Timeline '07

From Macska Travel Co.

Contents 1 Los Angeles to Tokyo 2 Tokyo to Seoul 3 Seoul to Shanghai 4 Shanghai to Beijing 5 Beijing to Ulaanbaatar 6 Ulaanbaatar to Irkutsk 6.1 Matt and Kat vs. Russian Passport Control 7 Irkutsk to Omsk 8 Omsk to Moscow 9 Moscow to Tallinn -- Cancelled 10 Moscow to St. Petersburg 11 St. Petersburg to Helsinki 12 Helsinki to Vienna 13 Vienna to Budapest 14 Budapest to Muelheim an der Ruhr 15 Muelheim an der Ruhr to Waterloo

Los Angeles to Tokyo

Les aventures commencent!

• Depart 12:30pm April 30, 2007 from Los Angeles LAX
• Arrive at 4:00pm May 1, 2007 local time Tokyo Narita
• United Airlines
• Flight 891
• 11 hours 21 min - yikes!
• Flying Boeing 747 400

Tokyo to Seoul

• Depart 6:00pm May 8, 2007 from Tokyo Narita
• Arrive at 9:00pm May 8, 2007 Seoul Incheon Int
• United Airlines
• Flight 883
• 2 hours 40 min
• Boeing 777

Seoul to Shanghai

• Depart 1:00pm May 13, 2007 from Seoul Incheon Int
• Arrive 3:00pm May 13, 2007 at Shanghai Pu Dong
• China Eastern Airlines
• Flight 5042
• 1hour 40min
• Airbus A340-600

Shanghai to Beijing

• Depart 7:00pm May 15, 2007 from Shanghai
• Arrive 6:58am May 16, 2007 in Beijing
• Train Z14
• Deluxe Soft Sleeper

Beijing to Ulaanbaatar

• Depart 7:45am May 19, 2007 from Beijing
• Arrive 1:20pm May 20, 2007 in Ulaanbaatar
• Train K23
• Hard Sleeper

Ulaanbaatar to Irkutsk

Matt and Kat vs. Russian Passport Control

• Depart 7:40pm May 24, 2007 from Ulaanbaatar
• Arrive 8:00am May 26, 2007 in Irkutsk
• Train 363
• Soft Sleeper

Irkutsk to Omsk

Omsk to Moscow

Moscow to Tallinn -- Cancelled

Flight Cancelled
Matt and I had bought a direct flight from Moscow to Tallinn after hearing that the Estonian-Russian border was a little sketchy. However after a strong recomendation for Leningrad, we decided it was unmissable. While we're at it, we thought we might as well go to Finland and follow Matt's childhood footsteps in Helsinki. The only downside to this revision: the requisite flight cancellation fee. Le sigh.

Moscow to St. Petersburg

We traveled on the Rossiya (Russian train #2) for this segment, and it was fantastic.

St. Petersburg to Helsinki

Was a fantastic train and the easiest border crossing we've ever done.

Helsinki to Vienna

Via Blue1/SAS. Pretty good deal, but don't buy the sandwiches in Stockholm, they're murderously expensive.

Vienna to Budapest

Trains were awesome.

Budapest to Muelheim an der Ruhr

Here we rocked an InterRail and Eurail pass. InterRail was slightly cheaper for Matt as an EU citizen.

Muelheim an der Ruhr to Waterloo

Easy train, probably went by Thalys or ICE.