Hello everyone,

If you're asking about the backpacking dream route, the Trans-Siberian Railway is definitely one of them. The journey takes you through two continents, Europe and Asia, passing through the world's largest country, the world's most populous country, and the country that was once the cradle of the Mongol Empire. The journey takes you through European cities, across the vast Mongolian steppes, and finally to Chinese cities.

Traveling by train (and a little by bus) for over 10,000 kilometers, spending a whole month on my first solo trip. It was an emotional rollercoaster, from joy and excitement to loneliness and sadness (I'll tell you all about it later), but also filled with the friendships I made along the way.

Okay, let's start the review after a long wait.

This trip started on the night of October 2nd and arrived in Russia on the morning of October 3rd. I returned on November 2nd at almost midnight (actually, it was already November 3rd when I landed). In total, it was exactly 31 days.

I've been planning this trip since June. It's been a long time in the making because this is my first solo trip and I'm going to be crossing Mongolia. And to top it all off, these three countries have very few English speakers. So I had to prepare travel information in their native languages as well.

The distance from Saint Petersburg to the China-Mongolia border is

The distance from the Chinese border to Wuhan, the city from which we flew back to Thailand.

Before reviewing, let's summarize the expenses first. Let's round the numbers to make it easier to calculate.

Expenses paid in advance before going

The round-trip flight from Bangkok to Moscow on Etihad Airways was on sale for 11,400 baht.

The return flight from Wuhan to Bangkok on Air Asia, including 20 kg of checked baggage, costs 3,500 baht.

The total cost of train tickets in Russia is 15,000 rubles, which is approximately 8,500 Thai baht.

The cost of a sleeper train in China from Beijing to Wuhan is approximately 1800 baht.

And finally, the Chinese visa fee is 1,000 baht (Russians and Mongolians can enter Thailand for 30 days without a visa).

The total amount to be paid before departure is 26,200 baht.

And the money used during the trip

The total amount spent in Russian Rubles was 32,500 rubles, which is approximately 19,500 Thai baht (at an exchange rate of 0.6 baht per ruble).

370 Mongolian Tögrög (MNT) is approximately 13,300 Thai Baht (THB) at an exchange rate of 36 THB per MNT.

And finally, 975 Chinese yuan, approximately 5500 baht (rate 5.6 baht)

Total spending in Thailand was 38,300 baht.

The total cost for this trip is 64,500 baht, but let's round it up to 65,000 baht.

Now that you have a rough idea, let's start our journey.

2/10 Departing from Suvarnabhumi Airport at 20.35

3/10 Arrive in the morning at 7.35 am, travel to Sergiev Posad or the city of Tsargos, then return in the evening and take the night train to St. Petersburg.

Troitse-Sergiyev Monastery in the city of Sergiev Posad

4/10-7/10 Visit St. Petersburg

8/10 Arrived in Veliky Novgorod in the evening and took a night train back to Moscow.

9/10-10/10 Travel in Moscow

11/10 Departed from Moscow to the city of Vladimir to take a car to the city of Suzdal

The atmosphere of the city of Suzdal

12/10 Traveled back from Suzdal to Vladimir to travel to Kazan by sleeper train

October 13th, arrive in Kazan in the morning. In the evening, take an overnight train to Yekaterinburg.

14/10 Arrived in EKATERINBURG at noon. In the evening, we set off again for Krasnoyask.

15/10 We were on the train all day.

16/10 Arrive in Krasnoyask and stay with a host through Couchsurfing.

Siberian Forest Views at Stolby Nature Reserve in Krasnoyarsk City

17/10 Departed from Krasnoyask by sleeper train as usual to Irkutsk

18/10 Arrive in Irkutsk. Explore the city and book a trip to Lake Baikal.

19/10-21/10 Stay overnight at Olkhon Island in Lake Baikal, return to Irkutsk on the night of 21st, take a sleeper train to the last city of Russia, Ulan Ude

October 22nd, arriving in Ulan Ude. Book a bus ticket to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for the morning of the 23rd.

