Preparations

So after many years dreaming about it, I finally went from Portugal to Eastern Russia by train. It's not easy to summarise everything I went through, but here follows an attempt.

Day -144

I decided I would finally embark on this adventure, and started creating a Google Map for the trip. Having met a traveller in Istanbul that told me of her trip around the world, which included crossing Russia by train, without speaking a word of Russian, I decided that it was time to stop dreaming and start acting.

Turns out that there are three major routes to take: Moscow-Vladivostok (Trans-Siberian), Moscow-Beijing through Mongolia (Trans-Mongolian), and Moscow-Beijing through Manchuria (Trans-Manchurian); over 80% of tourists take the Trans-Mongolian. My dream always having been to reach Vladivostok from Lisbon, the Trans-Siberian route was the obvious route, but the choice of places to stop at wasn't.

A lot of search for different travel solutions occupied many evenings. It really is worthy to shop around. The most obvious example was the return flight from Vladivostok: the cheapest solution was 1500€... booking instead a flight to Moscow (212€) and then further to Dublin via Riga (180€) proved a far more economical choice. Trains can also be quite expensive, and big savings can be made with early bookings: Hendaye-Paris for 22€ (instead of 84.5€), Paris-Moscow through Berlin for 217€ (instead of 300€). And finally, buying Russian train tickets in Russia and not through an agency: saved over 300€ from the total price.

Another key question was when to go. July/August are obviously the best dates, but also the busiest and most expensive. And having chosen to buy my train tickets on route, the risk of not finding a ticket or a hotel was big. Finally, having read about the periods of Indian summer in Siberia, I decided to head off in September.

I also tried to choose which places to stop in Russia and which trains to take, using online train schedules. Having a list of my choices while in Russia was extremely valuable.

Day -55

A lot of bureaucracy had to be dealt with to get my visas. The Russian visa is particularly annoying: compulsory "invitation letter from a Russian travel agency" (60€ to get one), travel insurance, letter from employer, online application form... The Belorussian transit visa (required to cross Belarus by train) was far easier to get, except that there is no Belarus embassy in Ireland. Result: to get a 23€ visa, I had to pay an extra 95€ of agency commission...

Day -14

Deciding what to bring with me was vital. After many lists and shopping and much weighting,  here's a list of mostly everything I took:

• Documents: passport, tickets, invitation letter, application form, a few passport-sized photos, contact numbers, and copies of all of these in each bag;
• Enough clothing for 2 weeks, including flip-flops, swimming shorts and winter garments;
• Shampoo/gel combo, and all usual toiletries;
• Locks for the bags, a Swiss-knife, a small thermos, water-bottle, collapsible bowl, all sorts of dry foods (instant coffee, tea, water-based hot chocolate, noodles, energy bars), medikit, frontal led light;
• Netbook, 2 batteries for camera, micro-tripod, 2 memory cards, mobile phone, iPod, and all associated chargers;
• Souvenirs to give/trade in train: magnets, miniature bottles, sweets;
• Travel guide, a diary, and two books to read.

I was fairly pleased when packing it all in, although the main bag was fairly heavy.

Day -7

I took my flight to Faro, and spend some nice and relaxed 5 days by the sea with my nephews and nieces.

Day 0

The last day before the trip began. I wandered the streets of Lisbon, buying some last souvenirs to give (Portuguese choriço, miniature bottles of Port wine), and generally enjoying my beautiful city!