Trans-Siberian (Vladivostok - Irkutsk)

Staff member: Kirsty // Trip date: May 2007

Arrival at Vladivostok airport

Passengers arrive into either Vladivostok domestic or international terminal.
Vladivostok airport is very very small, there are three immigration people checking each flight, this process can take up to half an hour.
If arriving on an International flight all passengers must have a completed immigration form, available on the plane or in the waiting area, examples are available to copy from - we suggested to GW travel to have an example copy in the passenger's documents as Russian immigration can be very daunting for people. You will get two sides to your immigration card, the officials keep one side of the card and you keep the other, it MUST remain in your passport as it will be required when exiting Russia and for hotel check in and registration.
Once through immigration we collect our luggage and an attendant will check your baggage sticker matches your baggage receipt. Once you step into the public area you will immediately see the Trans Siberian Express board, porters will then take the baggage to the bus and another guide will take you to the bus so you are not waiting in the busy area.

If arriving in the domestic terminal you will just collect your baggage then go through to the Trans Siberian Express sign and to the bus.
**Transfers will be arranged for passengers flying via Moscow as they need to change terminals in Moscow, this is 20 minute drive, so we must take all flight details so transfers can be arranged**

The drive to Vladivostok Hyandai Hotel is around 45 minutes; an English speaking guide welcomes everyone on to the bus and gives some useful information about Russia - some phrases and general info about the area.

Arrival at the Hyundai Hotel

Hyandai Hotel is a 'modern' hotel in the central area of Vladivostok. The reception staff speaks Basic English. On arrival all passports are handed to the staff to be registered. You can pick them up a couple of hours later. There is an exchange office and ATM in the reception area. All passengers should travel with new USD as they are the easiest to exchange, and are also accepted instead of Russian rubles in some cases eg. Souvenir shops. The hotel rooms are fairly basic and for a four star hotel it is more like 2-3 star in Australian standard. The rooms are clean and all passengers will be given a bottle of water in the room, complimentary from GW.
At 7pm all passengers meet in the lobby for an arrival dinner - all dinners are casual dress. Passengers do not need to take evening wear, however some men do choose to wear a dinner jacket.
Guests are taken by bus to another hotel for dinner. At this stage all guests can advise the tour leaders of dietary requirements. All dinners have an entre of salad and then the main and dessert. Guests were given a shot of Vodka, however Vodka is not included when on the train. Back to the hotel after dinner.

City Tour of Vladivostok

We wake up fairly early for the city tour which starts at 10am. Breakfast is included and available in the hotel restaurant. All bags are to be left outside our doors and porters collect them and take them to the train for us, ready in the cabins when we arrive in the evening.

We are divided into three buses for the tour and taken to various sites to look over the city and port of Vladivostok. We then went on a short boat ride around the port, this was a wonderful way to see the city and all passengers seemed to enjoy it. After the boat ride we went to a restaurant for lunch, all drinks were included and all passengers were given the same meal.

After lunch there was more sightseeing, it got a little tiring in the afternoon and some passengers commented that it seemed to be just filling in time before we got on the train, which was not until 8pm. All the travel agents on board made suggestions to Sheila from GW to make the city tour shorter as it was a very long day.

Arrival at the Vladivostok train station

Around 7.30pm we are taken to Vladivostok train station, everyone is getting very excited to see the train and their cabin. We are given a short tour of the station and the chance to have photos at the monument that starts/ends the Trans Siberian. All cabin crew are waiting outside the entrances to our nice shiny new blue train. We have all been told we must be on board by 8pm. Carriage numbers are placed on the outside of the carriages so we know where to climb aboard. The steps to get on board are quite high and while the attendants are willing to assist I would not recommend the train to anyone with major handicaps - some of the passengers had walking sticks and seemed to manage ok. Our baggage has been taken to our cabins and there is tomorrow's itinerary in the cabin, as well as a list of phrases that will be helpful when communicating with the cabin attendants as they do not speak English very well as well as a list of how to use all the amenities i.e. shower, toilet, lights etc.

