Trans-Siberian

[benlehman]

My mom just sent me the Lonely Planet's trans-Siberian guide, as part of an extended birthday present.

First thought: Man, this is going to be more expensive than I thought. Russia is *way* pricier than China.

Second thought: Damn. Cool stuff.

Third thought: 30 day automatic stay in Mongolia for US citizens? hmmm....

So I'm pretty jazzed, yeah.

How are you?

Comments

[evilmagnus]

Third thought: 30 day automatic stay in Mongolia for US citizens? hmmm....

They have to keep the Gulags full somehow.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Now, now. The Mongolians didn't have gulags. Gulag is a Russian word. And we all know that the Mongolian state has never had anything to do with Russia ever, right? ;-)

yrs--
--Ben

[djtiresias.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was also surprised at how expensive Transsiberian tickets were. Russia in general isn't too expensive. China's currency is very undervalued, and that keeps currencies in the surrounding areas somewhat undervalued, and that makes everything very cheap. Enjoy it while it lasts =P Although who knows, a revaluation of the Yuan might screw the Chinese economy so much things are still cheap for a while afterwards.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Mostly, it was the hotels. I travelled mostly in western / central China, where you could get a dorm room in a hostel for 10-20 yuan / night. In Russia, that looks more like $15-30! And more for plumbing! Man.

yrs--
--Ben

[djtiresias.livejournal.com]

huh. Most US hostels wouldn't be more than $20. Maybe you'll be able to find better prices when you're actually on the ground? That is strange.

And wow, 20 yuan, for a dorm room? That's cheap as fuck.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

Kunming youth hostel, baby.

yrs--
--Ben

[russiandude.livejournal.com]

See Russia never had youth hostels. Thus lack of cheap places to stay for travelers.

[russiandude.livejournal.com]

Do they still have the (are you not russian? then you pay more) thingy? Also, depends on where you are staying in Russia.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

I think that they still have extra charges for foreigners, plus foreigners often aren't allowed at the cheapest places. (For what it is worth, this is also true in China, I can just usually talk my way around it -- probably not likely in Russia, since I don't know the language.)

Do you have any recommendations for a tourist in Russia?

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

A revaluation of the Yuan screws everyone short-term, which is why it hasn't happened yet.

yrs--
--Ben

[djtiresias.livejournal.com]

The US would probably bounce back pretty fast. Most of our imports from China are still light manufactures. Those industries can move pretty easily.

I dunno, I think China is taking a big risk. A lot of countries try to keep their currencies artificially low - the US arguably did so from 1945-70. But there are a lot of differences - the US was selling to its own markets, its currency was strong when it started, it didn't have to play too many weird games to keep its currency low. And we still took a major hit when Nixon revalued the dollar.

China is largely exporting. Its effectivelly exporting its natural resources at a reduced price, which will do God knows what to its natural resources. The rate China has chosen for the Yuan isn't just low, its extremly low. And its keeping the Yuan low by, for all intents and purposes, shorting the Yuan againist the Dollar. Its insane. What the hell do they do if the US decides it wants a little inflation?

Anyway, sorry for ranting. The whole thing makes me very nervous. I worry that they're going to put off the devaluation for too long, so that when they do revalue, the tremors really do fuck the world economy.

[benlehman.livejournal.com]

I agree with you that the situation is pretty dire. But two things make it not as bad.

1) China has no natural resources to speak of, except farmland. Okay, and coal, but they don't export that, as far as I know.

2) China's economy is increasingly internalized. At this point, almost %70 of the goods manufactured in China stay in China, and that number is increasingly rapidly. I imagine the govt. will wait until that hits some magic number (probably %90) before a revaluation.

yrs--
--Ben