I popped into M&S yesterday – all nice and shiny now it is the UK’s newest bank. I have always used them for foreign currency as the rates seem pretty reasonable. My quest was actually for US Dollars, and lots of them, in small denomination notes. What I found out was that both Russian Roubles and Chinese Yuan are no longer restricted currencies, so I also got some landing currency for both of these countries – and they were in stock there and then in the branch. The Mongolian Tourag remains restricted, so I’ll have to do something on the […]

I’m going to apply for my Trans-Siberian visas next month. I’ll be needing visas for Belrus, Russia, Mongolia and China. The snag is that the Chinese visa only lasts for three months from the date that its issued, whereas I understand the other ones (Russia, Mongolia and Belarus) work on specific dates. More on this in a later post – I’m in the hands of the Real Russia visa team, who so far sound like real experts. Anyway, in preparation for the red tape ahead, I went to get some passport type photos taken yesterday. Thankfully I visited my local […]

Its not the sort of programme I have on series link on my Sky box at home, but I have just seen that next week Karl Pilkington will be travelling on the Trans-Siberian as part of his “bucket list”. As he is going through Mongolia from Moscow there is a good chance he is on the train I am looking to use, so I’m going to watch that with interest..  

I thought once I had chosen the route it would not be too hard to buy a ticket. In fact this has actually been the hardest part of my experience so far. Its not that you can’t get tickets or that travel agents won’t take my money, but its been difficult getting exactly what I want. I ended up speaking to several UK based agents before making progress. Just in case its of help in planning your trip, this was how it went.. Having looked up the best known agents from Seat Sixty-One, I started with Trans-Siberian Experience. Their website […]

Having decided that this year I am definitely going to do “the big train ride”- the Trans-Siberian (or a version of it) I have also taken the decision to share how I get on in a blog. I suspect that if you are reading this you either (a) know me and will be checking in here regularly to see if I am in a hospital or gulag yet, or (b) are considering this trip yourself having stumbled upon me in your search for more knowledge in preparing for your trip. Either way, you are very welcome! Its also my first […]