The Vodka Train, Russia, Mongolia and China

It's not that I am simply bored at work that I am writing this, but because this was one of the most amazing trips I have ever been lucky enough to venture forth on. The Vodka Train, the company we used and the experience we had, is basically either a Trans-Mongolian or a Trans-Siberian railway trip, crossing Russia, Mongolia and china or Russia and China respectively, both passing through Siberia.

The route we chose was a 3 week tour starting in St.Petesburg passing through Moscow, through Siberia, through Mongolia and finally ending in Beijing. Three weeks seems a very short time to cross part of Europe and then the worlds Largest continent, Asia... and it was pretty rushed but the Vodka Train had planned it so that in every location there is a local student, who shows you the sites and hidden vodka gems and in return the student gets a little bit of dollar and the chance to practice English.

This is obviously not a 5* trip and accommodation off the train is in the form of hostels ranging from 8 bedders with bed bugs in Moscow to plush wooden cabins in the mountains of Siberia... You are offered to upgrade at every location, making it a little more comforting for some... The interesting part however, would have to be the train itself, which at some stages you spend up to four nights on. Each room has 4 bunk beds about 6"2 long and a tiny table in the center, which is most commonly used for eating, or in our case vodka bottles and poker sets...food is pretty dire for the first part, being 2 minute noodles on the train and Russian attempts at western dishes.. On arrival in Mongolia this elevates to some more interesting dishes involving a lot of sheep and a bit of horse. China of course has food to KILL for at prices that are jokes!

I suppose a trip like this should focus on the history and culture, but I suppose the social side of a country is a huge part of the culture... The train is made up of a mix of locals travelling in cattle class, travellers, such as ourselves, travelling in the tight 4 bedder rooms and then the more sophisticated travellers in red satin twins. The journey is basically a drunken one, in which you bring your own beer and vodka and a little bit of food. It is easily possible to fit 10 people in one room and have a loud party, in which if you are lucky the cleaner ladies will get involved lol. I suppose the more cultural thing, which I would hugely recommend is getting the locals involved.. they love the fact you have "expensive" vodka and will gladly share their home-grown chickens and tomatoes... Vodka shots with random foods seem to be the thing to do on an elderlies night out! like it!!
 Traipsing through Russia with a student is really good fun, as Russians love their vodka and live rock and electronic music. In Moscow as you would expect there are a lot of clubs, we however visited a large d&b club called “JumanjI” which looked like a group of teenagers had set up with their own speakers and table cloth bars... we took this as the aftershock from communism.. However outside in the local park there was a "corner shop" with thousands of brands of vodka with the most expensive being around £4 which the local beings had massed and started their own party.
Mongolia was a little more tame, with some good out-door bars and a lot of drinking in the Gur's, however there was more focus on the activities such as horse riding and mountain climbing. Where as China, just like any massive city, had some seriously dirty side streets and some seriously swanky clubs...

There are nights out every second day and there are also outings organised almost everyday from Moscow circus to Swan Lake there is always something on offer.

After typing a mini essay on what I thought of the countries we visited and their hidden secrets I remembered my English is really bad, so I would just like to say All 3 are amazing, and throwing Siberia (which I know is part of Russia) into the mix is most definitely the icing on this overly sized cake.

Basically I want to do it all again...