I would love to anybody cheap rental car who has done the entire journey. Personally, I would find it kind of boring, but to each their own. I just want to try and hear some real stories from people who have done this trip before.
Having arrived in London I then get the euro star to Brussels for afternoon connection cheap rental car to Cologne where I get a train to Moscow passing through Poland cheap rental car and Belarus. I spent a day in Warsaw one time and later in the evening continued my journey to Moscow.
1. Trans Mongolian cheap rental car leaves Moscow and heads along the Trans Siberian route through to Ulan -Ude deep in Siberia where it seperates and continues on through cheap rental car Mongolia in Central Asia and on to Beijing cheap rental car in China over 7,800 kilometres (4,900 miles) away.
2.The Trans-Manchurian railway runs from Moscow in European Russian, through the Ural mountains, across the Siberian plain, around lake Baikal in Siberia and separates from the Trans-Siberian route at Chita and travels on to Beijing cheap rental car in China over 7,800 kilometres (4,900 miles) away.
This is the least troublesome journey as you only have to deal with customs upon entering China whereas on the Mongolian journey you have various custom and immigration formalities cheap rental car at the different borders.
left Cardiff on the 26th June and having changed trains in London and Brussels cheap rental car before cheap rental car arriving in Cologne where I felt obliged to visit a Beer Keller and have the obligatory bratwurst with pickled cabbage ( pickled pigs head was on the menu).
In the shadow of the Dom I always encounter a bicycle with a teddy bear strapped to the front. It has got to the stage that I now look out for this bicycle and on the last six visits "hey presto" its there. Would love to know why its always there and also why the teddy bear.
Three days across Poland and Belarus where on the border with Russia a change of wheels take place. Gauge is different in Russia, apparently for military reasons to prevent movement of foreign troops as a result of previous escapades of a military nature.Stayed in the carriage whilst the wheels were removed. The machinery to lift the carriage and transfer the wheels was awesome
Arrived in Moscow Belaruski station on the morning of 29th June and was met by Sasha (Ruskie friend).and went to Hotel Vega about ten minutes on the metro.The metro WOW like tunnels of museums.Bronze statues.crystal chandliers,marble tiles etc graced the platforms and passageways.
On 29th June left Moscow Paveltskaya station for my four day journey through Kazahkstan.Shared cheap rental car my compartment with a ex Russian submariner.The language between us was all hand signs and facial expressions,You can imagine how he explained his past history.
I was heading for Almaty near the Chinese border in order to get a train for the first part of my leg in China.I cheap rental car had read about the Police in Kazahkstan being a bit dodgy but did not pay too much attention and also had been warned about taxi drivers who cheat and overcharge...even had read that it was worth getting cheated by a taxi driver in order to avoid contact with police................well I had not even arrived in Almaty when suddenly the compartment door burst open and two smartly clad Kahzak policemen entered the compartment and sat themselves down....the cheap rental car Russian submariner was out having a cigarette somewhere.
Having showed passport and answered questions as to where I had been and where I was going they eventually asked me for money..... just then the Russian came back and was promptly ushered out of the compartment and the door closed. cheap rental car Well the conversation was nil as I could not speak Kahzak and they could not speak English. cheap rental car Their knowledgge of the English was confined to one word "MONEY".....anyhow got out of paying by shrugging my shoulders and making facial expressions of a nature suggesting I was shocked or did not understand. after they left the Russian returned and started cursing the police.
Almaty is one of the nicest City I have visited around the world and although Kahzakstan is a Islamic country it felt less Islamic than most cities in the UK.i.e absence of burkas,hijabs,pakistani restaurants,ladies wearing hot pants and mini skirts etc.
Interesting cheap rental car point....whilst cheap rental car in a taxi with friend she pointed out that men at the side of the road with hands outstretched holding pieces of whits paper were touting for business to rent their rooms for whatever length of time whether it be for an hour or a week.The rooms, according to my lady friend cheap rental car were usually cheap rental car rented for amourous purposes and not for business meetings.
cheap rental car Strangest experience in Almaty was going up the local mountain and finding a life size statue of the beatles...very popular with the locals.Friend said pop stars visited Almaty and unofficially entertained. This may be due to religious or political reasons.
