Latest News

Chinese Visa News

Chinese Embassies around the world are making the visa application more difficult in lead up to the Olympics and in follow up to recent demonstrations. We can supply the official visa support documents for China. Read more. filed 21st April 2008

Olympic Train Tickets

China Railways have changed thie ticket reservation policy in run up to the Olympics and we have made a response to all our customers. Read more. filed 13th March 2008

MONKEY DEALS

Four special deals combining high quality stopover options at unbeatable prices, see full options. filed 8th February 2008

RATS!

Happy Chinese New Year - 2008 is the year of the rat. Mongolia also celebrate the Lunar New Year. filed 7th February 2008

2008 Brochure

Our website is now fully updated with 2008 tours and prices - check it all in our 2008 Brochure download. filed 24th January 2008

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Since 1988!! Monkey is Celebrating 20 YEARS of Trans-Siberian Travel! Expect some great special offers in our anniversary year. filed 24th January 2008

Small Group Discount

We offer a €500 cashback when 6 of you travel on the same trip, encourage your friends to join you! Read more ... filed 24th January 2008

Winter Trips

We have excellent winter activities to choose from in Ekaterinburg and Lake Baikal (Dog sledging, ice fishing, skiing). It is also nice to spend a night or two in the solitude of the Elstei ger camp in the winter surrounded by snow and little else! Siberia is looking its best and most typical through the winter with a winter wonderland snowscape! filed 27th September 2007

Camping in Ural Mountains

Spend a few nights in the Ural Mountains at Tavolgi, near Ekaterinburg, read more ... filed 24th January 2008

Train #9 / #10

Train from Irkutsk to Moscow will change schedule on 1st November, instead of leaving Irkutsk on Even dates and Moscow on Odd dates they will now leave Irkutsk on Odd dates and Moscow on Even dates! filed 16th September 2007

Mongolian Winter

Our last Gobi trip for this year starts on 2nd October as Tavan Dohio camp in Sainshand closes on 4th October. From 3rd October Elstei Ger camp will operate in 'winter mode' - shower block closed but with washing facilities and food served in your ger, read more. filed 21st August 2007

Great Wall

The Trans-Mongolian train track has been re-routed and it is no longer posible to see the Great Wall of China from the train. filed 18th June 2007

Mongolian Railways

Please note some of our Package Prices have recently risen to reflect fare increases imposed by Mongolian Railways on the 1st of June on all trains out of Mongolia. filed 6th June 2007

Mongolian Embassy

The Mongolian Embassy in Beijing have told us that during the summer non-express visa applications will now take one whole week - apply on Monday and collect following Monday, for example. filed 3rd June 2007

Price Rises

China Railways have announce hefty ticket price increases on train #3 and train #19 from Beijing to Russia. Luckily tickets to Mongolia remain the same. You may need to download our updated brochure. filed 15th May 2007

Photos

We are slowly going through all our trans siberian journeys photos from over the years, both from your trips, and from our staff research trips. See them all on a route map ... filed 23rd April 2007

Russia Embassy Beijing

I just had a meeting with the Russian embassy here in Beijing and they are being very strict. Once again they insist tourist visa applications are only from official residents of China. If you do not have residence in China, we can offer a postal visa service through our Hong Kong office. See more ... filed 23rd April 2007

Russia Visa

The Russian Embassy in Beijing has raised its visa application fees, Canadians for example are now charged US$94 for the normal visa. See more prices here ... filed 24th March 2007

Email Contact

Emails from Beijing and Hong Kong are often blocked by overseas email accounts or treated as spam. If you didn’t receive a reply within 2 days there may be a problem, please contact us again filed 15th February 2007

Chinese New Year

Happy Year of the Pig! filed 8th February 2007

New Office

Our Beijing office has moved - click for more details filed 8th January 2007

Summer Timetable Announced

Train #23 from Beijing to Ulanbaatar - the last departure on a Saturday will be 26th May 2007, Chinese Railways will then run the route with departures on a Tuesday, from 5th June 2007 filed 27th January 2007

New website

Monkey freshens up it's appearance giving a brand new look to Monkeyshrine! We hope you like the rejuvenated monkey. Give us your feedback here .. filed 15th November 2006

Chris gets Cold ...

Our Beijing office manager heads to Russia for the winter months to develop some new programs. filed 15th November 2006

New Programmes for 2007!

We plan to add a stopover at Kazan, the capital of Tartarstan as well as a specialist European Russia trips . filed 15th November 2006

Ski Lake Baikal

Are you interested in skiing virgin snow in during Chinese New Year?. filed 15th November 2006

Visa Service in UK

We can also help UK citizens arrange the visas before leaving home on top of our existing visa service in Beijing and Hong Kong. filed 15th November 2006

Flight Booking

Book open-jaw flights from the UK, as well as out of Beijing, Hong Kong, Moscow and St Petersburg filed 15th November 2006

Jeep Trek in Mongolia

Travel to Hustai National Park in Khenti Province to see the last truly wild horses in the footsteps of Ghenghis Khan. filed 15th November 2006

Circum-Baikal Tours

For those who can't get enough of trains! filed 15th November 2006

Payment

We now offer secure and easy payment options in conjunction with WorldPay Online. filed 15th November 2006