James Waldron's Trans-Mongolian Railway Travelogue

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Trans-Mongolian Railway:

Stories and images
by Jim Waldron

When you are traveling around the world, sometimes you need a trip where everything is planned for you. I decided against India, and instead booked a three week trip from Beijing to Moscow on the Trans-Mongolian Railway with Monkey Business in Hong Kong. Starting in Beijing we traveled by train two days to Ulaanbaatur, Mongolia for a week, then on to Irkutsk, Siberia for a week, and finishing up after four days on the train in Moscow. Great fun, cool cultures, excellent people. Go.

As our trip was planned by Monkey Business, all the travelers on our tour are honorary Monkeys, and refered to in the text as such.

Stories

Train ride over the rainbow
is a story I'm writing right now

Photographs

Some favorites

See them all at once
Look at thumbnails of all the photographs from this route.
Each picture was made with the Agfa ePhoto 1280 digital camera.

China
I also have a page on China with more stories and photographs

Engine - 7:30 am in Beijing, Jonathan climbing for a photo
DepartureDay - Last minute directions at the platform in Beijing
LouiseLooking - a Monkey ready to leave the station: Louise
Staff - The trains and the staff were very particular in China
RoomViewSide - you are close to your bedmates, and this is what they look like at sleep: John
RoomViewDown - view from the top bunk down to the bottom in a 2nd class carriage: me
RoomViewUp - view from the bottom bunk to your fellow Monkey at the top: Pierce
RoomViewSleep - John sleeps mid-day after a big night out
TrainHallway - the hallway and the view
RoomViewDiningCar - stretching out in the dining car, sometimes they even had food

Mongolia
I also have a page on Mongolia with more stories and photographs.

CarriageChange - when you leave China, the entire train is lifted up and the wheels are changed due to the different track sizes in Mongolia and Russia. It only takes a few hours, if you are lucky
TrainCurve - stick your camera out the window and pray for a good shot of the train
TrainYard - my view of a whistle stop and apartments
MahJong. - Monkeys play mah Jong in a Mongolian Ger
Customs - the always pleasant customs officials in Mongolia
Football - Monkeys versus the locals, locals win
Johnswoman - love blooms in Ulaanbaatur: John and date

Siberia
I also have a page on Russia with more stories and photographs.

LoneCar - our Monkeys car lies in wait for six hours all alone in Siberia
6hrStation - the interior of the 6 hour station
tenminstop - you look forward to the ten minute stops on the train so you can get off the train, even for ten minutes
GreenWindows - windows defined the village, with each unique as the owners
PearcnMama - Monkeys are treated like family by the hosts in Siberia: Pierce and Ludmilla
Dinner - Monkey gang at homestay dinner
Fire - sunset drinking on the shore of Lake Baikal with Elena, our guide
Pearce2 - introspective Pierce at sunset fire
Baikal - from the bow of the ferry
Locals - Drunkboy, Olga and Sasha, our guides to Irkutsk nightlife
SashanOlga - Siberian girls are hip: Sasha and Olga
John'sWomen - love blooms in Irkutsk: John and dates
JimsWomen - love blooms in Irkutsk: James with John's dates

Russia
I also have a page on Russia with more stories and photographs.

CommuterFront - nose of a commuter train
WheelWorker - at each stop workers check the undercarriage
Repairman - always doing something
WhistleStop - the ten minute suntan
ProvenizdaAngry - the frienndly woman who runs your life for four days
ProvenedzaWait - lost someone, will they make it back on?
ProvenedzafromTop - standing guard against freeloaders
ProvenedzaPout - is she mad, sad, happy. She never let on
Waiting - who did we lose this time?
LazyCook - This is the only time I ever saw her standing
TrainSide - I'm sure this says something about our route and train type
LaurenceBored - too much conversation and not enough cigarettes
Abstract - looking at the curves
TzLogo - the Trans-Siberian logo on the train side
StopAbove - view gfrom an overpass of a station stop
RailVendor - every stop has some vendors for the hungry passengers
Beggars - Gypsy kids ask for small changeVladimer - a new friend, an airforce electronics specialist from Irkutsk
HobocStation - Nice train station photograph
feet - stylish shoes at trackside
TrackWorkerHappy - fixed the problem
WindowView - old man looking out train window
OldPassanger - not too happy about being photographed either
CommuterTrain - saw them all over Russia
HobocStationSide - angles of a train station
Monkeys1 - James, oru Prov., and Johnathan
Monkeys2 - Pierce, Laurence, Laurence, Pierre, and Dave
MockbaStation - end of the line in Moscow

See the other places