Can anybody help me travelling from Biejing to St Petersburg during May this year and I was wondeing about cash and currency I need to take can anyone give me some advice do I take some dollars or euros, can I use a credit card or cash machines along the way.
We are planning to stop in Beijing, Ulaan Baator, Irktusk, Yetingburg, Moscow and St Petersburg
can some one please help me
Reply to this Hi Redwarf,
Did a trip with the transsiberian last year my self. In Moscow you can use ATM s to get Rubels and you can use them in the train as well.
Beiijng ATM s all over the place .
In the train food is not too good but cheap and you can buy food at the stations during stops. The other places I don t know but I m sure US$ will do in Ulaan Batoor.
Have a nice trip
Reply to this Hi Redwarf I done the trip last year and found that 1, food on the Chinese train is very good and included in your ticket price, 2, the food on the Mongolian leg is tasty but you need to have $s or Mongolian currency and believe me the exchange rate is unbelievable dont expect any change from $20 bill lol that said it was very tasty however 3,the Russian dining car is horrendous and extremely expensive i only ate in there once i had a luke warm pork chop with lumpy mashed potatoes gravy and a glass of orange juice and the cost wait for it $40. and no change i tried to complain and was shouted at in Russian when i got off the train i again tried to complain and was told by a very nice English speaking man that the dining cars are run independantly and as such the oinly people to complain to are the ones running that particular dini ng carriage lol so take plenty of supplies for the Russian leg of your trip. REGARDS BILL
Reply to this happywanderer don't know if you got my email but did you get off the train and buy food on the platform as they say, would be grateful for any tips as I leave in 2 weeks time travelling with my disaabled wife and he sister so it should be an adventure
Reply to this Its a great trip the three of you will have a great time bear in mind though that sometimes when you stop by the time you actually get off ts practically time to get back on. I did buy some food at the stations and the quality was excellent however due to the nearest ATM being out of order when i got into Russia i bought Roubles at an extortionate rate from the man running the dining car so everything i bought was very expensive lol P.S plenty of fresh fruit to be had on the stations and definitely try the fish its amazing.. Take a good selection of soft drinks as well as tea coffee powdered milk sugar ect. Also as you are going east to west buy plenty of the pot noodles from the shops in Beijing don't buy them right at the station walk around the back and there is a local shop that sells the exact same pot noodles at half the price.
my email is
email me direct if i can be of any further assistance enjoy the journey REGARDS BILL Reply to this Bill I see that your email has been removed I tried to PM you but maybe I just ask the question about the change of carrages at the Russian border how long did it take and were you allowed to get off
Reply to this you can get off the train but i stayed on and was told by those that got off that they wished they had stayrd on the only trouble is no toilets for a couple of hours but its worth it to see them change the carriage wheels i9 leaned out of the window and took loads of pics, they were changing one on another platform as well so i got pics of my train being raised up as well as the other one. Those that got off said they were herded into a service area and were not allowed to see where the carriages were being changed. I have read on other blogs that the Russian gaurds were extremely friendly and allowed passengers to walk about in the sheds but that never happenned to the ones on my train so i suppose it depends on the mood of the gaurds at the time lol good luck Regards Bill Anderson maybe this will get past them
Reply to this Bill thanks for the advice tried your email but it bounced back looks like we will probably have to get off as my wife has MS and will probably need the loo after a few hours lets hope we have friendly guard. What is the station we have to do this at and how long did it take?
Its just over a week now and I'm getting quite exciited about this trip so lets hope it lives up to my expectations
Reply to this my fault sorry it should have read
I have been told it sometimes takes 7/8 hours to get through this but in my case it was under 4 and as for what there is to do at the station i am afraid i can't help you much there can only tell you what people said to me.IT WAS BORING lol as far as i can remember there was a shop there that was open(we arrived in the middle of the night) and there was a toilet but not much else. What class are you travelling? 1st class is very very comfortable and near the dining carriage i was very lucky and had a carriage all to myself all the way from Mongolia to Moscow, this is what really surprised me i had read everywhere how packed this train is but i found it very quiet after leaving Ulan Bator there was only about 30 people on the whole of the Chinese end of the train. The train was quite busy at the other end beyond the dining car Plaska class (i think) but i only went down that end one night to play cards with some Americans Oh at the far end of the Plaska carriage there is a drinking water machine (free) which made a pleasant change from the juices and tea that i had had all week lol. Take plenty of baby wipes (wet ones) because they come in so handy to wipe your hands clean the train window all sorts of uses, also if you really need it its quite easy to take a laptop/dvd player because although you dont have sockets in your cabin they are on the walls in every carriage so depending on your proximity a small extension lead or just regular charging is very easy, I never bothered with my laptop i just relaxed and read books it was a wonderful journey and i am sure you and your wife will have a great time.
REGARDS BILL ANDERSON Reply to this 
