BEST OF SIBERIA
AND MONGOLIA

Reservations and payment

Please fill in the Reservation Form with all details needed and send it to office@lyuba.tours or info@lyubatours.com. A deposit, upon booking, at the amount of €500 per person is required to assure your place. The final payment is to be made no later than three months prior to the start of the tour.

Extra nights in Yakutsk and/or Ulaanbaatar and transfers

If you want to spend a night or two prior or after the tour, we can make a reservation for you or you can make a direct arrangement with the tour hotel or another hotel. We can also recommend a nearby hotel which is cheaper. Please note that we have included transfers in the price - advice us of your arrival and departure times. Which brings us to...

... flights

We love arranging flights, but in this case, we won't. You are responsible for booking your flight ticket. We can always help you with an advice.

Tour information

Once we get your deposit, us folks at Lyuba Tours will immediately send a confirmation of space by e-mail. We will also send reading materials, music and more information about the country: what to bring, what to expect, money, weather, food and other wise. We will send all this by snail mail or email.

About a month before the tour, we will send you hotel and rooming lists, emergency numbers and any last-minute notes. We will be happy if you meet payment and document submittal deadlines to insure we have time to post your materials. Upon arrival in Russia, you will find even more stuff awaiting you: maps, phrasebooks, postcards, and more.

Customs and entry requirements

For this trip you require a passport with validity six months beyond the last day of the tour. That passport should have two blank pages for stamps.

No visas are required for U.S. citizens traveling to Mongolia for up to 90 days. A visa is required to enter Russia. We are happy to provide you with a visa invitation letters. American citizens are normally granted 10 year multiple entry visas for Russia. You will have to apply with your passport and visa invitation letter at the nearest Russian consulate, or alternatively, use a visa agent to apply on your behalf. If you don't happen to be a U.S. citizen, please make sure you have whatever documents are necessary to enter (and exit) Mongolia and Russia. We can help with this as well. Regulations are subject to change, and we will try to inform you of the latest changes.

Travel insurance

We strongly advise you to have a travel insurance for the trip. Situations may arise, voluntarily or involuntarily, in which the traveler cancels. We can recommend a comprehensive travel insurance plan, if you don't have one already. Insurance should cover trip cancellation, lost or damaged baggage, medical needs, and certain travel-related accidents. We highly recommend trip-cancellation insurance. Although please do read the insurance company's fine print, especially the section on 'pre-existing conditions'.

Ground transportation

We will travel across Russia and Mongolia in comfortable, air-conditioned private minibuses. For some sections we will use 4WD and 6WD vehicles and trains. Smoking is NOT permitted on any of the vehicles.

Health regulations

You are adviced to get a Hepatitis A and B vaccines. Please see the CDC's website for recommendations: www.cdc.gov. We suggest you check with your doctor for medical advice regarding the trip and your health. It is also suggested you discuss updating your tetanus and diphtheria booster.

Health considerations

To get the most out of a tour, a traveler should be in good physical and mental health, able and willing to walk, climb steps, and participate in group events. This trip requires moderate walking, sometimes over uneven streets or paths. If assistance is needed, a participant should travel with a companion. You must also be able to carry your own hand luggage, so please go light! Any physical or mental disability requiring special help or assistance must be noted in writing on the reservation form.

Opportunities for adventure

This tour is designed for those interested in learning everything about Mongolia and Siberia. We will present you with all sorts of perspectives, and you will see many shades of the region.

Also, this is a moderately active program ('soft' adventure). Since some of the travel will be in remote areas, travel participants need to be flexible concerning time schedules, food and weather. Roads may be bumpy. No! Roads will be bumpy. Don't expect to find things exactly as they are at home! If that were the case, why travel? Occasionally, we may experience delays, alterations in the plans, some discomforts and inconveniences. But we will also experience a different culture and our minds and souls will be expanded! A spirit of adventure and tolerance is absolutely fundamental to participation in any of our tours.

