What to do on the Trans Mongolian for six days?

Hi there,

I’m about to go for a train ride – the Trans Mongolian for six days. It will be broken up into two leagues, the first three days from Beijing to Irkutsk, and the next three days from Irkutsk to Moscow.

I expect it to be quite an epic trip, filled with lovely scenery along the way. My only fear(s), or should I phrase it as, my many fears are 1) The condition of the toilets and inability to bathe for three days 2) The need to shit/ the occurrence of a tummy ache and 3) having absolutely nothing to do.

Which brings this to my point. What can be done on a train for six days?

I expect to do some reading and drama watching – if you have any great book/ TV  recommendations please share them with me. Books especially because it’s easier to be stuck with a lousy show then a lousy book – you simply feel like throwing it out the window. For shows, you can simply press delete.

I’ll be travelling with a companion, so I expect we can have a conversation, play card games that involve two people? (chess maybe) and play tic-tac-toe. Some time will also involve eating, trying to sleep and trying to figure the most convenient way to get to the loo. There might be a little vodka sampling if opportunity prevails.

But what else can be done? If you have any brilliant ideas, please comment on this post – or drop a message on The Travelling Squid’s Facebook page.

Mucho gracias.

Cheers to the trip of a lifetime.

Phebe