Marketing Executive, Laura Crafter has recently taken a journey on the Trans-Siberian Express tour and kept a blog detailing her adventures as she experienced them. Details of the the tour that Laura took can be found here.

Day 14

So, I am now home, after having travelled over 3,500 miles from Moscow to reach my final destination, Beijing.

This journey had been a lifelong aspiration for me to do and I have enjoyed every minute, experiencing so much along the way and meeting some great people. It has definitely lived up to my expectations. The standard of this tour has been extremely high and I hadn’t envisaged being to able to journey in such comfort.

If the Trans Siberian (or Trans Mongolian) is something that is on you list of journeys to experience in your lifetime, what is stopping you?

Day 13

I was picked up early from the camp and taken to Ulaanbaatar airport for my Air China flight to Beijing. It was quite sad to leave Mongolia having only spent 2 full days in the country. I had really enjoyed my experiences of the country and the people and probably could have spent at least 2 weeks there! I vowed to myself that I would return very soon.

The flight to Beijing was only 2 hours and the wait at the airport and the flight itself went really quickly - I spent my time at Ulaanbaatar airport watching the Russia vs. Sweden football match, part of the Euro 2008 tournament - Russia won! We flew into Beijing’s brand new Capital Airport which had only been open for 2 months, obviously opening in time for the Olympic Games which were just 50 days away. It was a very impressive airport and was huge and ultra-modern.

I was dreading immigration because I had visions of standing in long queues, waiting to have my passport and visa checked. I was limited to time in Beijing as I was flying back to London tomorrow, and just wanted to get out of the airport so I could make the most of my stay in the city. I needn’t have worried, I think I can say it was the quickest and most efficient airport immigration I have ever experienced. I didn’t have to queue, I just walked up to a counter, had my passport checked and then the immigration official smiled and wished me a pleasant stay in Beijing - how impressive!? When do immigration officials ever smile normally?

My guide, Alex, greeted me at arrivals and we headed out of the airport to meet our driver… which is when Beijing’s heat hit me. I hadn’t experienced humidity like this during the rest of the trip, so wasn’t ready for it. In the limited time I had in Beijing, Alex took me to see the Temple of Heaven and Tiananmen Square. I was impressed by the sheer size of Tiananmen Square - its one of those landmarks that I have seen so often on the TV and in photos - I knew it was big but its hard to appreciate the sheer size until you are actually there, standing in the middle and taking everything in. The square was bustling, full of all types of people. My guide informed me that the square was always full of people, at all times of the day and night. I think I could easily spend half a day there observing and people watching!

That evening, I enjoyed a very nice Chinese meal and afterwards, went for a walk, taking in all of the activities that took place on the local street - it was fascinating. Every couple of hundred metres or so, there were groups of people dancing to music that was blasting out of a stereo. I passed one very large group of possibly about 50 people, who were ballroom dancing (on the pavement), the strange thing, though, was that everyone was dancing on their own rather than with a partner, I couldn’t work out why? I passed another group who were doing what resembled line dancing, but to techno music! Very random, but fascinating… I could have stayed there all night watching!

So tonight was my last night in Beijing and the last night of my trip. I really regretted not extending my stay in Beijing for at least a couple of extra nights. Although it was the last night of the tour, I could have easily extended my stay to a couple of extra days and arranged some guided sightseeing. I would have liked to have gone out to the Great Wall and also to see some of the Olympic developments around the city. I would recommend to anyone doing this tour to extend their stay here.

Day 12

We checked out of the Chinggis Khaan hotel this morning and boarded our minibus which would be taking us out to the Terelj National Park, which is about 1 ½ hours drive outside of Ulaanbaatar. We were to be travelling out to a small Ger Village and would be sleeping in a ger. A Ger is a traditional Mongolian tent, made of and insulated by felt.

