Trans-Mongolian Railway : Proposed Itinerary

Want to hear what our rough plans are?

I will be blogging most of the way although internet and time will definitely be a factor as far as keeping up the posts regularly.

This is the plan so far:

Denver to NYC - running about like headless chickens to see some of the wonders of an iconic American city for just a day! Mark has never been and I confess it must have been almost 10 years since I spent any time there.

NYC to Moscow - We have 3 days here. Day one will end at the Bolshoi Theatre for Swan Lake by the Russian Ballet... a little Tchaikovsky to put us to sleep after a long couple of travel days!  We'll fill the rest of the time with legendary Russian food and sights that surround Red Square etc. There is much to see and apparently if you dig deeper, Moscow is foodie heaven.

Moscow to Irkutsk - A 75 hour train ride in (fingers crossed) a first class compartment! Time to read and blog and rest after days of burning the candle at both ends. I'll give you a tour when we are safely on board.

Irkutsk - We have 3 days off the train here. The goal is to get to Lake Baikal and hike that area. 

Irkutsk to Ulan Bataar - The leg of the train journey is only about 27 hours.

Ulan Bataar - the capital city of Mongolia. We are in Mongolia for 7 days and have booked a tour for 4 of them. Outer Mongolia awaits. We plan on hitting the Gobi Desert to horse and camel ride, climb dunes and stay in local guest house accommodation. Both internet and showers are apparently going to be scarce.

Ulan Bataar to Beijing - another train ride of about 35 hours and the infamous Mongolia-China border crossing!

We have 11 days in China. It will be non-stop in order to explore a bustling Beijing, hike the Great Wall, visit a water town, admire the Terracotta Warriors, cruise the Li River and marvel at the the amazing Karst Mountains. I could not be more excited!