Beijing Travel Forum

Hello

I'd like to know how easy it is get tickets for the Trans-Mongolian train from Beijing to Ulan Baatar?

There are 7 of us from England who are going to China & Mongolia in late June for 15 days.

We are on a bit of a tight schedule. We land in Beijing on Tuesday 24th June & were planning to go on the 7.40am train from Beijing to Ulan Baatar on the 25th. We have enquired with different agencies about a month ago & there was a price difference with everyone but CITS seemed the most reliable & they guaranteed they would get the tickets 1 month in advance.... We were planning to come back from UB on Monday 30th & have booked flights back to Beijing & have also booked hotels in UB & organised a Ger trip...

Yesterday, we had an e-mail saying that they (CITS) now can't guarantee the 7 1st class train tickets & the train authorities this summer are only releasing tickets the day before travel... Obviously this has f*cked up our travel plans & itinary

Does anybody know if anyone can guarantee these tickets, or how hard is it to get hold of them a day before travel? Is it worth risking waiting till we get to Beijing & try ourselves for tickets, knowing that if we can't we have wasted a lot of money on flights back from UB & hotels etc etc...

Any help regarding this would be gratefully appreciated... We are getting desperate now to find a reputable agent to secure our tickets for this train...

We can't believe the logic in selling the tickets only a day in advance, surely other tourists who have made plans to go on one of the great train journeys in the world would be put out.... It seems the Chinese authorities really arn't helping tourism in anyway by doing this, in their Olympic year you would think the would be doing opposite

Regards

VillaYoofYoofYoof

I have no direct advice, but I have used the people at The Russia Experience in the past for visas and train tickets from London to Hanoi, and I found them to be reliable. They are located near London. www.trans-siberian.co.uk

Try this lot. They were great when we did it. Their main base is Hong Kong but they have a branch in Beijing. Hope you have a good trip.
http://www.monkeyshrine.com

Monkey Business infocenter
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43 Beisanlitun Nan, Off Sanlitun Bar Street
entrance from The Tree Courtyard
Chao Yang District, 100027 Beijing, P.R.CHINA
地址: 北京朝阳区北三里屯南43号,100027
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Tel: +(8610) 6591 6519 / Fax: +(8610) 6591 6517
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