@lewd good luck!
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A last glance at the ice sculpture park in Chelyabinsk and ready to board my train to Petropavl in Kazakhstan.
Petropavl is an interesting railway station since it's served by inner-Russian trains following the south junction of the Trans Siberian Railway. While passengers leaving the train there are formally leaving Russia in Petukhovo, passengers traveling onwards to Omsk and further east remain in Russia as transit traffic - a new visa for foreigners is thereby not necessary.
I'm happy to finally be in the train to
Kazakhstan for my part and will enjoy the next 8 hours in a comfy old Купе /Kupe/ upper berth getting gently shaken into sweet dreams.Stay strong
!#FOSSRail #TeamNightTrain #Kazakhstan
@lewd Interesting route choice, have fun. I was expecting via Mongolia. a shame that they haven't resumed the regular Ürümqi–Almaty trains, I hope they do at some point. The infrastructure certainly exists given that they do freight and tourist trains.
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Any suggestions from my experienced #China travel fellows : Since I missed my train in Estonia, I'm two days late in Ürümqi and will thereby miss my booked train to Xi'an and onwards to Kunming and Vientiane.
Any secret places to still get tickets ? I'd prefer to take the high speed train rather than 37 h with a standing ticket.
(Being late in China because of a delay in Latvia is cursed btw.)
CC : @wrzlbrnft
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I arrived in Chelyabinsk perfectly on time. My urge to leave the station before the cafés in the downtown open is rather limited considering the temperature.
I'll wait until 8 a.m. in the warm waiting hall and then grab some coffee in the city center before boarding my connecting train at 10:20 a.m.
@lewd That looks like a really nice station. Reminds me a bit of a nice 1980s Japanese hotel I stayed in, but from Russian Wikipedia I gather that it was rebuilt in the early 2000s
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Any suggestions from my experienced #China travel fellows : Since I missed my train in Estonia, I'm two days late in Ürümqi and will thereby miss my booked train to Xi'an and onwards to Kunming and Vientiane.
Any secret places to still get tickets ? I'd prefer to take the high speed train rather than 37 h with a standing ticket.
(Being late in China because of a delay in Latvia is cursed btw.)
CC : @wrzlbrnft
@lewd I haven't been in China for quite a long time, but it seems that https://www.12306.cn/en/index.html might work for you.
However, buying tickets at this moment might be rather tricky, as the Chinese New Year is approaching and everyone is on the move.
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Any suggestions from my experienced #China travel fellows : Since I missed my train in Estonia, I'm two days late in Ürümqi and will thereby miss my booked train to Xi'an and onwards to Kunming and Vientiane.
Any secret places to still get tickets ? I'd prefer to take the high speed train rather than 37 h with a standing ticket.
(Being late in China because of a delay in Latvia is cursed btw.)
CC : @wrzlbrnft
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@lewd I haven't been in China for quite a long time, but it seems that https://www.12306.cn/en/index.html might work for you.
However, buying tickets at this moment might be rather tricky, as the Chinese New Year is approaching and everyone is on the move.
@mpsi Yeah, everything is booked up.
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@mpsi Yeah, everything is booked up.
@lewd With their real-name ticketing, there is no way around the official system, at least nothing I know of (I traveled extensively in China 8+ years ago, so my knowledge may be outdated).
There are plenty of tickets on New Year's Eve (Feb 16) and later, if you're willing to wait a few days.
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@lewd With their real-name ticketing, there is no way around the official system, at least nothing I know of (I traveled extensively in China 8+ years ago, so my knowledge may be outdated).
There are plenty of tickets on New Year's Eve (Feb 16) and later, if you're willing to wait a few days.
@lewd And one random thing about traveling by train in China: they will confiscate any knife you have. However, I was consistently able to smuggle a small folding knife in my trousers pocket - there was a security check before you could enter the station, but not as thorough as in airports (again, it might have changed since the time I left China).
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Any suggestions from my experienced #China travel fellows : Since I missed my train in Estonia, I'm two days late in Ürümqi and will thereby miss my booked train to Xi'an and onwards to Kunming and Vientiane.
Any secret places to still get tickets ? I'd prefer to take the high speed train rather than 37 h with a standing ticket.
(Being late in China because of a delay in Latvia is cursed btw.)
CC : @wrzlbrnft
@lewd As 12306.cn never worked for me (at least without VPN) I always used https://www.chinahighlights.com . They charge a fee but they do a great job reserving tickets, also for the Kunming to Vientiane train. As far as I remember it's also possible to rebook a train once with no additional costs (if it's at the same price or less, otherwise you just need to pay the gap).