In the midst of a barren desert the epitome of no mans land there is a border crossing where taking photos is banned getting off the train is banned going to the toilet is banned etc.Lots of Kahazak police,customs,military etc fumbling about and also the same in China when having crossed the border. Chinese customs,police and military are very anxious to go through the contents of your computer.I dare not ask what they are hoping to find.
Massive military presence due to it being the anniversary of the mini uprising last year when several cheap rental car hundred people were killed.Again big Islamic city but not like the UK with burkas and screaming cheap rental car mullas.
Left Urumqi on 7th July and arrived at a one horse town called Liuyuan at 4:00 in the morning.Wanting to get to Dunhuang but no through train.What a palava outside the station.Taxi drivers jumping over each other trying to get your attention for the 120 kilometer drive to Dunhuang.After much tribulation and a retreat back inside the station managed to get a taxi which rapidly sped across the desert for just over an hour.
MingSha is a desert with a creescent moon shaped lake very popular cheap rental car with Chinese tourists.hundreds of two humped camels giving rides around the mountain and lake.Did not go up the mountain mainly because I could,nt.every time you took a step the sand was so fine you would go slightly backwards. the sand was so fine that if you dropped your camera the sand could never be fully removed from the same.
Said goodbye to Dunhuang on 10th July (my birthday) and heade for the ancient Chinese cheap rental car Capital Xi'an home of the terracotta army and all sorts of ancient antiquities. By now the heat was getting to me and I did'nt know if I was ill or my age was getting to me but I began to slow down.
Here is part of a blog I borrowed from another site and it fascinated me so much I made my mind up I would seek out the lost City of Urano....it was so lost my hired guides did not know where it was but I persevered cheap rental car and forced them to enquire of locals and villagers along the road and it paid off....I cheap rental car did find the lost city and was the only one there...it was one of the highlights of that journey...
It is very difficult to find reliable information about some of the older, archaeological sites around Urumqi. It is one of those cities where the tourist books expect the visitor to be more interested in tractor factories, the new post office and the highway underpass. Then there is the steady staple diet of "touristic cheap rental car sites" which have great scenic beauty but little history.
It had been snowing heavily and although snow hadn't settled, the temperature was -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees F). With a 30 knot wind blowing, the wind chill factor made that -36 degrees C (-33 degrees F).....so I suppose he had a point. It was certainly the coldest temperature I had ever felt. My lungs hurt every time I drew breath. I had two layers of thermal underwear on, and two scarves: I looked like a mummy. My eyes constantly watered from the cold. One digital camera froze solid after 3 minutes. Fortunately I have a manual Leica which kept on going for the 20 minutes I was out in the open.
The site of Urabo....or was it Ulanbay....is outside Urumqi to the south. After about 20 minutes, alongside the railway, a right hand turn is taken onto a graded road which eventually crosses cheap rental car a big plain which is actually the bed of a recharge dam - the dam wall was visible in the distance. The driver said that when it rains, another track needs to be followed. cheap rental car We were heading towards the mountains, and passed a small village. Immediately cheap rental car beyond a huge wall becomes apparent on the left. This is the ruins of the city of Ulanbay. Each wall is about 4 metres high and about 450-500 metres long. Most of the walls are intact, but inside blown snow made it difficult to see the ground and whether there were traces of streets or structures.
It is considered to be the ruins of a city called Luntai, founded in 648, towards the end of the reign of of Emperor Taizong cheap rental car of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, there was great turmoil in Central cheap rental car Asia, and it all threatened to spill over and down into China. cheap rental car The Chinese felt it necessary to block the main arteries into western China.
I would like to mention that living sleeping and eating on a train for some 7 to 10 days is in my opinion a very pleasurable experience and the movement cheap rental car of the train at night rocks me to sleep like a baby.
But there are lots of trans-Siberian railroad tours that will have information on the activities and stops on offer that can give you an idea of just how many days you'd spend on the train doing nothing.
Tell him to get either the Lonely Planet guide to the Trans Siberian, or the Trailblazer guide, or both. There are several worthwhile stops en route. Depending on his budget there are high end tours, cheap rental car using special tourist trains, run by outfits like MIR and IRT, or cheaper ones using the "real" trains run by outfits like:
We used MonkeyShine several years ago to go from Beijing to Irkustk and back to Beijing. Now we are planning to use them to travel from Moscow to Vladivostok next year. We booked 1st class (2 bunks) or all 4 bunks in 2nd class when 1st class was not available. It was def
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