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Travel Questions from Shankill Butcher
doorbell
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hey all,
I'm currently in the middle of trying to plan a trip to India from Paris from April through to late May or June. The plan is to get to Moscow, take the Trans-Mongolian railway straight to Ulan Bator and through to Beijing (supposedly a five-day trip), then from there take a train to Lhasa in the southwest of China, take a share-taxi to Kathmandu, progress to India, buy a motorcycle and tool around the country for a while. After that, I'm hoping to pop back up through the same route in reverse -- only, instead of going back west, going east to Vladivostok and taking a series of planes back to America.
Phew.
I'm already aware of the dangers and am beginning to educate myself on what is needed of me, but even with the considerable resources of the internet I'm having trouble juggling visas, bookings, times of departure, so on and so forth, and it's much further complicated by the fact that I'm currently living in a country where I do not have citizenship, and the fact that most visas only last a month but I'm really trying to stay over there for at least two. Also, a lot of things seem to currently be in flux -- such as where one can obtain Indian visas, what rails are running in China, etc.
So the thrust of the question is, do any of you know of a site or person or anything that I could email to sort of help guide me through this whole process, telling me what is possible and what is not? I know that this is exactly when one normally turns to a travel agency, but I don't know of any english ones in Paris, and I'd sort of just like a person with expertise to kick ideas around with for a few emails.
I'm currently in the middle of trying to plan a trip to India from Paris from April through to late May or June. The plan is to get to Moscow, take the Trans-Mongolian railway straight to Ulan Bator and through to Beijing (supposedly a five-day trip), then from there take a train to Lhasa in the southwest of China, take a share-taxi to Kathmandu, progress to India, buy a motorcycle and tool around the country for a while. After that, I'm hoping to pop back up through the same route in reverse -- only, instead of going back west, going east to Vladivostok and taking a series of planes back to America.
Phew.
I'm already aware of the dangers and am beginning to educate myself on what is needed of me, but even with the considerable resources of the internet I'm having trouble juggling visas, bookings, times of departure, so on and so forth, and it's much further complicated by the fact that I'm currently living in a country where I do not have citizenship, and the fact that most visas only last a month but I'm really trying to stay over there for at least two. Also, a lot of things seem to currently be in flux -- such as where one can obtain Indian visas, what rails are running in China, etc.
So the thrust of the question is, do any of you know of a site or person or anything that I could email to sort of help guide me through this whole process, telling me what is possible and what is not? I know that this is exactly when one normally turns to a travel agency, but I don't know of any english ones in Paris, and I'd sort of just like a person with expertise to kick ideas around with for a few emails.
doorbell on
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Posts
If any of you have any ideas or solutions. I don't need a travel agent, necessarily.
General advice:
-He should be able to get a visa at any consulate in any country he's in. Call them to make sure, most of them will speak English I'd imagine.
-Allow some time between train trips, trains can be late. More than a day late when you're planning on a five day train trip. Also, from what I remember plains are considerably cheaper than taking multi-day train trips.
-You need a special permit to go to Tibet, I looked into it a little but not a whole lot because I quickly realized it was too expensive for me. Also, from what I understand there's no public transportation in Tibet and most things are far apart (outside of Lhasa) making it even more expensive.
-Inside China most people won't speak English unless they're involved in tourism. Most train employees won't speak English nor will most people working at a train station. You may be able to find someone on the train who speaks English and is willing to help you though.
-Finally I suggest you ask these questions on a travel related forum like lonely planet's thorntree forum. You can check out their website for some general information and buy some books that will help out too. I think there's a relatively new Lonely Planet for China.
-PM me if you/him have any specific questions. I'll try to help out though I will admit my knowledge is limited.
-Don't make eye contact with police officers
-Do anything you can to look less like a tourist and more like a local
-Carry cash with you in case a police officer threatens to arrest you for "public intoxication"
Russia's a fun and friendly place
...well, not really. But the girls are pretty!
I don't know how transiting Mongolia works on the train in to China but should you somehow need a visa from the Mongolians, I am pretty sure that can be done at the point of entry for American citizens. Nepal appears to be the same. Your Chinese visa you will need to get before arriving at the border, so in Moscow at latest. On the plus side if I remember correctly you have 90 days or so before you have to actually use the thing once it's issued. You may need to prove that you will be traveling onward, which might be a little challenge with ground crossings that you haven't paid for in advance. India I think also requires a visa in advance, so unless you want to wait around in Nepal (or Beijing) for a few weeks you are probably going to want to get that in Moscow (or Paris) too.
If you haven't already, I would really suggest checking out Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forums, which are full of people trying to figure out how to get through this part of the world and will probably be able to offer you more specialized (and current) advice than what you might get on this forum.
Lastly: trains are slow, sometimes dangerous, and really not a fun place to be sick on. Be prepared.
http://www.seat61.com/Trans-Siberian.htm
http://www.seat61.com/China.htm
It's kind of UK-centric for European rail travel, but better for farther flung places.