Journey time
Ulaanbaatar to Beijing - 30 hours (includes 1 hour wait at the Mongolian border and approx. 3-4 hours wait at the Chinese border).
Buying your ticket
It is of course cheapest if you buy the Transmongolian Express tickets yourself directly from the train station ticket office, but tickets are often sold out weeks before the departure date.
Most people (including myself) buy the tickets through an agent. If you buy through an agent in UK for example - it will be very expensive. I have found that it is cheapest to book through an agent in China rather than an agent in Mongolia. The price difference was about US$50!
We booked through http://www.juulchin.mn/ (Mongolian agency - one of the pricier - only know that now!) which cost us US$225 per person one way from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing on the Deluxe class. We had already paid for it, when another agent in China (http://www.oceantravel.cn/) quoted the same ticket for US$178 per person!
Seating/Sleepers in the Transmongolian Express - different classes
There are 3 different classes of travelling on the Transmongolian, which are:
Deluxe class (sleeper)
First class (soft sleeper)
Second class (hard sleeper)
The second class are obviously the cheapest and the price goes up depending on how comfortable you want to be.
In the second class and first class sleeper you share a compartment with other people. Each compartment sleeps 4 people, while the deluxe sleeps 2 people only.
We bought the deluxe sleeper as we did not want to share the compartment with anyone.
In the deluxe sleeper section, we had a lower and an upper bed, a single sofa, a small table, two small tv screens and headphones for each bed. We got clean white sheets and pillows with pillow covers, satin covers and hand towels. We even had a shower/bathroom which we shared with one other couple. We were given a kettle of hot water, cups, tea and coffee and refills whenever needed. The sleeper hed were comfortable and had a protection rail to avoid falling out of the upper bed.
When you book your ticket, make sure you are getting the right ticket you want to buy. When you deal with the agents, it is quite confusing what you are getting. Each of them say different things, so just be on your toes.
The TrainsWhen you leave Mongolia, you are on the Mongolia train. When you get to the border of China and Mongolia, there is a break for about 1,5 hrs - 3 hrs, when they are changing the train. Basically, you get off the train. The train moves, and the Chinese restaurant carriage is added to the train, and the Mongolian restaurant carriage is taken off. During all this time, you cannot use the toilets on the train - they lock the toilets. You will still be in the same carriage and compartment that you got on when you boarded in Mongolia. There are different versions of the Transmongolian trains. We were on a rather modern one, and very clean. We were impressed.
Restaurant in the Transmongolian Express
The train has a restaurant carriage. It has drinks, alchohol, food, snacks. Beware though, it is not cheap. The Mongolian food carriage has limited food and it is pricier than the Chinese food carriage (Chinese food carriage is only available when you get to the Chinese border, and the Mongolian food carriage is taken off). The menu on the Mongolian food carriage seemed to have a variety of things, but when we wanted to order, they only did a set menu. So basically, the entire train had the same set menu. It was really busy, so you had to book a slot to have your lunch. We booked for 2.30PM, but only managed to be seated for lunch at 3.30PM and had the food at 4PM. So, a good idea to bring your own food if you can. The food carriage can only sit about 4o people, so everything has to be done in slots. We skipped dinner as we didn't want to wait till very late, and the food carriage shuts at 7.30PM. So we lived on pot noodles.
Note: Drinks, especially water is expensive, so bring your own.
Note: You meet a lot of friendly travellers in the food carriage.
Toilet facilities in the Transmongolian Express
We were lucky to have a bathroom with one other couple. It was cleaned twice while we were on the train. Otherwise, you have the public toilets on the train. They are ok, but I suspect that after 10 hours or so, it gets quite dirty. There is toilet paper, but bring your own to be safe.
What to bring on your journey
If you are sleeping in 2nd class or first class, bring toilet paper, hand towel, a cup/mug (you can get free hot water from the stewards on the train) and your own tea bags.
It is very useful (if you want to save money) to bring your own snacks, drinking water, fruits and even pot noodles (we did - remember you can get the hot water on the train), plastic spoons/forks. Bring your camera - there are so many pretty spots, a book or ipod/music as it is a long journey. Many people bring alchohol with them too.
At the border controls
When you are leaving the Mongolian border, the Mongolian police check the trains and take your passports. You are likely to be at the border for 1-2 hours before the train moves again. It is quite pain-less.
Then the train drives off again for about 15-20 minutes, when you get to the Chinese border at Erlian, here the immigration police enters the train, collects the passports and it takes 4 hours before they leave the border to head for Beijing. Now, make sure that your visa is in order.
Our visa WAS in order, but it was not honoured by the Chinese immigration. It is a long story (and we are still very disappointed and angry about the situation, but when it comes to the Chinese immigation police, you cannot do anything!). Make sure that your visa is properly given by the Chinese embassy.
So a 30 hours journey from UB to Beijing should really just have taken 24 hours, but the border control checks adds hours!
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