Sep. 30, 2010
The Aeroflot flight
departed from Bangkok at 10:00 am and arrived at Moscow some 10 hours
later, leaving 2 hours transfer time for a local flight to St
Petersburg. Service was not that bad as reported online by some
passengers. Moscow Sheremet Airpot is new and modern and I could walk
from Terminal E to Terminal D. At St Petersburg’s Pulkovo 1 (for
domestic flights), bus No 39 goes to Moskovskaya metro where I
took the metro to Ploshchad Vosstaniya station (near Moscow Train
Station) and stayed at Hostel Life nearby (R1,000/bed).
Oct. 1, 2010
St Petersburg
I got up early to get
to Petrodvorets on the Gulf of Finland. It was quite cold in the
early morning. The entrance to the Lower Park is R350 but there is
another R520 to the museum. Around 10:30 am, fountains were started
and tourists hurried to take photos around the park.
Back to the city in the
afternoon, I checked out the must-see State Hermitage (Winter Palace,
R400). The site is quite worth seeing even for someone without much
sense of arts like me. Dinner at Pelmeny Bar nearby (pelmeni less
than R300) was not bad.
At 10:20 pm, I jumped
on a train heading for Moscow.
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| Winter Palace |
Oct. 2, 2010
Moscow
At 6:02 am sharp, the
train arrived at Moscow’s Leningradsky Station on time, easy enough
to walk to the nearby Yaroslavl Station to buy the train ticket to
Irkutsk next day (only 3rd class upper berth were
available).
Almost all major sites
in Moscow are around the Red Square. I mainly visited the Armoury at
Kremlin (limited tickets but not that difficult to get). I treated
myself at a Russian restaurant (around R600) in the afternoon and
admired the decorations inside a couple of metro stations in the evening.
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| Red Square |
Oct. 3, 2010
Moscow to Balezino
After checking out St
Basil’s Catheral and State History Museum around the Red Square in
the morning, I arrived at Yaroslavl Station to start my 87 hour
trans-Siberian journey. Train No 340 left at 1:35 pm.
The first day of the
journey was quite pleasant, with forests along the way dotted with
little villages and towns. It’s fall and most leaves turned yellow.
There were even some red leaves in between.
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| St Basil's Cathedral |
Oct. 4, 2010
Balezino to
Yekaterinburg
In the morning, the
train stopped at Balezino for 23 minutes to change locomotive, then
continued heading east and arrived at the heavily industrial city of
Perm in the afternoon.
Around early evening,
the train crossed the Europe-Asia border and entered the Asian part
of Russia. The train was running late at this time and arrived at
Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) around 10 pm.
Oct. 5, 2010
Yekaterinburg to
Novosibirsk
Russian trains seem to
have good skills of catching up and running on schedule. After waking
up in the morning I found the train was already running on time. This day the
train passed some lovely stations like Ishim, Omsk,
Barabinsk, etc. and arrived at the biggest city in Siberia,
Novosibirsk,
just before midnight.
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| Ishim Railway Station |
Oct. 6, 2010
Novosibirsk
to Irkutsk
The 4th day
on the train. I started to feel a little bit tired, so did some
fellow passengers. In early afternoon, the train arrived at
Krasnoyarsk, offering a generous 30 minute stop. I was able to wander
around the square in front of the train station and had a look at the
soviet-era mural besides.
In the early evening, the train stopped at Ilansky for 20 minutes,
the last opportunity to get some fresh air before Irkutsk. I was
lucky enough to buy some hot pelmeni on the station platform.
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| Soviet-era Mural at Krasnoyarsk Railway Station |
Oct. 7, 2010
Listvyanka
After over 87 hours,
the train finally arrived at Irkutsk, the most famous city in
Siberia. A marshrutky journey to Listvyanka took just over an hour.
Listvyanka is a pleasant village on the west shore of Lake Baikal. Not much English
spoken here and there seem no street names. After checking with some
fellow travelers, I found a nice guesthouse at 29A on the main road
along the lake for R600/bed including breakfast. They also offer
private banya for R500.
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| Lake Baikal at Listvyanka |
Oct. 8, 2010
Irkutsk
Back from Listvyanka to
Irkutsk, I walked from the bus station to the train station. On the
way I admired the Volkonsky House (the museum was closed so just
outside) and numerous other wooden houses. The old but lovely
streetcars are another wonderful scene of the city.
At 9:50 pm local time,
I boarded Train No. 362 heading for Ulaanbaatar.
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| A Wooden House in Irkutsk |
Oct. 9, 2010
Irkutsk to Ulaanbaatar
The train traveled along the scenic Goose Lake and Selenga River most
of the time in the morning and arrived at the border town of Naushki
in early afternoon. The provodnitsa announced to all the passengers
that passport control would start at 4 pm (local time). Everybody got
off the train while it had to change locomotive.
There is a small
restaurant at the back of the train station and a very small market
nearby where I bought some cookies and water. There was really not
much to do so I sat inside the station (a little bit warmer
than outside).
