Hot answers tagged mongolia
16
First of all, you must be prepared to such trip - it is 4 days long from Moscow to Mongolia (with changes), and you should get some stuff like electronic books or films. Also you should think about possibilities of recharging your electronical devices - charges are available not in all trains and not at each stations.
After those choices, I recommend you ...
15
Any recommendations as to where?
Firstly, you should choose the trains. For now, you have such options:
Direct train 020Щ(sch) "Vostok" ("East")
Moscow (departure at 23:55 PM every Saturday) - Beijing (arrival at l5:32 AM every Saturday), do not goes through Mongolia.
Direct train 004З
Moscow (departure at 21:35 PM every Tuesday) - Beijing ( arrival ...
13
You're very unlikely to get them rejected if you go through an agency, as they'll make sure you have all the right information before they submit it to the various government departments.
I use http://www.visatorussia.com/ in 2008 to get a tourist visa, and this year for a 3 month double entry business visa, and both times they were fantastic.
Both ...
12
As I know, in Russia visas can be achived for two ways:
By the invitation from some people or company in Russia, and I think this is not for you, because it not very stable way to get visa.
By the touristic trip or voucher. This can be made by travel agencies. Try to choose famous one, like http://nevatravel.ru/
Also in some cities you can stay for three ...
10
I've just come from there. Something interesting to note - unless you go really touristy - Mongolians traditionally use wooden saddles, something I was NOT expecting to see :)
They and Kyrgyzstan share quite a lot of the same culture, including horse riding, and the nomadic / semi nomadic lifestyle. But at least the Kyrgs don't use wooden saddles ;)
In ...
10
From Tbilisi to Baku you can go via train #38/37. It goes every day, so there is no problem with that.
From Baku you can get to Aktau (Kazakhstan) via ferry. People who used this ferry are saying it has no stable schedule, so you can contact ferry station by phone:
(99412) 493-19-63
(99412) 498-10-13
Also you can go to Türkmenbaşy ...
8
I was looking into the same journey recently and the best resource I found was seat61 http://www.seat61.com/Trans-Siberian.htm#Visas
I talked to one of the agencies they recommend http://www.realrussia.co.uk/ They knew what they were doing, they quickly responded and sent us quotes and paperwork for both my husband and I (Australian and English passports).
...
8
Information about Russian trains schedules can be found at the official site of Russian Railways:
Train #006Ь Moscow - Ulan-Bator departure at 21:35 every Wednesday, Thursday, arrival at 06:30 every Monday, Tuesday. Stop in Irkutsk at 23:25 every Sunday, Monday respectively.
Train Fares #362 Irkutsk - Ulan-Bator departure at 17:15 every day, arrival at ...
7
Accprding to this map below, you can drive from Beijing to Tuva, passing through Ulanbaataar, Bulgan and Naryn. There does not seem to be a very well established access from the west such as from Urumuqi however.
The place where I found the map has some more general information on traveling through Mongolia. I found also a much more detailed map.
6
Wikipedia is a great source for these type of questions, I always use it as a primary source to find which airlines fly to a specific destination. This enables me to narrow the search for an interesting fare.
To answer this question I have entered "Wikipedia Ulaanbaatar Airport" in Google and I was directed to this Wikipedia entry:
Aero Mongolia: ...
6
Unfortunately, can't provide any english-language links.
Try to contact this firm, they have amazing pack of offers, such as tour to the Lake Khövsgöl on horse or even hunting!
You'll stay in lovely houses like this, they have sattelite TV there and traditional Mongolian furniture:
5
Crossing the border by road does seem to be an option, but only at certain border crossing points. (The crossing specified by Google Maps, unfortunately, seems to be sandwiched between the two ones open to foreign nationals.) There are some reports that you can either get permission or "talk your way across" if you're feeling up to the task (and possible ...
5
A couple of friends made the full trip from Moskow to Vladivostok some years ago. They stopped at least at Yekaterinburg and Irkutsk, possibly Novosibirsk as well.
5
There's an Australian guy named Tim Cope who rode horseback solo from Mongolia to Budapest over three years around 2004.
He now does guided treks in the area that you could join for about $5000.
As one of the testimonials says:
I cannot praise the whole team enough..... It was a dream come true: to ride in the wake of Genghis Khan, on a Mongolian ...
5
There is a bus going from UB to Terelj. If I remember correctly, it runs once every 2 hours? (at least several times a day). We got our info in one of the bars/cafes that is run by an expat. (I don't remember the name , it is a cafe that kinda stands out. lots of wood, it somewhat resembles a mountian hut. They organise tracks and stuff.) the place is called ...
4
Apparently the bus from Ulan Ude to Ulaanbaatar is about 8 hours. For some reason, when you travel by train, the border controls alone take 9 hours. I never really quite figured out why it took so long and bus passengers don't seem to suffer this. So a train to Ulan Ude and the bus from there is a good option.
Another good reason to stop in Ulan Ude is ...
4
In the end, I decided with Irkutsk. My reasoning:
There is a Mongolian embassy in Almaty, but it's quite far out of town, and is a hassle to get to. Also, the Kazakh police concern me a bit, and being without a passport is stressful when they're around.
In Irkutsk, you can pay for 1-4 working days processing, and it's in the center of town. It requires ...
3
You will end up paying quite alot to go by road because you will need to hire a driver/tour guide. The borders in these areas change their regulations too. There is/was a crossing to China near a place called Bortala, which is one route to/from Ürümqi, but, depending on who you ask, you need a Chinese tour agent hired to meet you at the China side if you are ...
3
I did the Trans-Siberian a couple of years ago, I can definitely recommend Irkutsk and Ulan Bator (for the Beijing section), they are great cities and areas to stop and also very unique. Novosibirsk I found less interesting, there wasn't much to see or do, I would not stop there again. I heard good things about Tomsk, but you need to plan extra time, it's ...
2
According my search, the Aeroflot has the cheapest price (near $900) for this trip, with 1 stop in Sheremetyevo (SVO):
15 August, $973
17 August, $877
17 August, $896
And I didn't find any flights in mid August for Air China.
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