The cabin was smaller than I expected, however I was lucky to be upgraded to Gold Class, which is 17 sq feet bigger than Silver. The most notable difference is that in Gold Class you have an actual shower compartment, all drinks are also included for Gold Class passengers, where as in Silver class the passenger's drinks are included with meals. GW would like to have another selling point for Gold Class and are thinking of a bottle of wine or something similar to have in the cabins. In Silver Class the shower is just a curtain in the bathroom so the floor of the shower will get wet. This is referred to as a wet room bathroom. The actual size of the cabins in Silver is also slightly smaller with less room to move when the beds have been turned down.

When we came aboard the cabins were set up in the day position, which is one couch and a small table, when we go to dinner the attendants make the cabins into the night position which is an upper and lower berth. The lower berth is the size of a King Single which is big enough for two small people to share if they are cannot get to the upper berth.
(Very good for the older passengers who cannot get up and down the ladders) All passengers are also given a complimentary bottle of Vodka and some reading material about the history of the Trans Siberian railway, the towns they will go through and things they should look out for.

We do not have time to unpack as dinner is served straight away. I think most passengers would prefer to get to the train a little earlier and have a chance to freshen up after the long day and this was suggested to GW Travel. However for us it was dinner straight away.

Dinner service

The dining car is in the middle of the train, separating the Gold and Silver class cabins. There are three dining attendants and they serve us for breakfast, lunch and dinner, once again their English is very basic however sufficient for serving us. The dining car looks very nice, all tables are in fours which give passengers a great chance to get to know each other. Each table has a menu which has the meal options for the next four days.

We are served a glass of Champagne as it is the first night on board the train, champagne is not served with all meals. (It is the same red and white wine for the whole trip, lunch and dinner so it can get a little tiring) The food itself is not 5 star, however it is the best available. All meals are three courses, a shared entr￩e for each table, usually some kind of cold salad, however sometimes soup. There is then a choice of a meat dish or vegetarian for the main meal and everyone is served the same dessert. Our glasses were kept filled until dessert, they were then cleared and tea and coffee was offered. We were served a shot of Vodka, however this was the only meal on board that Vodka was served.

After dinner we went back to the room to unpack, there is one cupboard, coat hangers are provided, also a hook for coats and shelves for other clothes. There are also storage compartments around the bed for smaller items. Suitcases are stored at the end of the carriages, there is no room for the suitcase in the compartment, so they must be unpacked.

Once unpacked the room attendants came to make the room into the night position. (They will usually do this during dinner)
The bathroom in Gold Class is big enough for one person. The shower, as mentioned is a separate compartment with a door so the water is contained. All showers work with a push button and the water flow lasts about 20 seconds before you press it again. While extremely annoying it does minimize the water usage. The floor in the bathroom of Gold Class is heated, however there is no other heating in the bathroom. Passengers are provided with a pair of slippers (they can take these with them at the end of the journey) a bathrobe and shampoo and conditioner. Towels and sheets are changed every three days.

I found most passengers had a fairly rough sleep on the first night, the train is fairly rocky and quite loud, especially those cabins above the wheels, however by the second night most people were fine.

Breakfast on board the train

Breakfast is served in the dining car, passengers are given the choice of fruit, porridge, eggs, bread, yoghurt and some kind of pastry each day. Tea and coffee is served and orange juice is available on the tables. Depending on the days schedule passengers will usually have a window of around 2 hours for breakfast, from 8am - 10am.

City Tours

On the days we have city tours we are taken directly from the train to a bus, we are given headsets so we can hear the local guide, the guides all speak English fairly well. All passengers are provided with a bottle of water on the city tours and bathroom stops are organized at nice hotels, so there is never an issue of using a public toilet.

