Way to Russia Talk Lounge

Yes!

I'd say Vladivostok (and much of the rest of Russia) was safer than any large European city.

To be fair, its not that bad, all the important announcements on on the ship are in Russian, Japanese and English (normally in that order) and they filled out all the foreigners' migration cards for u ...

If you've booked a place then I'd hope they'd contact you in advance if they decided not to sail on that day. AFAIK it normally runs when they say, but they just occasionally skip a week, maybe if the ...

World Nomads Mongolian restaurant in Ulan-Ude, opposite the Library (Biblioteka) near Pl Sovetov - look for the large sign in English. Friendly service, decent prices, wonderful food and the only bili ...

NP

BTW - I'll be in Moscow from Monday (2nd) to Friday (6th). If you're around we can meet up for a drink or something, and swap some tips. Email me via my website (address below).

P

OK,

First, get your visa in Tokyo if you can, it's cheaper than Shanghai and IMO you're more likely to get helpful assistance if something goes wrong.

Second, if you've never been to Russia befo ...

Two more things; the only thing that is a problem in Japan for international travellers is money. Most Japanese ATMs don't accept foreign cards, and foreign credit cards aren't that widely accepted ei ...

I wasn't aware that having an outward ticket was a requirement to enter Russia.

Even if it technically is, I've never had one, and I don't think it's worth worrying too much about if you're enterin ...

By the way, it's best to check beforehand that bisintour are going to sail on the date you want; rumour has it that despite their published timetable they often skip a week.

Once you've confirmed ...

They will not volunteer out of the blue to help you.
I've had someone volunteer out of the blue to help me in Japan. As it happens, it was at Fushiki port when I left the train station and was looki ...

Anyone know of an agency in Hong Kong where I might be able to buy tickets, or am I going to have to wait until I get to Beijing? I'm still considering Trans-Mongolian/Trans-Manchurian or 'getting to ...

Forgive me if I've missed something, but the ticket booking engine on WTR seems to show 'n/a' for any query involving a start point east of Irkutsk.

So it gives me options for trains from Irkutsk t ...

To answer the earlier query, I just last week obtained a double entry chinese visa in Bangkok, without any discussion of how I was going to enter or leave the country, let alone mention of tickets. I ...

Not all banks charge ATM fees - mine, Nationwide in the UK, lets me use ATMs 100% free anywhere in the world and gives me a good exchange rate too.

Shop around!

Somewhere I got the impression that one might be able to just write an itienerary, including train journeys, to present in lieu of tickets.

In any case, buying tickets to get from Harbin to Vladivo ...