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Two friends started this after realizing that time is slowly running out. Old age is not yet creeping in but at fifty, one is not tempted to adventures which involve long treks on foot in barren country. They like some Western comfort albeit not the 'grand luxe'. Jules and Jos are independent travellers and like to arrange things the way they figure out. So, what got this started was originally an idea to go RV'ing (travelling in a recreational vehicle) through the South of the US. After considering the effort involved they thought this could be done later so they opted for something more adventurous and started looking into the opposite direction. East it would be ... first by plane to Moscow and then on to Beijing by the famous Trans-Siberian Express.
This site is an attempt to wrap up all the hurdles (not many) and to summarize a lot of information needed for such a trip. Expect a travelogue with many photographs later on. A rough clickable picture book is online. Have a look! Please click photography on the left ...
After much searching on the net choices were narrowed down to these hotels.
Traveller's Guest House Top Small private hotel, accomodation for 50, 16 rooms, restaurant, cafe, bar, laundry. Excursions in Moscow and RR tickets service Bol. Pereyaslavskaya ul., 50, fl. 10 Administration: 971-40-59; Fax: 280-76-86 E-mail: tgh@glasnet.ru
We changed to the Asiahotel near metro Ryazanskiy [Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya purple line] SE Moscow. Better deal and cheap tickets for the transsib +7 (0)95 378 0001
http://www.sinohotel.com/beijing/fangyuan/Address: Denshikou West Street #36, Dongcheng District, Beijing, China Tel: 86-10-65256331 Fax: 86-10-65138549
CHONGWENMEN HOTEL Location: Beijing Star: * * * Address: West Chongwenmen Street, Beijing, China 100062 Tel: 65122211 Fax: 65122122 AreaCode: +86-10
Jimen Hotel Beijing Jimen Bridge, College Road, Beijing, CHINA 100088 Phone: 0086-10-62012211 Fax: 0086-10-62015355 Telex: 222325 JMH CN Cable: 5636
Best of Lonely Planet Torn Tree
The 12th and 13th watchtowers at Simatai, about 20kms north east of Beijing, are one of the most recent sections of the Great Wall to be opened to tourists and certainly the most spectacular, following the ridges of a saw-toothed mountain range. The wall has been reconstructed up to the fifth and sixth watchtowers leading from the access but as it climbs away from this point it becomes increasingly hazardous for insecure and nervous explorers. For others it is exhilarating but a tough climb. This section was built in the early period of Emperor Hong Wa of the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644. John Macdonald, New Zealand (Dec 99)
The 'Panjiayuan Jiuhuo Shichang' (Panjiayuan old wares market), located just inside the south-east corner of the Third Ring Road (just west of Panjiayuan Bridge) in Beijing is the best and cheapest place to shop for antiques and souvenirs in Beijing. Of course, bargaining is de rigeur, and prices have risen in direct proportion to the number of Beijing Hotel tour buses that have begun to park in the nearby side streets. But many good bargains remain to be had and the selection is vast. The market is open Saturday and Sunday mornings - get there early for bargains. Action starts to die down around noon. Antony Dapiran, Australia (Aug 98)
Hong Qiao market (flashy blue glass building, Beijing): this place is across the street from the east gate of Tiantan Park (Temple of Heaven). Besides every trinket known to humans on floors one and two, the most amazing place is the third floor that holds the Pearl Market. Each stall has piles of pearls in every shape, size and colour. You won't believe your eyes, with thick bunches of pearl strands lying on countless counter-tops. Bargaining is expected and bargains are easily found. A decent looking freshwater strand sells for around $5 and they will string and knot any combination of pearls and stones, such as amethyst, garnet and lapis, free of charge. All vendors speak English and some accept credit cards. Madeline McCloskey (Jul 98)
There are various bus routes to Tiantan: bus #36 runs from Tian'anmen past the west and south gates, while #20 and #54 pass the west gate on their way from Beijing Zhan down to Yongdingmen, also via Tian'anmen, and bus #41 from Chongwenmen stops opposite the east gate.
You can now get to the Summer Palace by boat. Boats leave from Wanshou and the TV Tower plus a few other docks. Andrew Correia, United Kingdom (Sept 99)
Learning Russian or, for that matter Chinese, is not a trivial task. However, Jules has a knack for languages. He speaks fluently Italian and Czech, besides English, French, German, Spanish and of course Dutch, his mother tongue.
Here are a few pointers to learning Russian or any other language. Particularly the Talk Now! CD-ROM's are excellent for rapid language learning. Have a go at Eurotalk, the company who produces these fine kits. Also, for an on the spot crash course, visit the Travlang site. For a collection of survival phrases, go to the Transparent website.
