Ulan-Ude, Russia

[noelscot]

Hi guys,
I'm not a commerical member yet, I think Dan is on vacation and I'm waiting to go from blue to red. lol. If any of you are willing to travel to the outer reaches of Russia, I would highly recommend looking in Ulan-Ude, Russia, for serious women. However, I would advise visiting in summer. Most people cannot handle the winters. My fiancee and I go to a shopping mall near her home, People's Park, almost every day, and there are single women all over the place. I have connections in the city who are trustworthy if anyone has the desire to travel here. We can help you with transport, apartments, excursions, etc. There are lots of things to do here. Lake Baikal is a natural wonder where you can fish and swim. You could also take trips to the sister city Irkutsk and look for serious women there, too. If you fly here, Orbitz is pretty much the best deal. Yelena and I will be happy to help you with anything you need.

[CDW]

At the time of writing, you are already "red" - so congratulations 

455km from Ulan-Ude to Irkutsk

Travelling by Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to Vladivostok is one of my dreams    and there is stop at Irkutsk on the way

[Anechka]

At the time of writing, you are already "red" - so congratulations 

455km from Ulan-Ude to Irkutsk

Travelling by Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to Vladivostok is one of my dreams    and there is stop at Irkutsk on the way

A week in a train?  what for?

[mendeleyev]

Noelscott, greetings.

You're 3500 miles away from Moscow and in a very fascinating part of the world!

I'm glad that you mentioned Lake Baikal because many don't associate Ulan-Ude (Улан-Удэ) with the world's largest lake. For most Western tourists, Irkutsk is the more recognizable city along Baikal but an 8 hour train ride further to reach Ulan-Ude on the eastern side of Baikal.



 
 
 
 
If travelers on the Trans Siberian have some time to spare I recommend a couple of days in Irkutsk to see the local sights, one day being a trip on the Circum-Baikal railway which is a train that makes a daily run along the lower reaches of that area of the lake. It provides access to the Irkutsk for the locals and gives tourists some of the most dramatic views along the lake. The other day spent in Irkutsk could be used to see the sights and to visit the village of Listvyanka which is a must-see for foreign visitors.

Way To Russia has some helpful info also for travelers to Ulan-Ude: http://www.waytorussia.net/Siberia/UlanUde/Practicalities.html

Ulan-Ude is very interesting culturally. It is part of Asian Russia (51% of Asia lies within Russia's borders), the capital of the Buryatia Republic, a centre of practicing Buddhism in Russia and home to the largest Tibetan school for monks outside Mongolia. Buryats are traced to the Mongols and in addition to Russian speak Buryat, a Mongol language. Buryatia is also a centre for oriental medicine.

At Ulan-Ude one can connect to the Trans-Mongolian railway to several China via Mongolia. It is also possible to enter China much further east before Vladivostok on the Trans Manchurian railway.

[CDW]

A week in a train?  what for?

Experience - what's wrong with it?

[Anechka]

Experience - what's wrong with it?

Have you ever travelled in Russian trains?

[CDW]

mendeleyev

Videos +100000000000

[CDW]

Have you ever travelled in Russian trains?

No, never, my point exactly - for the experience. 

There are 3 trains I would like to be on:

Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to Vladivostok
Orient Express - same route as Agatha Christie's Murder On The Orient Express, and
Blue Train from Pretoria to Cape Town in South Africa

[Anechka]

No, never, my point exactly - for the experience. 

There are 3 trains I would like to be on:

Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to Vladivostok
Orient Express - same route as Agatha Christie's Murder On The Orient Express, and
Blue Train from Pretoria to Cape Town in South Africa

Before getting on a train from Moscow to Vladivostok (it's a one-week trip or something like that), you need to try something less extreme, for example a 2-day trip on a train in Russia... I guess you don't realize the problems you might have there...

[CDW]

Before getting on a train from Moscow to Vladivostok (it's a one-week trip or something like that), you need to try something less extreme, for example a 2-day trip on a train in Russia... I guess you don't realize the problems you might have there...

Be ON trans-Siberian railway for a week is an achievement, but on a 2-day trip with not a well-known train isn't an achievement !!!

It is the experience of lifetime that counts.     

A 2-day trip on a train in Russia??  I would rather be on a plane!!!!    With Trans-Siberian railway ACROSS Russia is different.


Any problems will be overcome, but achievement of a lifetime will cover that!!  It wouldn't really be the real experience if there aren't any problems

[Anechka]

Be ON trans-Siberian railway for a week is an achievement, but on a 2-day trip with not a well-known train isn't an achievement !!!

It is the experience of lifetime that counts.     

A 2-day trip on a train in Russia??  I would rather be on a plane!!!!    With Trans-Siberian railway ACROSS Russia is different.

Yeah, survive in filthy train for a week, with nothing else to do but to read, I doubt you speak Russian, so it'll be definitely a life-time experience, you'd be lucky if you are not robbed or something worse... Other than that, it's an enjoyable experience 

[mendeleyev]

CDW, I think that you'll enjoy the trip.