The journey out of the city was fascinating and I spent time observing the people and their morning routines. Yesterday, we’d spent the whole day in the city centre but had been confined to an area of probably only a couple of square kilometres, visiting the city’s key landmarks. Being the city centre, this area was undergoing huge developments, with modern buildings popping up everywhere, however this development had not yet stretched outwards towards the city’s suburbs.

One thing I was really surprised to see was that many people lived in gers in the city’s suburbs. There may be a couple of fairly modern concrete buildings alongside each other, with a ger set up on the other side of the building. It seemed like the standard set up for this city, with children playing outside their gers whilst mum’s hung out the washing and city buses passed by…. but I couldn’t help thinking that it was quite an unusual site, wondering what I would think if I ever saw a tent pitched up next door to a concrete building in London!

Travelling out of the city also gave perspective where the city lies, on a flat plain surrounded by the steppes. For some time, the road ran alongside the railway line which we had travelled in on yesterday and before I knew it, we were surrounded by the most stunning countryside and well and truly out of the city. As we are limited to just over 2 days to Mongolia, it is really nice to be able to travel out to experience the Mongolian countryside in contrast to the day spent in the city yesterday.

Our Ger Village consisted of a number of gers clustered together on a hillside. The ger accommodation is twin share and the gers are surprisingly spacious and comfortable, with single beds, a table and chairs and a fire in the middle. I don’t know why but when I initially read our tour itinerary I had visions of the whole tour group having to fit into one ger, having to top and tail and sleep on the floor…. I couldn’t have been more wrong! There was also a toilet block which had showers and hot water.

After settling into the camp and having a traditional lunch of mutton stew, we went to see a traditional display of Mongolian archery, horse riding and wrestling. This was a great experience and was something I had hoped to see in Mongolia, as I had previously read about it and also seen footage on television before. It certainly wasn’t a disappointment - watching the men and children racing horses, riding bareback, against the dramatic backdrop of the rolling hills - it really was a highlight of the trip.

Before dinner we had the time to take a walk to explore the area around the camp. There were some amazing views at the tops of the hills and it was also opportunity to spot some of the local wildlife. There were a number of birds of prey circling the camp and I spotted lots of gophers running around of the grass too. We really were in the middle of nowhere and it was fantastic!

Day 11

I woke up this morning to a totally different landscape to what we had been used to when travelling through Siberia. This landscape was how I imagined Mongolia to be… the railway ran across a flat plain and was surrounded by tall rolling hills, the Mongolian steppes. My only slight surprise was that I thought it would be much greener but I was to find out later that this part of Mongolia hadn’t experienced much rain so far this springtime, so the hills and landscape looked more desert-like than green.

Our train pulled into Ulaanbaatar station at 7.30am. One thing I have noticed about all of the train services on our trip is that every single one has been on time to the minute! This time, we were not to be returning to the carriage as the remaining part of our journey was by road and by air. As we bid farewell to Andre, Natasha and the train, it was strange to think that we had travelled almost 3000 miles in this carriage, from Moscow to Ulaanbaatar.

After feeling revived from a breakfast stop, our local guide Namun took us to see the Gandan Hiid monastery. I found that although this monastry was in the centre of the city, it still had the same feeling of serenity of the Datsan we visited in Ulan Ude yesterday.

We then headed to the city’s main square, Sukhbaatar Square, named after Mongolia’s communist leader. This was also the setting for the pro-democracy demonstrations which took place in 1990 and led to the fairly calm fall of the country’s communist regime that year. By this part of the trip, we had seen quite a number of ‘main squares’ in cities. What this one had, which none of the others did, and what I later went on to find was quite common in this city, was a statue of Genghis (or Chinggis, as he is known here) Khaan, in front of the government building.

Chinggis Khan’s name seems to be everywhere in Ulaanbaatar. The most famous Mongol of all time was more or less written out of history during the communist era as he was viewed by the Russians as a barbarian conqueror. Since the fall of communism, he is once again viewed as a Mongolian hero, with quite a number of different things being named after him, from the International Airport to a brand of beer and from one of Ulan Bataar’s best hotels to a brand of vodka! And yes, we were staying at the Chinngis Khan hotel!