These books will travel along to cope with the language barrier: Berlitz's Chinese-Mandarin Phrase Book, Berlitz Publishing, 1998; Russisch-Nederlands Woordenboek, Roesski Jazyk, Moskou, 1998 and The Mandarin Phrasebook, Lonely Planet Publications, 1996.
(good morning) 
(have
a nice day)
(good morning) 
(thank you)
One sensible advice: write down the words from a phrasebook and show these. This way one avoids revealing the obvious (being a totally ignorant stranger).
Jules is a professional photographer. He's a Leica aficionado and uses several of these top class machines. Go to his site to get an idea of his work. Both are photojournalism adepts. While Jos found his ideas in the sixties and seventies, Jules is still very active. Of course digital cameras have taken over now.
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Trans-Mongolian
Railway: Moscow-Beijing Eastbound No. 4
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| station | km>Mos | stops |
Mos
time
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Loc
Time
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Tuesday
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| Moscow's Yaroslav Station | Moskva Jroslavskey vokzal | 0 |
19:53
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19:53
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Wednesday
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| Yaroslavl | Jroslavlw | 282 | 5 / 10 |
0:08
|
0:08
|
| Danilov | Danelov | 357 | 15 |
1:50
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1:50
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| Bui | Buy | 450 | 2 / 8 |
3:13
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3:13
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| Kirov | Kerov | 957 | 15 |
10:42
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11:42
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| Perm 2 | Prm 2 | 1437 | 15 |
18:15
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20:15
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Thursday
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| Ekaterinburg | katrenburg | 1818 | 15 |
0:29
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2:29
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| Tyumen | Tmnw | 2144 | 10 |
4:25
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6:25
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| Ishim | Eem | 2433 | 9 |
8:03
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11:03
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| Omsk | Omsk | 2716 | 15 |
11:47
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14:47
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Friday
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| Novosibirsk | Novosebersk | 3343 | 15 |
21:11
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0:11
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| Taiga | Tayga | 3571 | 10 |
0:52
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4:42
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| Achinsk 1 | Acensk 1 | 3940 | 4 / 5 |
6:15
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10:15
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| Krasnoyarsk | Krasnojrsk | 4104 | 22 / 19 |
9:57
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13:57
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| ilanskaya | Elanskaj | 4383 | 20 |
~
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~
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| Taishet | Tayt | 4522 | 2 |
16:29
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20:29
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| Nizhneudinsk | Nehnudensk | 4683 | 15 |
~
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~
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| Zima | Zema | 4941 | 20 |
~
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~
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Saturday
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| Irkutsk | Erkutsk | 5185 | 15 / 13 |
4:04
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9:04
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| Slyudyanka 1 | Sldjnka 1 | 5312 | ~ |
6:18
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11:18
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| Ulan-Ude | Ulan-Ud | 5642 | 20 / 19 |
11:49
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16:49
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| Gusinoe Ozero | Guseno Ozro | 5800 | 2 |
14:46
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20:46
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| Naushki | Nauke | 5897 |
18:20
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0:20
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| MONGOLIA |
Sunday
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| Sukhbaatar | Suxbaatar | 5925 | 1 hr+ |
1:20
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| Darhan | Darxan | 6023 | 10 |
3:11
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| Ulan Bator | Ulaanbaatar | 6304 | 30 |
9:30
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| Choyr | Coir | 6551 | 15 |
14:06
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| Sayn Shand | Sain and | 6778 | 15 |
17:52
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| Dzamyn Ude | Dzamin Ud | 7013 | 1 hr+ |
22:33
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| CHINA |
Monday
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| Erlan | 7023 | 2 hr+ |
1:47
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| Jining | 7356 | 10 |
6:29
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| Datong | 7483 | 13 |
8:34
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| Zhangjiakou | 7661 | 10 |
11:00
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| Kangzhuang | 7771 | 8 |
12:34
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| Qinglongqiao | 7783 | 10 |
13:19
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| Nankou | 7801 | 14 |
14:31
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| Beijing | 7865 |
15:33
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| times shown are departure times - subtract stop for arrival time | |||||
For Moscow there's the indispensable Rough Guide, the last edition is the 2nd one from September 1998. Once on the Trans-Sib, Bryn Thomas' Handbook will be our guide. For those doing the trip this year wait till the 5th edition comes out in June. For Beijing there's the July 1998 edition of the Lonely Planet.
At present we're scavenging bookshops for a decent map of Beijing. There's the standard 'grey' one, which seems to pop up everywhere on the net and the one from CNN in handy pdf format.
As for literature on the train, there's some time to think about. Certainly lightweight and probably popular or best seller. Better still the local newspaper.
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pdf
of Beijing (84 s)
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busy areas in Beijing (81 s) |
jpg
of Beijing centre (62 s)
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pdf
of Moscow (54 s)
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jpg of Moscow metro (11 s) | satellite image of Mao's tomb & hutongs (41 s) |
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timings
are for downloads at 56k bps
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