Here is a longer version of the video above, showing more of the train interior, etc. As long as you travel 2nd or 1st class, staying out of platzkartny (3rd-open cattle car style) you'll avoid most potential problem situations. Travel time from Moscow to Vladivostok is 6.5 days in most cases. There is a slower train--for a multitude of reasons you don't want to be on that one.

[ECOCKS]

Experience - what's wrong with it?

Nothing!


I would love to do it myself but would agree that 2nd or 1st class are the only way I would do it.


What an experience!


Maybe do it backwards (Vlad to Moscow) then fly from Moscow to Istanbul and take the Orient Express from there to London(?) or Paris if you still can. That and a trip down the Nile (not an option these days) would be a real, nostalgia-filled romantic adventure.

[Belvis]

I doubt you speak Russian, so it'll be definitely a life-time experience, you'd be lucky if you are not robbed or something worse... Other than that, it's an enjoyable experience 

He'll speak Russian by the end of trip if takes 3-d class  And travel could be quite enjoyable if car attendant happens to be pretty girl. In summer time they employ students from Irkutsk for this job.

[Chicagoguy]

If you go first class and take train #1 it should be OK. Russian trains are improving and some are much better than in the U.S.

[Chicagoguy]

Train #1 of Trans-Siberian should be OK if you go First Class. But it is a long trip. Russian trains are really improved since I first used in 1993. Some are now much better than trains in U.S.

[Anotherkiwi]

Yeah, survive in filthy train for a week, with nothing else to do but to read, I doubt you speak Russian, so it'll be definitely a life-time experience, you'd be lucky if you are not robbed or something worse... Other than that, it's an enjoyable experience 

I'm glad that you had such a good time on YOUR Trans-Siberian trip. 
 
I'm another who would love to try this.  Unlike CDW, I have travelled by train in Russia (although the longest trip was from Rostov-na-Donu to Sochi - "only" 14 hours) and enjoyed it.  I also speak some Russian (not much, but enough to survive).  Of course I'm going to read (and write a TR  )while crossing a million square kilometres of taiga, but I'm also going to explore the train and the places where it stops.  I wouldn't do it all in one hop - I would probably spend some time in Perm, Novosibirsk and Irkutsk for starters.
 
A former colleague of mine did this in 1970 - as a 20 year old New Zealand woman on her own!  THAT took courage - the trip now would be absolutely nothing in comparison in terms of danger.
 
First-class ticket is about 1200 Euros ($US 1,594) in August; second-class 650 Euros ($US 864).  Quite a bit cheaper at the moment (830/460).  Shop around and you'll probably get better deals.

[I/O]

You guys should listen to Anechka - she is painting a rather black picture but having travelled much of the Trans Sib in bits n pieces over the years, without language and or friends, particularly in summer (Crap it can be hot), you'll be miserable much of the time and................it isn't step in this airconditioned luxury car and stay there until the other end stopping at various romantic locations along the way. It's usually a hotch potch of connecting lines and services. You are certainly not on the fast train out of Zurich to Bern lol. Add to that a few fat stinking Kazak women trying to sit on your bed and sell you their home makings...............

[Anechka]

You guys should listen to Anechka - she is painting a rather black picture but having travelled much of the Trans Sib in bits n pieces over the years, without language and or friends, particularly in summer (Crap it can be hot), you'll be miserable much of the time and................it isn't step in this airconditioned luxury car and stay there until the other end stopping at various romantic locations along the way. It's usually a hotch potch of connecting lines and services. You are certainly not on the fast train out of Zurich to Bern lol. Add to that a few fat stinking Kazak women trying to sit on your bed and sell you their home makings...............

Wow, at least someone is sane here 

Btw, 1st and 2nd class compartments won't save you from being robbed. You need to understand that the majority of people who take this train from Moscow up to Vladivostok are not too rich, my friends used it while studying at the university mostly because they had no money for the plane. Other group of people there are those who isn't going too far... They'll be on and off the train... Lots of traffic...
I personally hate trains (except for high speed train between spb and moscow)

[I/O]

sane

Nope.....a little experience maybe, sane - definitely not - I married a Russian.

[Anechka]

Nope.....a little experience maybe, sane - definitely not - I married a Russian.

What's wrong with marriage to a Russian woman?   

[I/O]

What's wrong with marriage to a Russian woman?

Ask your husband..................

[CDW]

Who said anything about luxury ???!!!  I did not dream to go on Trans-Siberian railway for a luxury trip!!

[Anechka]

Ask your husband..................

He is Russian and perfectly happy 

[CDW]

Wow, at least someone is sane here 

. You need to understand that the majority of people who take this train from Moscow up to Vladivostok are not too rich,

How much does it cost for a Russian people to be on 3rd class train?

The return air fare from Moscow to Vladivostok is around £150  (about $225)