My first impressions of Mongolia have been very good. The Mongolian people come across as very happy, friendly people, always smiling. The city has a very positive vibe about it and our guide, who was in her twenties, seemed very excited about the future of the country.

Day 10

We had quite a brief stop in Ulan Ude this morning, as we needed to take the train later that afternoon to the Russian border. The train arrived early at Ulan Ude (at about 7.30am) but we stayed on it in the sidings until about 9.00am. This is another really good thing about having a private carriage, as it means you don’t have to get off the train at the crack of dawn and spend a whole day sightseeing, feeling tired. Instead, I was showered and had eaten breakfast before we left the train!

Ulan Ude is the capital of the Buryat Republic and includes the Ivolginsky Monastery, which is known to be the centre of Buddhism in Russia. We met our local guide at the station and straight away headed for Ulan Ude’s main Square - Ploshchad Sovietov - to see a statue of the world’s biggest Lenin head. All I can say about this is that the head really is quite huge… and unnecessarily big!

After this we headed off to the Ivolginsk Datsan (monastery), which is just outside the city centre. As I have found with most monasteries I have previously visited, the atmosphere in the Datsan was serene and peaceful. It is interesting to learn how Buddhism in different countries and cultures can vary. After an interesting tour, we headed back to Ulan Ude. Our train was leaving at 1.30pm for the border.

The train arrived at the border at about 17.30 and we knew we were in for a long wait. Train border crossings always take time and this one was no exception…it was probably going to take between 5 - 6 hours! But we were prepared. You are allowed to get off the train at the start, so I spent a couple of hours sunning myself in the evening sun on the platform.

Then we had to get back on the train…. But once again, we were able to reap the benefits of having a private carriage. Apparently the toilets on the rest of the train are locked for the full 6 hours! As we had a biodegradable toilet though, we could use ours. As it was our last night of the tour aboard the train, it was a pleasant surprise to have champagne served to us by our 2 Russian train attendants, Andrei and Natasha. They had been wonderful throughout all the time spent on the trip and nothing was ever too much trouble for them. They kept the train spotless throughout and made sure we were always attached to the right train every time we needed to be!

So, finally, we were through the border at just past midnight … I am looking forward to seeing Mongolia tomorrow.

Day 9

Today we checked out of our guesthouse and took a local boat to get to Port Baikal on the other side of the River Angara, which is where we were boarding the train on the Circumbaikal railway.

This 80km stretch, running along the south side of the lake, was the most difficult section of railway line to build on the whole (original) Trans Siberian route. As the terrain was more or less cliff the whole way along the lake, 33 tunnels and more than 200 bridges had to be built. The main Trans Siberian line no longer follows this route and instead, a faster line has been built to the north. The Circumbaikal route now serves as a popular tourist route… which was what we were doing today.

This train service was really geared up for tourists… it was packed with groups of families and friends out for the day. Nearly all the tourists seemed to be Russian and they all came very well prepared with bags full of food and drink. Our group sat in the very conformable first class section.

As it is a tourist service, the train will stop every so often at places of interest. Everyone is able to get off and wander along the railway tracks, cliffs and beside the lake. A Russian guide also gets off the train and talks to everyone with a loud hailer. We still had our local guide with us, so he was able to translate everything for us, which was great.

It was a really nice and interesting day. Lake Baikal is stunning and in a way it’s a shame its not closer to home or easier to access from the UK to allow more people to travel to see it. However… possibly this is a good thing as I’d be concerned that mass tourism would have a negative impact on the region rather than a positive one.

Our train terminated at a town called Slyudyanka, which is where the old line meets the new Trans Siberian line, and we boarded our train (which had been attached in Irkuksk) that evening for our last stop in Russia, Ulan Ude

Day 8

It was nice to wake up to another sunny day… and to the sound of cow bells. Many of the locals keep cows and they just seem to roam around wherever they choose!

