WANT to get from Moscow to Beijing and have a few days to spare? Then let the train take the strain on the Trans-Mongolian railway, an 8,000km journey across three countries, with stunning scenery and fascinating cities along the way. Hege Tollerud finds it's just the ticket.

Having a schedule that allowed for a leisurely journey from Europe back to Shanghai where I live, offered a golden opportunity to fulfil a long-held dream. I grabbed it with both hands and embarked on a never-to-be-forgotten trip from Moscow to Beijing, via Ulan Bataar, on the Trans-Mongolian Railway.

The journey started in –11 degrees Celsius on a white Moscow evening, as a green snake of a train approached Platform 3 of Yaroslavsky Station.

We managed to find the right carriage and compartment, having gone for the two-berth first-class option. This did not cost a lot more than the four-berth compartment, and offered the luxury of a tiny bathroom shared between two compartments.

The dark brown wooden interior gave the feeling of being in a film, while the Russian restaurant carriage at the back of the train looked like something out of the Wild West.

Whatever, we knew that we were in for a unique experience.

The Trans-Siberian Railway might be more famous, but the Trans-Mongolian line is the more popular, as it offers an experience that includes much more - taking passengers on a journey through three countries, Russia, Mongolia and China.

So we chose this one, as, after all, our final destination was China. Our route breaks off from the Trans-Siberian at Ulan-Ude, heading south into Mongolia.

Another option is the Trans-Manchurian line, which also takes you to China, breaking off from the Trans-Siberian at Chita in Russia and heads into China, via Harbin, to Beijing.

We went through a winter wonderland, covering just short of 8,000 kilometers and including sights and regions such as the Ural Mountains, Siberia and Lake Baikal, the Mongolian steppe and the Gobi Desert, and, approaching Beijing, the Great Wall.

The train stops in a number of places, sometimes for just a few minutes, at others for longer, giving passengers a chance to get some fresh air.

Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude in Russia and Ulan Bataar in Mongolia are the main stops, but there are other - sometimes longer - stops.

You should not expect to get much information on the train about where you are, when you'll arrive at a stop and how long you'll be there. So I recommend investing in a travel guide that can at least help you keep roughly up to speed along the way. Or ask your travel agent for a breakdown of stops and approximately when these are reached.

And, be careful to never leave without asking the carriage manager how long when the train will be stopped at a station. Borders are safest bets for getting out and stretching your legs with a proper walk, especially on the Russian and Chinese side.

These small towns are not the most exciting in the world, but being outside for a bit feels great, and they offer a good option to restock on food and drink. It also helps shorten the long wait for all the paperwork at immigrations and customs. For most travellers, all three countries along the route require visas, so crossing borders is a time-consuming affair.

The Trans-Mongolian railway is a thinkers' train. No matter what you need to think over, you have time for it here. And if not, you have days on end just to look out the window and let your thoughts just come and go.

There are long stretches of similar landscape - through Siberia, through the Gobi Desert - that are not constantly exciting, but it's still fascinating, and your mind really just wanders. I brought stacks of books, as well as my Mandarin homework, believing I'd be fluent by the time I reached the Chinese border. As if … As soon as the book was opened, the rhythm of the train sent me off for a little nap.

Fellow travelers

The compartment doors were open for fellow travelers most of the time, and there was a nice atmosphere in the carriage. Passengers ranged from young professionals just taking some time out (to think…), students en route to teach English in China, the traditional Australian backpackers who have been on the road for years and retired couples, to people using the train purely as transport - that will be the locals.

Evenings were passed having a few beers and doing quizzes, as well as the occasional visit to the restaurant carriage for some vodka and a bowl of the Russian borsch soup, served to the sound of Russian soap opera.

At some stops you can also get food from little ladies on the platforms who sell delicious homemade delicacies,.

One of the absolute highlights was waking up to see the sun rise on a frozen Lake Baikal. At 1,642 meters, the southern Siberian lake is the deepest freshwater lake in the world. The UNESCO World Heritage site has a surface area of almost 32,000 square kilometers, and is also believed to be the world's oldest lake, dating back some 25 million years. As we passed alongside, the bright sun on the white landscape was an amazing sight.

More quirky than beautiful

The Trans-Mongolian was built between 1947 and 1956, linking Moscow and Beijing by train. If you do the whole journey in one go, it takes five and a half days.

It's easy to split the trip and get off to explore along the route. We jumped off at Ulan Bataar, capital of Mongolia, for a couple of days. More quirky than beautiful, we had a good laugh at the Irish pubs and even ended up in KTV!

But to be fair, Mongolia is renowned for its landscape, not its capital city. And, from Ulan Bataar it is easy to go on excursions to Bogdkhan Mountain in the south or the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park.

Leaving Ulan Bataar behind, another fascinating landscape to travel through was the Gobi Desert. Covering an area of almost 1.3 million square kilometers across southern Mongolia, and northern and northwestern China, the Gobi is the biggest in Asia, and the fifth largest desert in the world.

We were meant to go to Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China, for a quick transfer to our next and final train. But a train breakdown in the middle of the Gobi meant we got off at Jining, in China's Shandong Province.

Our last leg was on a shiny new train. We got a good night's sleep ... managed to miss the view of the Great Wall coming in to Beijing - just as well we'd climbed it before.

A once in a lifetime dream, I believed. Now I'm not so sure about the once part anymore. I want to do it again - the Trans-Siberian or Trans-Manchurian in spring, when the landscapes are all green? Yes, why not?

If you go

Visas:

Most travelers need visas for all three countries covered by the route: Russia, Mongolia and China. To find details of types of visa and how to get these, visit the respective websites in your own country.

Travel agents:

We were extremely happy with the support of Yuriy, our man at Real Russia, a UK-based agency that helps with all you need online. It is highly recommended to go through an agency, even if it is possible to buy the train tickets at the station. They really do look after you and follow up, and can help with everything you need, like visas and invitations, hotels and the actual trains and potential stops. (www.realrussia.co.uk)

Where to stay:

Before departure, we stayed at Golden Apple Boutique Hotel in Moscow (www.goldenapple.ru), a well-located and great hotel near Pushkin Square. Stopping in Mongolia, we chose the Ramada Ulanbataar City Center (www.ramada.com), and in Beijing we went for the lovely Pentahotel Beijing (www.pentahotels.com) in Chongwenmen.


(Hege Tollerud is a Shanghai-based freelance travel writer who contributes to Shanghai Daily.)