TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY on A Budget - Solo Journey on the 3rd Class Coach from Moscow to Irkutsk

The Trans Siberian (the longest train ride in the world) had been one of my top travel goals for a long time. However, most of the information that I found and most of the people that I talked to seemed to suggest that it was too complicated to do without a tour agent. But to book with an agent would also make it too expensive for me.

I was adamant that there must be a way around it. After some research, I proved myself right! In October 2014, I flew from Malaysia to Germany, then traveled to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, before arriving in Russia to take the Trans-Siberian to the east.

This is the breakdown of my expenses on the 2-week trip:

Russian visa: MYR360
Invitation: MYR121
Chinese visa: MYR100
Travel insurance: MYR83
Bus (Vilnius - Riga): EUR9
(Riga - Tallinn): EUR9
(Tallinn - St. Petersburg - Moscow): EUR41
Flight (Kuala Lumpur - Berlin): MYR800
(Berlin - Vilnius): EUR17
(Irkutsk - Beijing): RUB6996
(Beijing - Kuala Lumpur): MYR400
Train (Moscow - Irkutsk): RUB3393
Local Transports: EUR33 + RUB482
Food: EUR4 + RUB1769
Accommodation: EUR15

In Latvia, I had to spend one night in prison. You can read about it on my blog:
https://ummigoeswhere.com/spending-one-night-soviet-prison-latvia/

And for those of you planning to go on the Trans Siberian, I highly recommend getting THE TRANS-SIBERIAN HANDBOOK. That's the single most useful resource I had before and during my train journey. You can check it out by clicking the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1912716089/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=ummigoeswhe0f-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=1912716089&linkId=7388dda9bb58c4c187d5a4677f96eb89

I will also be writing a blog post to share more details about my trip, which I will be linking here, so please keep checking this space. :-)

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