We started this morning at the Museum of Wooden Architecture, which showcases a selection of reconstructed wooden houses from the area. After that, we had lunch by the lake, and ate Omul fish, which is the local speciality from the lake. You find this fish everywhere, served in every restaurant, barbequed on the streets, and hanging up for sale at local markets.

In the afternoon, we had a boat trip out on the lake on a local fishing boat which was lovely. On some occasions, this tour includes optional excursions, and the boat trip was one of these. It means that the cost for the excursion is additional, but it also means that if there is anyone not wanting to go for whatever reason, they don’t have to. An alternative arrangement will always be made for those not doing to optional excursion, at no extra cost. On this occasion, the group who didn’t go on the boat went to visit a local market, and then we met up with everyone after the boat trip. I found that this worked very well and the arrangements were well-organised by our group leader and guide.

The final visit of the day was to the Baikal Ecological Museum, which I found very interesting. We learnt about all aspects associated with the lake; the species that live in and around the lake, the people, the geography. Over 80% of the species that live in Lake Baikal cannot be found anywhere else in the world. The museum also has an aquarium, housing some of the fish species that live in the lake. It is also home to 2 freshwater seals, which can be found at the lake too. It was lovely to see them however, I am not sure whether I agreed with the relatively small area that they were kept in but I have to remember that we are no longer in the western world.

Day 7

Irkutsk is known to be the most popular stop for travellers on the Trans Siberian route. We arrived at the station at a nice time of 10.30am, which allowed everyone to have a relaxing morning on the train, take a shower and make breakfast. Our spare carriage on our train has been converted into a breakfast room and our Group Leader, Chris, has brought in lots of breakfast goodies to ensure that we don’t go hungry… we have a toaster and some people have been making scrambled eggs in the microwave… I never thought it possible to live so comfortably on a train!

This morning we were greeted at Irkutsk station by Damian, who was going to be our local guide for the next three days. It was a beautiful sunny day and we spent the morning and early afternoon exploring the city. The city lies either side of the River Angara, which flows out of Lake Baikal. It might have been the fact the sun was shining but I really liked the city. It was hard to believe it was in the middle of Siberia. Many of the streets in the centre are lined with traditional Siberian wooden houses and it really is hard to imagine how this city must look in the winter time, under piles of snow.

It was a public holiday in Russia today and it also seemed to be a popular day for couples to get married too. There was a really nice atmosphere everywhere, and whilst we were stopping to take photos of the wedding parties, they too were stopping to take photos of us – tourists!

In the afternoon we headed off for the 1 ½ hour drive to Lake Baikal, which was pleasant, through birch forests, and occasionally catching glimpses of the River Angara through the trees. As we met the point where the river starts from its source, Lake Baikal, we had the most spectacular view across the lake, and could see snowcapped mountains the other side of the lake, about 40km away. It really was stunning. We were so lucky with the weather and our guide told us that it is very rarely as clear as it was today.

We checked into our Siberian guesthouse that evening, which reminded me a bit of an Alpine chalet. It has views out over the lake. It was pleasant to be able to sit out on the terrace that evening, enjoying the views and the sunshine

Day 6

It was nice to not have to set an alarm today… I think everyone has now settled in well to train life. Sleeping on the train took about a day to get used to but now, I have no problems at all!

I wanted to use some of my day to try and perfect my learning of the Cyrillic alphabet... it's become like a project of mine whilst I am in Russia. I feel like I am learning to read again, like a child, but its really satisfying you are able to start making sense of words! My fellow travellers are helping me out by pointing out words on platforms and asking what they say… based on some of my responses I still think I have a way to go!

