Korean Job Discussion Forums

Nowhere Man · Joined: 08 Feb 2004

Anybody done it?

How much would you estimate it costing?

soviet_man · Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Location: Seoul

Yes I have done it by train.

As a ball park figure, I'd say the current price would be about 1.4 million won one way.

632,000 Flight: Seoul - Beijing - Seoul (expedia.com)
457,000 Train Ticket: Beijing to Moscow (monkeyshrine.com)
55,000 China Visa
40,000 Mongolia Visa
20,000 Russian Visa Invitation
80,000 Russian Visa processing in Seoul (1 week processing).
10,000 Bank Transfer Fee.
10,000 Bus Ticket to Incheon.
100,000 Food + expenses (say 15,000 per day for 6/7 days).

Aeroflot one way Incheon - Moscow currently $897 US. (Dalavia airlines is probably cheaper than that again).

the saint · Joined: 09 Dec 2003 Location: not there yet...

nice run down. I've been wondering how it would all factor out cost-wise so thanks for that.

How was the trip? Stopover anywhere? Good length of time to allow for it? Time of year?

khyber · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Compunction Junction

somewhere in this forum soviet man (I think it was) had an UNBELIEVABLY breakdown of the trip.
search around... Wink

RachaelRoo · Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Location: Anywhere but Ulsan!

dandoeskorea · Joined: 10 Apr 2005 Location: London

I'll be doing a similar journey (Hong Kong to Amsterdam by train) in two weeks time. Here are my costs so far: -

Incheon to Hong Kong (flight): 369,500 Won
Hong Kong to Shanghai: 85,000
Shanghai to Beijing: 75,000
Beijing to Dzamyn-Ude (Mongolia): 65,000
Dzamyn-Ude to Ulaanbaatar: 29,000
Ulaanbaatar to Irkutsk (Russia): 62,000
Irkutsk to Moscow: 290,000
Moscow to Vilnius (Lithuania): 96,000
Vilnius onward: Will travel ad hoc

That's roughly 542,000 (depending on the exchange rate) for the Beijing to Moscow bit. More than on monkeyshrine.com, but this allows for many stop-offs along the way. The China and Mongolian visas are 35,000 at the mo. The Russian one is 45,000 if you go to the Embassy yourself. As soviet_man said, Russian visa invitation is between 20,000 and 30,000.

When are you thinking of going Nowhere Man?

davai! · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Location: Kuwait

if you're an American, you'll pay at least twice that for the visa.

Dan, I'm in Moscow. look me up and I'll buy you a beer. Be careful on the way to Vilnius, the direct train goes through about 10 miles of Belarus and you will need a visa. American? from an EU country? you probably won't get that right now. (election fallout, etc.)

you can, however go direct to Kiev (reccomended) and then on to Poland, or alternatively go direct to Riga, Latvia, then to Vilnius on the Bus.

To the OP:
stop in Irkutsk to see the lake. They say it is unbelievable.

dandoeskorea · Joined: 10 Apr 2005 Location: London

Thanks for the offer davai! I will.

Yeah, I knew about the Belarus visa, and had enquired about there being any problems, but I've been told as it's only a transit visa it's ok. My girlfriend's Korean, and she still needs a visa for Ukraine, so it'll work out quicker and cheaper this way. Plus we know some people in Vilnius. From there we'll go on to Warsaw, and then possibly Prague and Berlin, but we'll be playing it by ear at that point.

Thanks again. May see you in Moscow.

davai! · Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Location: Kuwait

Nowhere Man · Joined: 08 Feb 2004

Thanks for the breakdown, soviet.

Anybody know about cheap flights from Moscow to Europe?

soviet_man · Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Location: Seoul

$110 Moscow to Kiev. www.expedia.com/Aeroflot.
$120 Moscow to Berlin. www.gexx.de (Germania).
$123 Moscow to Bourgas (Bulgaria). www.s7.ru. (Siberia Airlines)
$125 Moscow to Tallinn. http://www.estonian-air.ee/
$140 Moscow to Berlin / Stuttgart / Cologne. www.germanwings.com
$166 Moscow to Ancona (Italy). www.evolavia.com

In my view, $150 US dollars should be more than enough to get you a one-way seat out of Moscow on one of the numerous low-cost carriers (note current prices).