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jess
Just Starting
Joined: 11 Oct 2004
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 9:43 pm Post subject: going alone on trans-sib early november 2004. is ok? |
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hi. i am thinking about planning a quick trip to moscow for 3 days, then trans sib with maybe 2 stops, ending up in beijing. i am 28, female, american and traveling alone. do you think this is safe? is it better to be in 1st class if i am traveling alone?
am i an idiot to travel in siberia in november???
ANY advice is helpful. thanks so much in advance! |
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paulm
Just Starting
Joined: 18 Sep 2004
Posts: 3
Location: uk
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 10:36 pm Post subject: |
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Hi there. I did the trip in April also as a solo traveller. difference being I am a 55 yr old male. however on the train were a total of 8 tourists, made up of .. myself, a 32yr old canadian female (also solo), 3 dutch ladies, travelling together, and three other duth travellers 2 male 1 female.
I would say don't go 1st class, as the carriage is at the rear of train separated by maybe 15 carriages from any other tourists ( we were all put in the 1st carriage behind the loco)..sometimes I believe 1st class is empty.
The big worry is ...who will you share your cabin with !!..well don't let this stop you going. I shared with the canadian girl..only problem is I think I snored too much!!.. we found that people would let you share if there was a problem.
take some snackpots etc as the food on our train was disgusting, and the restaurant car was full of drunken mongolians (90% of passengers were mongolian)..very few russians on train (train no.6 .. sometimes called mongolian traders train).
we all however had a good time on train, did a lot of talking,reading etc, at each stop you could buy food/beer/vodka/water from platforms (cheap)
must take your own toilet paper, also take coffee/tea/powdered milk etc.
Mongolia was fab, spent 2 nights in ger camp..UB has plenty shopping etc and I stopped in a really good hotel (Bayangol Hotel).
from UB to Beijing was better, this train was operated by chinese railways, reastaurant car was really good and train was a lot cleaner, also there were lots more tourists on this leg of journey.
Beijing was ok for 3 days..perhaps see old part of town before they knock it all down for the olympics!!!
simple answer to your question..would I go again...yes please
any more questions ..please contact mtake care...Paul
millw@blueyonder.co.uk |
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Rose
Just Starting
Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 8
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
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| Posted: Sat Nov 06, 2004 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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Hello from a 46 year old British female who has done the Moscow-Irkutsk trip by the Trans-Siberian alone seven times and had a wonderful experience each time. I took the train called the "Baikal" which has a reputation as being safer than some of the others which go right across to China and Mongolia [the Baikal stops in Irkutsk].
It is perfectly safe. The only thing I would say is don't leave valuables unattended and keep your compartment door locked when you leave it. In other words, basic common sense when you travel anywhere! The Russians on the train are overwhelmingly friendly, and since a lone foreign female is such a novelty, I guarantee you will be the number one attraction. Over-amorous drunken men can be dealt with very easily by calling the nearest 'provodnik' [train attendant]. Most of them are women who will cope in short order - they're used to it! If you don' t speak Russian, try and learn some, because few people on the train will be fluent in English, and the trip is much more fun if you can communicate, even a little! I still have friends acoss Russia whom I originally met on that train.
One helpful hint - take an alarm clock and keep that on Moscow time and your watch on local time. The train runs all the way on Moscow time, and the restaurant car on local time - whatever it may be in that particular zone. The restaurant-car is not that inviting anyway, but if you need it, it is best not to do what I did once - arrive at the wrong time and find the staff still asleep at, on, and under the tables!!
There is more room in first class [2 beds, not 4, and I would recommend it for that reason]; you may well have a male travelling companion, but I have, on several occasions, shared my compartment with a man, and there has been no problem whatever. Take earplugs for snorers!
Have a wonderful trip, please write if I can help any more! |
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spartacus
Frequent Guest
Joined: 03 Oct 2004
Posts: 76
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| Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:28 am Post subject: |
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Oh yes, single young women should always travel alone in far away places.
All the bad guys have been watching Politically Correct TV and know that with a mere kick, the most slender babe in Hollywood can send a 230# thug flying backwards.
Just because a 46 year old british woman did it safe (like middle aged british women look any better than they cook) does not mean it is safe for a young and possibly attractive woman. Forget the PC crap. Men and women are not equal, if you are alone and far from help you are vulnerable, and unarmed, there isn't a dang thing you can do about it.
When you hear of women getting killed/raped/assaulted in these situations, there is a reason why the general reaction is "why the he77 was she in that situation to start with?". |
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Dr-Fauste
Site Admin
Joined: 23 Nov 2004
Posts: 654
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| Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 5:59 am Post subject: |
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You can get satellite phone cheap also that will work in middle of no where.
Agree to learn some Russian.
Spartacus you are such flippin sexist, macho loser. You could have been nice to this lady who giving quality advice that you know nothing about, but have to be insulting. No wonder you are 36 year old loser and no one in the WHOLE USA will marry an ignorant dick like you. Instead of hoping that a Russian lady will ignore such behavior(yeah right), why don't learn some manners. Rose was pleasant shared her personal experience in which you have NONE. Instead you (as usual) insulted the lady and added zero value. Just because you got cornholed in Europe, does not mean that she will suffer the same stupidity that you have. |
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spartacus
Frequent Guest
Joined: 03 Oct 2004
Posts: 76
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| Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 6:18 am Post subject: |
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Gee, been on the boards for about 2 weeks and already almost 250 posts.
Guess that kinda makes you the loser.
Oh yeah, you're from Canada, that makes you a second rate loser.
Don't try to analyze me, you don't have the brains for it. And swearing at people on the web is kinda, ohhhh, cowardly? |
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Dr-Fauste
Site Admin
Joined: 23 Nov 2004
Posts: 654
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| Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 6:37 am Post subject: |
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You are the expert on being a coward and loser. 