We headed down to the train’s dining car for lunch, which was about 8 down from ours, so quite a long walk – but well-needed, as you don’t get much opportunity to walk anywhere else! As this was a different train from Omsk (the Moscow to Chita), we would get to experience a different train and dining car. We walked through both third and second class carriages to reach the dining car. It was interesting to be able to compare our accommodation with the rest of the train. The standard of accommodation offered on this Classic Traveller tour really is luxurious.  The level of comfort and service is outstanding, particularly the fact that compartments are twin share and that shower, bathroom and toilet facilities are private and modern. I would recommend this tour to anyone who has always dreamed of doing the Trans Siberian or Trans Mongolian, who seeks travel in comfort and style.

Tomorrow we are heading off to Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest lake. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will be good

Day 5

This morning we arrived at Omsk, Siberia’s 2nd largest city. It was founded in 1719 as a small fortress on the west bank of the River Om. I didn’t really have any expectations of the city, I just assumed that because it was a fairly isolated city within Siberia, that it would be fairly traditional and not particularly modern.

It was a pleasant surprise to find it to be a very attractive city, with trees lining the streets, numerous parks, attractive churches and quite a cosmopolitan atmosphere.

We were taken on a guided tour of the city, taking in the history of the city’s fortress. Within the fortress, the military headquarters of the Cossack regiments in Siberia were situated, including a large prison. Fyodor Dostoyevsky spent 4 years at this prison from 1849, and he recorded his experiences here in his book, ‘Buried Alive in Siberia’. The city now has an interesting museum dedicated to Dostoyevsky.

After a filling lunch at a local restaurant, it was once again time to head back to the train station, to board our train to Irkuksk – we’ll be on the train again for another 2 nights, which I am quite looking forward to!

Day 4

A slightly confusing thing about the journey is that there are numerous time-zone changes as you travel eastwards. This morning, we lost 2 hours as are now GMT+5… this meant we had 2 hours less in bed too!

We had a whole day in Russia’s 3rd largest city, Yekaterinburg. I actually woke up this morning to find our carriage stopped, in the sidings of Yekaterinburg train station. The reason for this is because we are being attached to another train this evening when we leave Yekaterinburg, so for the whole day, the train will remain where it is. With our private carriage, it is so convenient being able to leave everything on the train whilst spending a day sightseeing. The 2 members of train staff stay with the carriage the whole time, which means there are no worries about security… it also means that you don’t have to pack and lug your bags on and off trains at every place we visit.

We spent the whole day exploring Yekaterinburg with a local guide. This is a fascinating city, which has recently seen a large amount of real estate investment and rapid redevelopment within the city centre. Having said this, you can still get a feel of what it was like as a Soviet City; wide boulevards with trams and trolley buses rattling up and down and huge statues on every corner.

As well as being Russia’s 3rd city and birthplace to Boris Yeltsin, Yekaterinburg is also well known as being the place where the Romanov family were murdered in 1918. We learnt a lot about the stories and conspiracy theories surrounding the Romanovs and visited the Church of the Blood (which was built on the actual site of the murder) and Romanov Memorial. Just outside the city, we also visited the memorial site, where the bodies were disposed of. On this site, a set of Monasteries have been built, in the memory of the Romanov family.

Day 3

Day 3 was our first full day on the train. I was initially slightly unsure of how we’d spend our day… what really is there to do on a train?

I needn’t have worried, the day passed incredibly quickly, broken up by meals in between. All 3 meals were spent in the train’s dining car.. which was another thing that exceeded my expectations. There was furnished and padded seating and the décor wasn’t too bad either. I was impressed by the food and the choice that was on offer. Lunch was 3 courses of salad, soup and then a main course of chicken and dinner was really tasty trout with vegetables. A few of us sampled the local beer and vodka, which was very reasonably priced and helps the sleeping on the train!

The rest of the day was spent reading, talking, watching the scenery go by and for me, writing my blog. We agreed that its actually quite nice to not need to have an excuse to relax and chill out!

I think the main highlight of the day for many though was arriving at the local stations. At each station, the train is greeted by local ladies, selling their wares. What they sell can vary greatly, and in the whole day I don’t think I saw 2 people selling the same thing. We had been told that there would be lots of different types of food on offer, so looked forward to seeing what would be available.