Wandering Policy

We encourage everyone to partake in all the sightseeing and special activities. We've spent months researching and preparing a full and exciting program. However, if you would like to venture out on your own, or take personal time for rest or shopping, you may do so. This is your trip! We only ask that you alert our group leader and guide when you will be separating and rejoining the group. Please take extra security precautions with your belongings and yourself.

Changes in itinerary

Every effort will be made to operate this tour in accordance with the itinerary shown, including all activities as advertised. Museums and features are subject to scheduling. Occasionally, changes are made to improve an itinerary or enhance a certain feature. Unforeseen local conditions beyond our control may prevent the completion of an itinerary or require alterations in an itinerary. These local conditions can include inclement weather, seasonal variations in climate, changes in airline schedules and equipment, government appropriation of hotel space, and other events beyond our control that would jeopardize the traveler's comfort, safety, health, or enjoyment. In these cases, the right is reserved to substitute hotels, and to alter the itinerary for the comfort and safety of the travelers. The right is also reserved to cancel the tour prior to departure.

Cancellations and refunds

Should Lyuba Tours cancel a departure for the reason of insufficient number of participants to operate the tour with no increase in cost, a full refund of all monies paid will be made.

On the participant's part, cancellation or change of date will result in a per person cancellation fee of €500, irrespective of reason up to 60 days before the tour. Cancellation made 59 days and less days before the tour, the cancellation fee will be at the amount of the tour. Should your cancellation cause the number of participants to fall below the required number to operate the trip, and a replacement member cannot be found, the full portion of the trip will be forfeited. If a person requests a room share to avoid the single supplement and then cancels after final payment is made and a roommate has been assigned, then the person canceling forfeits the single supplement if a share cannot be found.

Should a person cancel a trip voluntarily, and if payment was made by a bank wire, the amount of bank wire expense charged to Lyuba Tours will be deducted from the refund amount. Once the tour begins, no refund may be claimed for all or any part of the tour fee. Unused or changed hotel accommodations, transportation, or other services or features of the tour are neither refundable nor exchangeable.

Cancellations will only be accepted via e-mail, at office@lyuba.tours or info@lyubatours.com.

Why a winter tour? Why not a summer or spring or fall tour?
Siberia in summer feels like any other part of central and northern Eurasia: green and warm. It is hard to believe the temperature rises to over 36-37 degrees celsius, that's over 100 F! In addition, we don't like the ticks and clouds of mosquitoes, which make travel challenging. We don't like the fact many roads become impassable. In winter we can reach even far flung, isolated communities, and we can cross quickly lake Baikal on a hovercraft. There are far less tourists, and we can appreciate the resilience of indigenous communities in the face of severe cold. In Mongolia, we will see hunters with eagles in the height of their hunting season. Eagles are dormant in summer. They are dormant even in October, when the Ulgii eagle festival is held.

How cold will it be?
Winters are getting warmer, by Siberian standards, so it hard to predict. We expect temperatures of -30 to -40 Celsius (-20 to -40 F) in Yakutsk; -10 to -20 Celsius (14 to -4 F) near lake Baikal and in Mongolia. This is dry cold. When sunny, especially in Mongolia, it will feel warmer.
All vehicles are prepared for the cold. All hotels are very warm - to the point sometimes you will need to open a window to cool down your room. This is part of the culture of Siberia. We will make sure you are warm!

What clothes do I require for this trip?
Good, warm winter gear is a must. We will send you a list with all items you need as a very least. You will be able to borrow gear from us (including mittens, hat, jacket and pants for extreme cold). The coldest temperatures we will experience are in Yakutsk and the Lena Pillars, on days 1 and 2 of the trip. As we then go south, temperatures will rise. There will be emergency clothes to borrow in Yakutsk, in the Evenki camp near lake Baikal, and out in the Mongolian Altay mountains. There will be places to buy equipment in all the major towns on the road, including Yakutsk, Neryungri, Severobaikalsk, Ulan-Ude, Ulaanbaatar and Ulgii. Prices are comparable to prices in the US: you can find cheap and warm gear, or some very high-tech expensive gear. We will make sure you are warm!