Moscow Transportation Tips by kiwigal_1

TRANS SIBERIAN RAILWAY By Train Review

I took a 1st Class ticket (on a Russian train) on the Trans Siberian Railway. It took me four and a bit days to reach Moscow and it was one of the most facinating experiences of my life. I shared a 2 berth room with another foreign woman traveller whom I had never met before. It was really pot-luck as to who you end up with. She moved from a 4 berth cabin because her bunk had been piled up with goods belonging to the Mongolian Traders. Having the traders on board the train was quite exciting. They spent the time between UB and Sukhbaatar (the Mongolian border) swapping goods so as to avoid customs duty. After Sukhbaatar and Naushiky the Russian border) procedures were completed they spent the rest of the night retrieving their goods! It was interesting watching the poor Siberian Russians buying the bad quality Chinese manufactured goods that the Mongolian traders were selling during the time the trains were stopped at the station. There were no shower or bath facilities on the train and the toilets were pretty gross. I managed to have a cold water wash with a cup and flannel.

I spent most of the time sleeping, reading and eating. I had stocked up on some basic supplies and the friendly lady babushka from the restaurant car kept us supplied with lovely chicken, bread and piva (beer) for the first half of the journey. Unfortunately towards the end of the trip most of the trains' food supplies were running low so we had to make do with biscuits and chocolate we had bought along. I was so excited when we finally arrived at Yaroslavl Station and I met up with a Russian man who helped me across the street to Kazan Station for my trip to Samara.

http://www.russian-tours.spb.ru/tickets_rail.html

Mode: TO

Other Contact: www.transsib.ru/Eng/

Type: Train

Website: http://www.ego.net/tlogue/xsib/

SUBWAY By Metro Review

As you can see from the map (courtesy of Lonely Planet) Moscow is a very big, spreadout city. The subway system (called the Metro ) is excellent and I recommend it to any traveller as the ONLY way to get around Moscow and keep your sanity. The metro trains run regularly and the system will take you to pretty much anywhere you want to go. I have found a website that has more information on http://www.cs.toronto.edu/~mes/russia/moscow/personal/elektro.html

Remember to click on the map to see a larger version of the image.

Mode: AROUND

Type: Subway/Metro