Just before 4 pm the
station started announcement (in Russian) and everybody went back to
the train. The Russian customs officials got on first with dogs. They
searched mainly the upper and lower parts of the beds and didn’t
open any bags. Shortly after, the immigration lady came in and
everybody stood up for photo checking. The passports were returned in
less than one hour.
The train started moving again
at 6:50 pm local time (1:50 pm Moscow Time) and arrived at the
Mongolian border town of Sukhbaatar about 30 minutes later. The
Mongolian customs and immigration officers repeated the procedure
(without bringing dogs). They did quite fast and passengers were
released in less than one hour. I had enough time to enjoy some
delicious dumplings (T2,600) at the restaurant on the second floor of
the station.
Around 10 pm local
time, the train left Sukhbaatar station.
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| Dumplings at Sukhbaatar Railway Station |
Oct. 10, 2010
Mandal
The train arrived at Ulaanbaatar at 6:10 am on time. It was quite
cold outside so I sit inside the station for a while. After checking
with LG Guesthouse nearby, I decided to go to their homestay at
Mandal (about 2.5 hours north of Ulaanbaatar by train).
Mandal is really a beautiful place, and this can be verified when you
just get off the train. There are no tourists here and no English
spoken. But it’s part of the fun. Since it’s not regulated, I got
hurt while riding a horse. Luckily, it was not a big deal. I was also
able to enjoy the hot dumplings with the family (quite delicious) but
sadly there was no real dinner prepared. It was too cold to stay in
the ger at this time and I was asked to sleep on a sofa bed in the
house.
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| Mandal |
Oct. 11, 2010
Ulaanbaatar
Back to Ulaanbaatar from Mandal, it was already afternoon. I walked
to the most famous site in Ulaanbaatar, Kandan Khiid. Perhaps because
I look Asian, nobody asked me for a ticket (locals don’t pay).
There is a big Buddha statue in the main temple. I then used a small
road on the right side of Kandan Khiid that leads to the main road to
walk to the center of Ulaanbaatar, Sukhbaatar Sqaure.
Around Sukhbaatar
Square are all the important buildings of Mongolia, including
Government House, Palace of Culture, National Museum of Mongolian
History and Central Post Office. I bought one stamp and went online
for a short period at the Central Post Office then rushed to Khaan
Buuz opposite State Department Store for dinner.
At 8 pm, the Chinese
operated Hohhot bound train I took left Ulaanbaatar station.
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| Government House, Ulaanbaatar |
Oct. 12, 2010
Ulaanbaatar to Hohhot
The international train
arrived at the border town of Zamyn-Uud at a very civilized time of
around 8 am. The Mongolian customs and immigration officers there
were as fast as their counterparts in Sukhbaatar (but this time they
asked me to open my bag for a quick peep).
At 10 am, the train
started again to cross the border and arrived at Erlian about 30
minutes later. A little bit to my surprise, the Chinese customs and
immigration officers were the fastest during my trans-Siberian trip.
They didn’t even bother to check any bags/beds on the train. The
whole procedure took only about half an hour.
I had more than 2 hours
to spend around Erlian station and did a few important things:
Changed some unused Mongolian togrog to Chinese yuan at a convenience
store opposite the train station; Withdrew some Chinese yuan from an
ATM at an Agriculture Bank of China branch
nearby; And had a Rice with Mutton for lunch at a small restaurant.
At 1:30 pm, the train
started again on Chinese soil. The scene is not too different
from the Mongolia’s. Around 7 pm the train stopped at Jiningnan
(Jining South) for about 30 minutes, enough for me to get a box of
instant noodles on the platform. At 10 pm, the train finally arrived at Hohhot station (about half an hour behind the official schedule).
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| Ulaanbaatar - Hohhot Train |
Oct. 13, 2010
Xiangshawan
I took train K573
(originated from Beijing, passing Hohhot around 7:30 am) to Dalateqi
(Dalad Banner). It’s a 3 hour journey. At Dalateqi, a taxi to
Xiangshawan costs about 40-60 yuan one-way. There is no public
transportation to Xiangshawan.
The entry fee to
Xiangshawan is Y40 and you can pay another Y40 for the cable car
which is really unnecessary. There are a few activities in
Xiangshawan, the most famous one being Huasha, i.e. you sit on a
wooden board and somebody pushes you from the top of the sand hill.
Balance yourself and pay attention to the sound around while in the
action.
Although Xiangshawan is between Dalateqi and Ordos (Dongsheng),
since there is no public transportation and a taxi to Dongsheng costs
almost Y200, I had to catch a taxi back to Dalateqi and took a bus to
Dongsheng (Y19). Ordos is currently the richest city in mainland
China and it looks like Shenzhen some twenty years ago. At Ordos Bus Station, I took a bus to Wuhai (Y89) hoping to get a
bus from there to Ejinaqi (Ejin Banner). Unfortunately, although
there is direct bus service between Wuhai and Ejinaqi, the bus for
the next day was sold out and I decided to take a train to Jiuquan
(Y224 sleeper) to try some luck.