We were a bit taken aback at the first station though, where there was absolutely no food on offer… instead, just a huge array of toys and objects. From huge stuffed dogs (about 4 foot high), to luminous loafers for the bath! I am not really sure who would buy from these ladies but it was definitely a fascinating sight!

At other stations however, we had the opportunity to buy homemade salads and bread, dried fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, beer, vodka… the list is endless!

Day 2

We had a full on day of sightseeing planned today, making the most of our day in Moscow.

Highlights of the day included visits to Red Square and St Basil’s Cathedral, the Kremlin, the Armoury and a tour of the Moscow Metro, which was fascinating to see the architecture of some of Metro stations. I was also surprised to learn that 9 million people travel daily on the Moscow Metro system, which shows the sheer size and population of the city.

In the evening, we visited theformer Russian State Department Store – GUM (or Гум) – for dinner. I then spent some time afterwards gazing at shoes in some of the designer shops within the store – these shops were definitely appealing to people with money, and lots of it!

After dinner, we went to a choir performance by a local Russian Choir group. They sung a section of religious songs followed by some folk songs. I must admit, at the start, I really wasn’t sure what to expect from the concert but I ended up really enjoying the music.

At 9.30pm that evening, we were picked up and taken to the train station, where our private carriage was waiting for us, attached to the back of the trainbound for Yekaterinburg.

My first impression was "wow" I have done quite a lot of travelling by train through Europe and have experienced a real variety of train sleeping accommodation in my time.. but nothing compared to this!

The carriage really did exceed my expectations. Each twin birth compartment is incredibly clean with every luxury you need to make your stay on train comfortable. We have duvets, a TV, towels, toiletteries, snacks, water and even slippers. The shower on the train is spacious, clean and stocked with modern toiletries (including hair conditioner, which I had forgotten to bring!).  We have tea and coffee making facilities, a microwave and even a fridge, perfect for chilling the beers that everyone stocked up on before boarding the train!

We have a full day onboard the train on Monday, so will be well-settled in by the time I next write….!

Day 1

I had all the correct visas in my passport and had made sure I had all of the relevant things packed. Planning for this trip wasn’t really like planning for a conventional holiday. I had to make sure I had things like a money belt, mosquito repellent, torch, toilet paper, tin cup… thankfully we were provided with helpful suggested packing list beforehand, which assisted with the planning and packing! With my backpack almost as tall as myself, I was ready to go!

After a fairly early start, I headed off to Heathrow, for my flight to Moscow. My first experience of Terminal 5 was a positive one. Queues for both check-in and security were minimal, which allowed me to get through and chill out before boarding the plane and take in the vast, ultra-modern terminal.

As I went to board the plane to Moscow, I observed that that nearly all the passengers were Brits, all quite a bit older than me… around 55+. I didn’t expect the plane to be full of so many British people and wondered where they all might be going and whether they were on some kind of tour. I thought that some might have luggage labels which would help me out…. so, checking out the bag of the man in front of me, I suddenly realised that he did have a luggage label and it said Titan HiTours… looking around me, I suddenly realised that they all had Titan luggage labels. I was amongst a Titan tour!

Disembarking the plane, I was impressed by how efficient the Moscow airport was at checking passports and visas. I was off the plane and had my bag within about 20 minutes and was greeted at arrivals by my driver – a private transfer to the Moscow hotel is included as part of the tour.

The Sovietsky Hotel, where I was staying for the first night was a good standard 4 star hotel, with courteous staff and an air of former grandeur.

On arrival at the hotel, I met my tour leader and group for a welcome meeting. We have a group of 12 in total, which is a nice size group to travel in, a mixture of couples and single travellers. Our group leader, Chris, ran through all of the arrangements for the next 2 weeks – our private train carriage really does sound amazing and I am looking forward to seeing what it will be like.