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Dear readers, I sadly need to announce that I need to pause my #FOSSRail thread. I hope y'all are doing great and read you again soon
! -
Dear readers, I sadly need to announce that I need to pause my #FOSSRail thread. I hope y'all are doing great and read you again soon
!@lewd Fueza!
... and buen viaje!
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Any suggestions from my experienced #China travel fellows : Since I missed my train in Estonia, I'm two days late in Ürümqi and will thereby miss my booked train to Xi'an and onwards to Kunming and Vientiane.
Any secret places to still get tickets ? I'd prefer to take the high speed train rather than 37 h with a standing ticket.
(Being late in China because of a delay in Latvia is cursed btw.)
CC : @wrzlbrnft
@lewd i asked my cousin who lives there:
"""
It will be hard right now because of the new year celebration. The main app is the most reliable place to buy. You can apply to buy tickets even if they are sold out there, so if someone on the train cancels you will automatically get their seat.1/3
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@lewd i asked my cousin who lives there:
"""
It will be hard right now because of the new year celebration. The main app is the most reliable place to buy. You can apply to buy tickets even if they are sold out there, so if someone on the train cancels you will automatically get their seat.1/3
Some high speed rail journeys dont offer standing tickets, but if you buy a ticket for a short stretch of the journey, get on board and then buy a ticket, you can make it to your destination.
A standing ticket might be the only way. Then hopping empty seats until you arrive at your destination
The english version of the app actually has less functions than the chinese version
2/3
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Some high speed rail journeys dont offer standing tickets, but if you buy a ticket for a short stretch of the journey, get on board and then buy a ticket, you can make it to your destination.
A standing ticket might be the only way. Then hopping empty seats until you arrive at your destination
The english version of the app actually has less functions than the chinese version
2/3
@lewd She wants to skip Xi'an and go to Kunming? There are still tickets to Xi'an from Urumqi
You can rebook tickets via the railway12306 platform (better on mobile) but its not so flexible. They have an english speaking helpline too
"""so it sounds like the main tip is to buy a ticket for a short stretch of the high speed journey and then pay a supplement once you're on board
good luck!
3/3
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@lewd She wants to skip Xi'an and go to Kunming? There are still tickets to Xi'an from Urumqi
You can rebook tickets via the railway12306 platform (better on mobile) but its not so flexible. They have an english speaking helpline too
"""so it sounds like the main tip is to buy a ticket for a short stretch of the high speed journey and then pay a supplement once you're on board
good luck!
3/3
@wrzlbrnft @bovine3dom Thanks ! I could already buy a ticket since I had to change my route over again.
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Any suggestions from my experienced #China travel fellows : Since I missed my train in Estonia, I'm two days late in Ürümqi and will thereby miss my booked train to Xi'an and onwards to Kunming and Vientiane.
Any secret places to still get tickets ? I'd prefer to take the high speed train rather than 37 h with a standing ticket.
(Being late in China because of a delay in Latvia is cursed btw.)
CC : @wrzlbrnft
@lewd @wrzlbrnft when are you arriving in Urumqi?
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@lewd @wrzlbrnft when are you arriving in Urumqi?
@RensBloom @wrzlbrnft I already resolved my issue, thanks !
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Dear readers, I sadly need to announce that I need to pause my #FOSSRail thread. I hope y'all are doing great and read you again soon
!Good morning dear Fedi !
I spent three restless days bringing me from Siberia to China.
Arriving here, I boarded a
Fuxing Hao high-speed train getting me southbound to Kunming.The railway station is as busy as expected, loud crowded but the boarding went fast and smooth.
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Good morning dear Fedi !
I spent three restless days bringing me from Siberia to China.
Arriving here, I boarded a
Fuxing Hao high-speed train getting me southbound to Kunming.The railway station is as busy as expected, loud crowded but the boarding went fast and smooth.
-
Good morning dear Fedi !
I spent three restless days bringing me from Siberia to China.
Arriving here, I boarded a
Fuxing Hao high-speed train getting me southbound to Kunming.The railway station is as busy as expected, loud crowded but the boarding went fast and smooth.
@lewd Congrats on making it there! Glad you’re safe!
Will you post a map/itinerary of the route you ended up taking when it’s safe for you to do so?
bahn.bonus if you can have 
РЖД Бонус ?
