Hi Everyone,

I'm an American currently living in Central Europe. Chances are, depending on job availability, I will have to leave Europe and head back to the states in late May or early June. Before I do that, I have been considering doing the "ultimate" train travel by going from my home in Vienna to Moscow, before catching a trans-Siberian through Mongolia and to Beijing.

There is some good information online and resources on how to go about this. I know the logistics of required visas for Russia, Mongolia and China (and possibly Belarus if I travel through there) and have read different ways on obtaining these visas. Lastly, because I live in Austria, it might be more beneficial for me to travel through Kiev as opposed to Belarus, saving the hours of customs and passports checks there.

So, here's my question: has anyone done any of these legs before? Whether it be to Russia from Europe or from Russia to China or a combination of them? What do you recommend and do you have any suggestions on how to go about this further? Any good travel agencies for the Russia-China sector? I plan to travel alone, will that be a problem? I speak mostly fluent German and English is my main language. I only know about 10-15 words in Russian. No Chinese.

Thanks in advance!