I know characteres like you. You would be the first to narc on your friends. All the macho wannabe are like you.
The only person that I like to see analyze you is Dr Quincy or anthropologists. You are such a loser. Ignorant stupid vulgar Rascist Sexist. You post on this board that you are looking a Russian Barbie sex doll, that all Americans women are fat and they stink. You do not know anything about the legend of Spartacus. You insult a English woman that did nothing to you. You stated that all women on welfare just want have babies to get more welfare money. You are pathetic. You have zero redeeming qualities. No wonder that you are not married and dating Palm Sisters. LOSER!!!!
I acn imagine what you ex Russian girlfriend thought." I could be with this loser or live in a town alone and poor. Being poor is not that bad. No sex is better than having awful sex. " LOL
My name is Spartacus and have no dates so I get videos from Russia of fat American men with warts and it turns me on SO MUCH. LOSER!!!!!
You are trailer trash!!!!! Your existence has proven Darwin wrong!!!! |
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Dr-Fauste
Site Admin
Joined: 23 Nov 2004
Posts: 654
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| Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 7:46 am Post subject: Apology |
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| Apologises to Rose, Jess and PaulM. I hope I did not offend you with my comments. Jess I think you will have wonderful time and I look forward to hearing your adventures. Do not worry and enjoy your trip. |
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Rose
Just Starting
Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 8
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
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| Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 1:51 pm Post subject: |
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| For the record: I was 30 when I made the first trip. Secondly, it takes more than a Bad Guy raised on politically correct TV to frighten most women, whatever their age or nationality. I don't consider the rest of the comments worthy of a response, and I don't see how they have been of any use whatever to Jess. |
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spartacus
Frequent Guest
Joined: 03 Oct 2004
Posts: 76
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| Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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It is criminally stupid to tell a young girl that it is safe for her to travel alone in a foreign country.
And quite frankly, it is just plain stupid to compare now with 16 years ago, when the country was under communist control and all forms of transportation were closely monitored, and the movements of westerners were tracked.
How could you possibly equate now with then?
Folks, she may have had good intentions, but her advice was harmful and based on really bad logic. Of course, she was polite, so no harm done, ey?
Me, I am dead on right, but rude about it. Why rude? Stupidity pisses me off, particularly when it can cause harm. If it takes ridicule to shame an idiot into not getting people hurt via bad advice, then I will ridicule them. Anything is better than another missing persons report.
Rose, you missed my point about PC TV. Despite what you see on TV, very few women can stand up to even the average guy intent on doing them harm. Even a canadian man can slap around 90% of the worlds women with total control. The UK govt found that in the Army, the top 2% of female recruits had the "strength and stamina" of the average male recruit. Smart women don't put themselves in such positions, and they also don't advise other women to risk themselves either. |
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Rose
Just Starting
Joined: 03 Nov 2004
Posts: 8
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
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| Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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| I consider myself duly chastised. |
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wavetossed
WayToRussified
Joined: 27 Jun 2004
Posts: 339
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| Posted: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:04 am Post subject: The voice of experience |
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Spartacus,
you clearly have never travelled on a Russian long distance train. It is true that some of the short haul trains can be dangerous, i.e. the ones that have only seats, no sleeping cars. In some regions during the lightly travelled times of the day, thieves/muggers are known to frequent these trains. But that's not unique to Russia, it's also a problem on the trains in south London and some trains between Manchester and Leeds.
The Russian longhaul trains are safe for all passengers for the simple reason that all passengers are captives. If anyone commits a crime on board, they canot escape. If they exit the train at the next stop, then they leave behind their ticket and in order to purchase this ticket and board the train, they had to show their passport, either international or internal passport with photo. There are very few crimes which are worth the risk or the trouble of being identified(or the cost of fake ID). It is extremely unlikely that you will see any crime on board the train. The ticket is returned a few minutes before the stop where you get off.
Every car has a provodnik (male) or provodnitsa (female) who is stationed in an office at the end of the car and who regularly patrols the car's single aisle even in the middle of the night. They don't tolerate serious antisocial behavior on board, i.e. you can get away with being drunk and noisy for a bit but you'd better not get violent or disobey the provodnitsa's orders.
I think that a single woman would do best to stay in kupe class, that's the one with 4 bunks per room. If you buy an even-numbered berth, you get a top position so you'll never wake up with someone hovering over you. No drunks will collapse on your bunk. And if you are a small person pushing away a big man, the height gives you the advantage. Take along one of those ski patrol emergency whistles (ski or camping supply store) because Russians are conditioned to stop and take note when a whistle blows. In Russia, the police don't yell HALT!, they just blow their whistle. If you wear it around your neck it is easier to call for help in the event that you are attacked. But in reality, it's just there so you don't worry needlessly. It's much more dangerous on the streets of any major western city outside the nightclubs in the evening.
However, you may need help hauling up your suitcase to the shelf since the bunk is about 5 feet high. There is an odd folding ladder thing between the bunk and the door, but you generally find people are helpful on Russian trains. Before you leave, dress in sensible trousers so that you don't need to change clothes often or maybe not at all for a 2-3 day trip. You can always change underwear in the toilets, but just sleep in your clothes. Use unscented deodorant so you don't annoy or arouse your cabinmates.
If you are concerned about your cabinmates, then tell the provodnitsa as soon as possible, because she can shuffle you around to another cabin. |
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brandalpayne11
Talk Show Host
Joined: 09 Sep 2004
Posts: 245
Location: NC, US
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| Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2004 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you wavetossed that was very helpful for anyone going on a train. I didn't know any of that. I have never traveled on a train so it is something that I am looking foreward to tremendously  |
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