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That was my first that long and remote travel, so on one hand I have fresh view, on the other - I'm still relatively unexperienced.Eastern Russia (cities): expensive, poor standard of accomodation for money. Delicious food, kingdom of plaits. Ugly architecture, but that makes kind of area of interest for a visitor. I can only recommend it only to those who had seen everything and are now into exotic places.
Lake Baikal: great place for active tourism. Walk along Circumbaikal line or Great Baikal Trail may be an unforgetable holiday. Because of time and money needed to get there, lakes in Alps may offer overall better value.
Ulaanbaatar: ugly and boring.
Mongolia (countryside): spectacular. Next time I'll hire motorbike, take a tent and enjoy modern nomad life. Easier accesible since dropping visa requirement for EU citizens
Beijing: fascinating! We will be back there to see all the things we missed, and try some more of that cuisine. Definitely not in the summer though!
China: beatiful mountains. On our way to the Great Wall we met tourists heading for local villages, so there must be plenty of other things to see as well. And China is vast country, so hopefully we will be able to see a bit more.
Trans Siberian train - that looks for me like a legend created by travel agencies. There is not much one can do on the train, views through the window aren't that spectacular (if any, when travelling through forests), cities along the route of little charm (see above). Traveling on one of Russian (firmenny) trains at least guarantees comfort, but using Moscow-Beijing service it is plain survival.
Sharing room with 3 other people and toilet with several more is everyday life for many, so I can't see any excitement in that neither.
Forget all the vodka parties and socialising: the trains are patrolled so heavy drinking is a no-no, and everybody minds their own business (using mobile/tablet/headphones). Oh, you need to know local dialect as well, as I did not experience much of English literacy in the area.
BAM (Baikal - Amur Mainline) - beautiful scenery, wilder area. If you love train rides (and those are still diesel operated), I would recommend it more than Transsib.
Clearly my feelings are mixed - I do not regret being in some of those places, I just feel (and recommend) for the same time or money spent, one can have nicer memories elsewhere.
One reason that could affect the perception was the intensity of travel: 5 flights, 4 long-distance train rides, hoverplane and all the local journeys, all within just 2.5 weeks - it wore us a bit.
As mentioned, we would love to come back to Mongolia and China, but spend there more time, and rather in the countryside.When we do that, we will share our memories again!
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