Recycling is second nature in our eco-friendly household, along with buying organic foods and using energy-saving lightbulbs. But – and this is a big, climate-bashing but – I wanted to visit my sister in Hong Kong.

It’s easy to flaunt your green credentials by hopping on a train to Paris, but longhaul is slightly more complicated. And the journey length is incomparable.

Initially it was little more than a "I’m greener than Kermit me, I’m going to take the train to China" boast. It sounded impressive and with typical lack of forethought, I hadn’t considered how much planning would be involved.

Panic started to set in after visiting the local Thomas Cook shop to request their famed (well, in the trainspotter’s world) international train timetable. This was not like the flimsy Southern railway timetable. It was massive, with endless times and names and footnotes. The travel agent tried to decipher it, but after a few minutes shrugged “Haven’t got a clue love.”

Reading the guide book on the Trans-Siberian route helped clarify things slightly, although asking for help finding it on the shelves was not a good omen.

Having asked a few savvy people for advice, I found www.seat61.com, a treasure trove of international train information. This site suggests the best route is Brighton to London, London to Brussels, change for Cologne, then hop on to the sleeper train to Moscow.

There are two routes from Moscow to Beijing, with the most picturesque meant to be via Mongolia. This train, No 4, leaves Moscow every Tuesday at 9.30pm, arriving in Beijing six days later. Four hours after the train leaves for Hong Kong. By this point cabin fever will probably set in so spending two days in Beijing waiting for the next train (they only leave on odd numbered days in November) seems a good plan, if only so I can have a shower before setting off on the last leg. Family ties may be strong, but more than a week of not being able to wash properly would put a dampner on the welcoming hug.

There are a number of options when buying tickets from Moscow to Beijing. Unlike in the UK train ticket prices fluctuate depending on where they are purchased and, not being brave enough to chance buying it at the station in Moscow, I went with the next cheapest option of using an agency in Russia. The frisson of adventure gained by faxing through photocopies of both sides of a credit card to an unknown number in Moscow is presumably why some people choose the dearer route of purchasing through a UK agency, but not possessing a credit card I had to use my dad’s, so the frisson was all his. The agency, called Hostel Asia, www.hostels.ru, was efficient, delivering the tickets exactly when promised. As I’ve had no outraged phonecalls, it appears no excess money was swiped either.

Next was the London to Moscow leg, booked through the London-based European Rail, www.europeanrail.com. The longsuffering telesales agent eventually gave in to my demands to compare the prices via Warsaw, supposedly cheaper but slower, and the more usual direct route.

Fifteen minutes of hanging on the phone and the grand difference between the two was twenty quid. So I went for the quicker route, which, as he pointedly reminded me, was what he had recommended at the beginning of the phonecall. The Beijing to Hong Kong route was paid simply by PayPal through China Travel Service, www.chinatripadvisor.com, who will deliver the tickets to my hostel in Beijing on the day I arrive. I hope.

It was at this point that I realised visas were needed. Four. A transit one for Belarus which the train passes through on the way to Moscow, then a Russian one, a Mongolian one and a Chinese one. Saying that out loud, I started to feel like Madonna on an adoption spree. Hopes of organising the visas myself were dashed when I realised that with five weeks to go I was cutting it fine.

There is a set order in which to apply for them and nightmare stories circulated of having to arrive at some embassies at 5am, with no guarantee of admission that day. So I contacted yet more agencies, initially to ask for guidance on the process. One agency, Real Russia, www.realrussia.co.uk, offered to sort out all four visas for £80. As the bill was already eye-watering, this was a small price to pay. My passport was returned with four shiny new visas in a far shorter timescale than I could have managed.

Travel arrangements completed, clothes were the next challenge. Temperatures in Mongolia during November can drop to a mindboggling -20ºC, and even in Moscow where I have twelve hours to sightsee, it is unlikely to rise above 0ºC. Everyone I’ve spoken to about the trip has wisely nodded: “Layers, that’s what you need, lots of layers.”

Renaming myself the Wandering Onion in honour of these hallowed layers, I’ve been shopping. While searching for thermals for the odd occasion that I would leave the train to stretch my legs I remembered that the train would be stuffy, Hong Kong would be in the late twenties and I only had one rucksack. Returning from my quest with eight books, a hat and a hopelessly inadequate anorak, a friend took pity and lent me her ski jacket and scarf while I scrabbled around for my bikini.

All that is left is to master a few key Russian phrases. A patient friend has tried to teach me some words and useful sentences. I can still only say hello without clutching my phrasebook and stuttering, although I have high hopes that vodka will help my fluency. Mongolian is proving, if possible, harder. My attempts so far have borne an uncanny resemblance to Dory speaking whale in the film Finding Nemo, so my only hope of a normal conversation is going to be if a seven year old child with a penchant for cartoons featuring brightly coloured fish is traveling in the same carriage.

I’m planning on buying my ticket from Brighton to London on the day. I’ve been assured there are no engineering works on Sunday, but I’m leaving nothing to chance. I’ll have 90 minutes to go the two stops from London Bridge to Waterloo. Plenty of time to think about how I’m going to live on various trains for 11 days.

HOW MUCH IT COST
Rail fares

Brighton to London: £10 (with Network Railcard, £12.40 without)
London to Moscow: £289.70
Moscow to Beijing: £155, plus £45 delivery
Beijing to Hong Kong: £75

Visas

Belarus: £45 (including £20 fee)
Russia: £75 (including £20 visa support letter and £25 fee)
China: £50 (including £20 fee)
Mongolia: £60 (including £20 fee)

Accommodation

Two nights in Beijing hostel - £8

GRAND TOTAL £812.70

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