Days on board the train

During the train journey there are a number of days the passengers spend all day on board the train. The passengers are given a number of activities they can choose to do during this time such as attend Russian classes, various lectures such as the history of the Trans Siberian, and the history of Siberia. Documentaries are also screened, such as the wildlife of Siberia and a documentary on Genghis Kahn. The passengers seemed to embrace these activities and they certainly broke up the day. As well as the group activities the train has a small library of both books and DVD's the passengers can take to their room. Another very popular activity was the afternoon nap, something I embraced whole heartedly.

Boarder crossing in and out of Mongolia

Crossing the boarder in and out of Mongolia is a very inconvenient process. We are provided with an immigration form and a run sheet which explains how to fill out the forms as there are quite a few to do, it is not a complicated process however it is quote time consuming, the tour leader is available if passengers have any problems/questions. We get to the Russian boarder around 8pm and stay there for around two hours. During this time we must stay in the cabins, dinner is brought forward on this day to ensure we are finished by the time we get to the boarder. The officials collect our passport and immigration forms, an hour or so later they are brought back, at this time the train moves along to the Mongolian boarder and Mongolian officials come and check our passports and immigration forms, this is another two hour process. We can go to sleep during this time and the officials will just drop the passports back in the cabin, however it is a little unsettling.

This process is repeated on the way out of Mongolia, however it is early morning instead of late night, so still very inconvenient.

Ulaan Baatar

The tour of Ulaan Baatar was a highlight for many passengers and a very unexpected one, we spend all day seeing the highlights and both lunch and dinner are served off the train. Some of the highlights were the natural history museum and a trip to the National park, about an hour drive out of the city. We had dinner at a local's house and the option to ride a horse. It was quite tiring especially due to the interrupted night however the passengers seemed to all enjoy themselves, especially the free time for shopping in the afternoon.

Lake Baikal

Another highlight of the trip was visiting Lake Baikal, the biggest fresh water lake in the world! We arrive on the railway line in the morning and the train can only travel at a maximum of 40km an hour, it doesn't often reach this speed either. The line is no longer used for regular routes it is scenic line so the train goes in one way and comes out the same way, it is back tracking but well worth the time spent. As the train is traveling fairly slowly it gives a wonderful chance to really take in the scenery, snow capped mountains and crystal clear water. We were lucky to have a beautiful blue day and for US$5.00 passengers were able to travel on the train with the driver for about half an hour. This was definitely something worth doing, all passengers were advised that doing this was at their own risk. The train stopped on the track for a BBQ lunch, some passengers were game enough to go swimming in the zero degrees water! The area for lunch was quite small however passengers could go for a small walk in the area and it was a lovely backdrop for taking photos of the train against the mountains and water.

After lunch the train continued along the track and we were taken by ferry to the port town of Listyvanka we had a short city tour (as it is very small town) and then some free time to go to the local market or stroll along the shores, it was then back to the train by ferry and to the Trans Siberian Museum dedicated to the building of the rail tracks along the lake. This was very interesting and only small so it did not take long before we were back on the train for dinner. We got to sit back and watch the sun set behind the mountains, it was a very enjoyable day for everyone.

Exiting Russia

Transfers from the hotel to the airport are also included for all passengers, someone will collect the passengers from the hotel and take them to the airport. This is included for passengers who have booked extensions to St Petersburg as well. The drivers will most likely not speak English.

Time changes
As Russia is such a large country the train covers six time zones, we are told each night if we need to change the clocks. Traveling from Vladivostok - Moscow means passengers are gaining an hour of time each time we need to change, if traveling in the reverse direction passengers will lose an hour each time they need to change.

Additional notes

**GW does not operate the laundry facilities on board the train, this is a separate service inside the train.
**All drinks are included for Gold Class passengers
**The train carriages are brand new, not refurbished, however some carriages have been in operation for up to 12 months while waiting for the whole train to be complete. This was brought up as there is some wear showing in some of the cabins - nothing too major.
**GW travel does not have control of the staff on the train as this is all organized by the Russian railway. Most staff have very basic English however the tour leader is always available to help with any situations.

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