the morning.

Give yourself at least 2 hours to walk around, if it’s warm throw a book in your bag and chill all day, it’s really peaceful. To get here, take the Subway Line 5 to the Tiantandongmen Station. It’s less than 5 minutes from there. Tickets are 30RMB ($5) to enter. 

Summer Palace:

There are some great buildings and pagodas dotted around the grounds, and you’ll never feel like you’re more in China than when wondering around, bear in mind though that this place is huge, so expect to get lost! Buy a map outside to minimise the time you spend going around in circles.

The majority of tourist (me being one of them) spent all my time in the front hill area, if you’re keen to go hiking, or to spend the entire day at the palace, carry on west or beyond the front hill, you’ll have the place to yourself.

There are various places within the palace that you have to continue to pay entrance tickets for if you buy the 30RMB ($5). Pay the 60RMB ($10) and you have access to everything.

To get here, take the bus No. 690 or 808 from Tian’anmen Square to the last stop, Summer Palace. Or if you’re feeling motivated, you can check out the Temple of Heaven in the morning and jump on the 862 direct to the Summer Palace for the afternoon.

3 Temples Not To Miss in Beijing is a post from: onestep4ward.com

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Now I don’t wanna be too negative because no matter what I say, I can’t deny the fact that I go back here every time I’m in Beijing and buy some more dubiously branded items but what I will say is make sure you bring a bucket load of patience and some hard core bargaining skills. This place exists for tourists, there’s no doubt about that, so don’t expect a cultural experience. Expect haranguing, bartering, shouting and 5 bags full of unwanted goods! But as long as you leave with a smile on your face, that’s all that mattesr.

How to get to the Silk Market in Beijing:

It’s directly linked to the subway, get onto line 1 and go straight to Yong’anli subway stop. Take exit A and you’ll be straight into the Lion’s den.

If you’ve go no moral issues with buying counterfeit stuff, then this is a great place to stock up on gear for your travels. You can buy everything you need hear, backpacks, trainers, shirts, jeans, rock climbing gear, sun glasses, even fake netbooks and Iphone 5s (I’d advise you to stay clear of the electronics though).

Each floor specializes in different types of goods, pearls and jewelry on the fifth, silk on the 3^rd etc. When you walk down each isle expect to literally be accosted by the sales people, physically grabbing you into their stores, shouting “What you want man, you want a suit, your clothes are bad, buy some new clothes”. Real confidence boost that was.

No matter how much resolve you have, you’ll buy something, I can almost guarantee it. Set yourself a time limit for how long you plan to stay, say 90 minutes for example, and get out once your time is up. Enjoy it for what it is, grab some fake diesel jeans and get out before you get too jaded! It’s hectic and it’s 100mph but there are certainly bargains to be had, at varying levels of quality.

I bought a bear of sneaker there 3 or 4 months ago, travel in them everyday and they still go strong. Here’s a quick approximate price guide of what stuff costs:

Starting Bid               Final Price

Sports shoes (Nike, adidas etc):     650RMB                     75RMB ($12)

Jeans (diesel, replay etc):                 400RMB                     100RMB ($16)

Sunglasses (raybans, police):          300RMB                     20RMB ($3)

I could go on and on but you get the gist. It’s one crazy place, but certainly one worth experiencing. Good luck folks, happy travels!

Buying Stuff at the Silk Market in Beijing, the home of counterfeit goods?! is a post from: onestep4ward.com

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