23/10 Arrived in Mongolia by bus in the evening

24/10 Visit Ulaanbaatar and find tours outside the city

25-28/10 Out-of-town tour

Gorkhi-Terelj National Park

29/10 Take the train to Beijing

30/10-1/11 Visit Beijing. Take a sleeper train to Wuhan before the night of November 1st.

2/11 Travel to Wuhan in the evening, take a plane back to Thailand. Travel 21.10

Before going, parents were concerned about the safety of traveling to this country.

My trip to Russia was quite pleasant. I didn't encounter anything frightening.

Despite their often stern expressions, Russians are actually very kind and friendly. I was pleasantly surprised by how welcoming they were, and I ended up having a very positive impression of them.

He doesn't smile, but he helps everyone.

For example, this young Russian man named Artem met on the sleeper train to Irkutsk. We were in the same compartment and could speak a little English to each other, but we had to use a language translation app to help us.

He was very kind. In the morning, he brought me tea before I left for the city. When I arrived, he took me to the hotel (Artem's brother picked me up).

Or on the train, the uncles and aunts always like to share snacks with me.

(I guess they saw me traveling alone and talking to myself, so they gave me some snacks to shut me up. Haha.)

For Mongolia, it's the same, it seems safe, the people are nice, I'm impressed.

Please turn on the internet so I can play. My parents don't speak English, but my daughter speaks it quite well (and she's cute too). Speaking of trains,

In Russia, I booked everything online in advance, about a month before my trip. This is because if you book in advance, you can get a special discount of about 30%, if I remember correctly.

How to book on the website http://pass.rzd.ru/ Don't forget to change it to English or you'll be confused.

This page appears after changing the language. The city names may be spelled strangely because they are spelled according to the Russian pronunciation (Moscow is read as Moskva, St. Petersburg is read as Sankt-Peterburg, etc.).


Once you have selected the train schedule, you will be able to choose the carriage, class (I only sleep in class 2 and 3) and the seat (the lower berth sleeper is slightly more expensive than the upper berth).

Oh, don't forget to register as a member and log in first to fill in the information.

Once you're done, pay with your credit card and don't forget to print your train ticket.

This ticket is all you need to board the train. Just show it to the conductor (I used it for 10 train rides in Russia during this trip).


Tip Russian train

1. The time on the ticket will be Moscow time. Even in Siberia, the time difference with Moscow can be 2-4 hours, so don't forget to adjust the time. (I met a Chinese friend who thought the time on the ticket was local time and almost missed the train.)

2. The difference between the 2nd and 3rd class is that the 2nd class train is a closed room with longer beds and more privacy, but if you are a woman and you get a room with only men, it might be difficult to accept (but from my experience, Russian people are lovely). So, you might want to try the 3rd class as well (I tried both on this trip).

This is the condition of the cabinet on the 3rd floor.


3. For those who travel from Moscow to Irkutsk to go to Baikal, don't forget to prepare a lot of food because you will be sitting for 3-4 days.

I've been to every city in the country, with the longest stay being 36 hours. (I recommend bringing your own chili paste, the Russian instant noodles are incredibly bland.)

This jar was a lifesaver, but I later gave it to the host in Krasnoyask.

4. Not all trains have plugs. At first I thought that the 2nd class would have them all, but in reality they don't. So if you're traveling long distances, a power bank is important if you're addicted to social media.

5. Lastly, don't forget to prepare yourself to make new friends. As I mentioned before, Russians may not seem very smiley, but once you get to know them, they are incredibly kind and will always share their food with you.

I recommend finding a language translation app to help you communicate.

For trains from Mongolia to China, I couldn't book online, but I was able to find an agent in Ulaanbaatar. If I remember correctly, I got a price of 78 USD to Beijing.

And finally, I booked the Chinese train through http://www.knowchinese.com/.

As for the train, it should end here. If you have any questions, you can ask me privately.

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