Travel Tips

[Dudley]

I've just returned from getting my shots, as in a mere six weeks' time I'm heading off for pastures distinctly exotic.  Starting in Beijing, we'll be taking the Trans-Mongolian Express through Inner Mongolia, then on to Ulaanbaatar (where the Naandaam Festival, the main Mongolian festival, should be taking place), out into the steppes to the nomad camps, back to Ulaanbaatar, up to Irkutsk and Lake Baikal in Siberia, then on the Trans-Siberian Express to Moscow.  I've barely been outside Europe before, so this is all rather exciting.

Since I now have to think seriously about packing and preparation, I thought I'd ask the board for tips on making travel in far-flung places go smoothly.  What should I take?  What shouldn't I take?  Etc?

[Richmond Clements]

You fucking bastard.

[Queen Firey-Bou]

ARGHHHHHHGH !!!   why you should take us... as thats my dream trek that i've spent my life obbsessing about, and you need ass-kicking ninja guides, and i can speak 5 words of russian etc etc.

sheesh.

[test 4 echo]

Always have US$ in your pocket in small bills. Readily accepted for anything everywhere in the world.

And travel light as possible, there's very little you really need you won't be able to get, where ever you end up.

T4E

[Mr C]

Mind the Death Worms.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_Death_Worm" target="_blank">Avoid wearing yellow

[Floyd-the-k]

Take lonely planet guides - they're brilliant.  Apart from that, no idea. I always pack at the last minute myself.
  Oh and learn how to say "happy Naandaam" in Mongol because they'll buy you a beer then. Probably.

[TordelBack]

Avoid wearing yellow

Or you could just. Walk. Without. Rhythm.

I've never been over that way, so my advice is secondhand and general.  

A colleague of mine spent some time as a nurse in Ulanbaatar. Second hand advice: try and stay out of the hospitals.

General advice:  

(1). The essentials:  Hat, towel, inflatable pillow or stuffable pillow case, torch, dollars.

(2).  Electrical devices/batteries require chargers and adapters - frequently one each.  These can weigh twice as much as the device itself.  Try to minimise.  And in the same vein:

(3). Do NOT spend the next six weeks carefully cramming every known song, audio book, movie and language course onto your brand-new 20-terabyte dolby surround sound widescreen iPod, as another colleague of mine did.  It'll either die and get lost/stolen on the first daty, or you'll never find time to listen to it.  You're travelling to BE somewhere, not bring here with you.  But judging from your mouth-watering itinerary, you already know that.    

(4).  Don't buy anyone.

That sounds like the trip of a lifetime.

[ThryllSeekyr]

Your asking for alot if you want things to run smoothly, you know.

[Dudley]

Inflatable pillow sounds like a good plan, and I'd never considered taking a torch, so thanks!  I've also got one of the greatest inventions I've ever seen - the portable toilet lock.

Rac - in three words, you make this trip worthwhile  ;)

[Richmond Clements]

Heh! Glad I could help!

Seriously though, you're a jammy bastard!
Mongolia and looking for the death worm is one of my dreams..!

[Queen Firey-Bou]

hey how about one of these wind up torches ? no batteries see .. we just got one for our exotic camping adventures, ten minutes up the road.

 harumpf. jealousies such an unpleasant thing.

[ThryllSeekyr]

Is yellow the bad colour.

[Tiplodocus]

Decent and compact torch and a decent swiss army knife really did become invaluable in my trips in South East Asia - I wasn't going anwhere near as exotic (my favourite bits of teh RISK board).

Pack your bag really carefully taking only what you really need. Then just before you go, ask someone else to go through it and throw away a third of what you've packed.

Conversations that invariably go bad #2:
"Where are you going?"
"To the National Museum".
"I know a short cut. And it's free. We just have to stop off at a Jewellers where they are having a government sponsored sale of rubies and emeralds"


Take a flannel with you. Use this to dry yourself off mostly. You can sqeeze it out a lot easier than a towel. Then just use your towel to finish off. It dries a lot quicker that way and you don't have to carry a soggy towel around with you.

Inflatable pillow can be useful for long bus and train journeys.

Conversations that invariably go bad #2:
"Where are you from?"
"Dudley"
"Oh, my voluptuous teenage sister is going to study in Dudley. Would you like to come and meet here?"

Never take the recommendation of a fellow tourist who happened to be stoned the whole time he was in place X.

I'd disagree about the music thing. Sometimes when sharing dorms, it's great to share music with your fellow travellers.  I was thanked enthusiastically for introducing some Danes to the delights of Tom Waits.

Don't eat the yellow snow.

[Quirkafleeg]

Rough Guide = Good, esp on background history.
Lonely Planet = Liar Planet.

[Byron Virgo]

Make sure you get your travel insurance sorted, and that it's from a reliable provider with comprehensive cover. Can't stress that enough, as you really don't want to leave Europe without it (once outside Europe, you're not covered for any medical costs that you hopefully eon't incur, which is not a situation you want to find yourself in, believe you me!)

Also, once you get in, always remember to carry plenty of water with you wherever you go - you forget in hotter climes how quickly your body can become dehydrated, so it really is important to have some form of refreshing liquid close to hand. I was riding a horse beyond the Giza Necropolis a few years back when I nearly came a cropper because I forgot to bring any water.