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| Xiangshawan |
Oct. 14, 2010
Wuhai to Jiuquan
It’s a long 15 hour
journey from Wuhai to Jiuquan. Jiuquan Train Station is quite far
from the city center. Lucily, there is a mini-bus to the city for Y2.
When I got to Jiuquan
Bus Station, it’s already closed. I was told to come in the
morning.
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| Noodle with Beef (炒刀削) - A Specialty Food in Northwest China |
Oct. 15, 2010
Jiuquan to Ejinaqi
I went to the bus
station around 7 am. The 8:30 am bus to Ejinaqi was already sold out.
Luckily enough, I could still buy a ticket for the 11:00 am bus to
Ejinaqi (Y70).
The bus trip to Ejinaqi takes about 5 hours passing a military base
in the desert. Upon arriving at Ejinaqi Bus Station, the first thing
for me was to buy a ticket to Alashanyouqi (Alxa Right Banner).
Unfortunately the bus for the next day was sold out and I could only
buy a ticket for the following day (Y86, there were just a few seats
left).
At Ejinaqi Bus Station, some agents were busy to get would-be
customers for family hotels and tours. That’s actually not too bad.
I was able to stay at a quite nice condo for Y50 per room (shared
bath) and joined another young couple that afternoon to see some
populus euphratica on and around the highway to Alashanzuoqi (Alxa
Left Banner). The season to see populus euphratica is very short,
only around the first three weeks in October. I have to say, the
scene is quite spectacular.
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| Populus Euphratica near Ejinaqi |
Oct. 16, 2010
Around Ejinaqi
Since I had to stay at Ejinaqi for another day, I decided to join
some other tourists (and save costs) to do some sightseeing
around the town. First we checked out the populus euphratica near
Donghe Bridge. It’s actually a quite beautiful area with populus
euphratica near a river. We later went to some ruins in the desert
called the Relic of Black City (Y80). The ruins are nothing special,
but the so-called Dead Popular Diversifolia Forest is indeed quite
touching.
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| Dead Popular Diversifolia Forest |
Oct. 17, 2010
Ejinaqi to Alashanyouqi
There is a daily bus from Ejinaqi to Zhangye in Guansu province
(passing Alashanyouqi) starting at 8:40 am. The bus passes some part
of Badanjilin (Badain Jaran) Desert but nothing spectacular. To see
the best of Badanjilin, you have to hire a jeep from Alashanyouqi. I
was lucky enough to meet two fellow travelers and we agreed to share
the cost of a jeep (total Y1,600 for two days).
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| Alashanyouqi |
Oct. 18, 2010
Badanjilin Desert
We started at 8 am and
it takes one hour and a half to get to the entrance to Badanjilin
Desert. Luckily there is no entry fee at the moment. There are 144
lakes inside Badanjilin Desert and we could only visit a few of them.
The lakes are a little bit smaller than Ubari Lakes in the heart of
Sahara but are quite beautiful. On the top of the so-called Mt.
Everest of the Sand (the highest sand hill in the world) you can see
6-7 lakes and the view is dramatic. In the evening we stayed in a
room near Badanjilin Temple for Y50/bed. The place provides hot water
and we did bring our own food since the hot dishes there are quite
expensive.
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| Badanjilin Desert |
Oct. 19, 2010
Alashanyouqi to Wuwei
We got up very early to see the sunrise from a dune. Nothing really
special. We then went to see the largest lake in Badanjililn, Nuoritu
Lake, and experienced Mingsha (heavy sound while moving downhills,
different from that in Xiangshawan) at the edge of Badanjilin Desert.
At 3:30 pm, I jumped to
a bus to Jinchuan (Y23). It arrived two hours later and I was able to
hop on another bus to Wuwei (Y17, 1.5 hours). Fortunately, I bought
the last sleeper train ticket from Wuwei to Beijingxi (Beijing West)
for the next day for Y410.
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| Nuoritu Lake |
Oct. 20, 2010
Wuwei
I scanned Wuwei a
little bit in the morning. The city gate in the center is worth
checking out. And the most famous site of the city, the Confucian (Wenmiao) Temple (Y30), is a pleasant place to visit, although nothing is
really special.
At 1:38 pm, I boarded
train T70 for Beijing and finished my 3 week trans-Siberian journey.
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| Wuwei Gate |
Overview
The trans-Siberian railway is definitely a must for train lovers.
Although Russian people don’t talk and smile a lot, I found most
people honest and helpful. English is rare in Russia but this
shouldn’t stop you from visiting. Actually it can be part of fun.
Mongolia is more
westernized although in the rural areas there is no English at all.
Mandal, the place I visited, is really beautiful and natural. The
drawback is since it’s not regulated, you may experience some
inconvenience. I got hurt while riding a horse and there was no
proper dinner for me in the evening. Nevertheless, I still recommend a
one-night homestay in the area.
Inner Mongolia is more
developed than Mongolia, with Ordos, the richest city in mainland
China, in the west part of the province. The populus euphratica
forest around Ejinaqi is said to be the largest in the world; and the
Badanjilin Desert is among the most beautiful I’ve seen.
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