China Travel Forum

Hmmmm.... I've got a one way ticket to Bangkok in June, and I'm coming back to England by land. Have heard all the SARS crap, what is it now, 308 people died from it in China, home to 1.2 billion people... sounds a bit of a wussy virus to be labelled the armegeddon superbug. Anyway, I'm still going, but I'm concerned about the border crossing to Mongolia, are they cool with people crossing the border - I'll be taking the nasty local trains, not the Trans-Sib, as far as Ulaan Bataar, then heading for Irkutsk to validate my Russian visa, then Trans-Sib to Moscow. What is the beef with the SARS prevention on these trains, and is it going to give me a headache??

Thanks in advance,

Viva la revolution,

Markov

PS. feel free to offer advice on where to go, what to do and who to do it with - I`ll be in China for a few weeks starting beginning of July.
xxx

How do you propose going from U.B. to Irkutsk if not by Trans-Siberian?
From which country are you planning to enter China, Laos or Vietnam?
July is the best time to visit Tibet and Mongolia; how that fits in with your plans remains to be seen.

Not sure which country I'm entering from - I'm sending my visa application this week so I suppose I'll have to make my mind up sooner or later - any suggestions on which is least hassle? Trans-Sib is not only train from UB to Irtutsk - smaller trains run on same line a few times a day, at least that's what I've been told.... fingers crossed...

If I were going on the route you described, I would take an overnight bus to Ko Tao, then work my way south, slowly, then cross the peninsula and work my way north till I got tired of the monsoon. Then I would hit Laos for a few weeks, Vientianne is a blast, Vang Vieng is a great place to bike, boat and walk about, Luang Prabang is worth seeing, Plain of Jars is cool, then I would head over to Siem Reap in Cambodia for a week, hit Batambang, Phnom Penh, hit the beach if it looks clear, then work my way up Viet Nam starting in Saigon, over to the Mekong Delta, up to Dalat, the Highlands, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue, Danang, Saigon, Hao Long Bay, (never got to see it but everyone loved it) then work my way up to Guilin/Yangshou for a week, then over to the coast or in to the area above Laos/Burma, never got there but it got raves. Then I'd hit the 3 Gorges, yet again, I never got there but people liked it. Beijing is a great city, no ifs ands or buts. Outstanding food, wide range of hotels/hostels, (I recommend finding a 'hotel' on one of the houtongs, cheap, if they let you stay, and very cool) great people, excellent public transport, fun museums and stuff, goofy stuff like bumper cars, historic stuff like the Great Wall, just a good time. You can get local trains to Ulaan Bataar from Beijing, pretty dodgy railcars but the people are decent. I went by MonkeyBusiness, which you can find by going to www.monkeyshrine.com
Very professional, very helpful. You pay a bit of a fee, but it is well worth it. Everything they promised, they did it, or exceeded it.
Have a great trip!

The border crossing you are concerned about - is the one between China and Mongolia??

Not sure about SARS thingie but you can take a bus from Beijing to Erenhot. Take the 5pm bus, not the 1pm bus for the 1pm bus will stop at some weird place and leave again at 5pm!!!!

This is a sleeper bus (about Y100) and should get you to Erenhot, the border town with Mongolia, by 6-8am in the morning.

Then, at Erenhot, get to a place where there is a gathering of minivans, jeeps and taxis. The border guards require you to cross in a VEHICLE.

The asking price for the jeep is Y100. The minivans, very crowded as they pile as many Mongolians in as possible, go from Y70 to Y100.

Note to only take MONGOLIAN DRIVERS. Avoid all taxis, esp those with Chinese drivers. They are rogues!

After you cross the border to Zamy Uud (Mongolia's border town), queue for the really nasty local train to Ulaan Baator. Train leaves at 5pm. Costs a mere US$4 for a sleeping berth.

From Ulaan Baator, there are daily trains to Irkutsk. Staff at ticket office speaks English, amazing. The train to Irkutsk is not the nasty local trains. Very nice, with proper compartments.

From Irkutsk to Moscow, if it is a Saturday, I suggest you try to take the train from Mongolian - TRAIN 5. This will have train-loads of Mongolian traders (whom you have squeezed with at the China-Mongolia border) selling things along the entire Trans-Sib route.

More interesting than the other trains that depart from Russia. The 4-day train ride can be a tad boring, so make the most out of it.

If not a Saturday, there are plenty of trains to Moscow.

Let me know if you think I can be of more help, or pop by my pages.

Da svidanya