Woohoo! We have almost made it. I am typing this from our very last night train, Moscow to St Petersburg, thank God! Currently listening to a mix of middle eastern rap music and Russian folk provided by our thoughtful cabin mates. It's been busy week so settle in.... From Yekaterinburg we decided to head to Kazan for a night, better than another night train. Kazan is the capital of the autonomous republic of Tatarstan. Yet another autonomous region that we...

I loved Yekaterinburg. I'm a city girl and this is the fourth biggest city in Russia. With that comes trappings of the Western World, our first sighting on McDonalds and Burger King since Beijing! Not only is this the first city we have visited out of Siberia its also the capital of the Ural Region. The area is super rich thanks to all the mining and factories. Due to this it was closed to foreigners until 1991. Lots of fancy cars and the people even look ...

Well we had been really lucky with our last couple of trains. Somehow we had managed the really comfy ones, sharing with the Dutch couple we have been bumping into since Beijing and ourselves. Our luck had to change and it did. Boarding our carriage we went to our compartment. Two really big Russian men were already in there lounging on our bottom berths. They ignored our hello's and tried not to make eye contact. It smelt like fish. Funnily enough it turn...

It was my year 12 history teacher that gave me a love of history, especially Russian history. Ever since, coming to Russian has been a dream of mine, it doesn't disappoint. Irkutsk was a perfectly pleasant town to spend a couple of nights. It has long been a meeting place for fur traders of the west and silk and tea traders of the east. At one time it was also where Lenin sent exiles to Siberia. The range of faces you see here is amazing; Russians, buryats, ...

Last night we slept on a bed that wasn't similar to a plank of wood. It was heaven. Now back on the train from the Buryat capital of Russia, Ulan Ude to Irkutsk. Only 7 hours and we have a compartment to ourselves, bar the parade of Russians coming past for english/Russian chats. The scenery is beautiful, very green valleys surrounded by forested mountains. Cute little wooden houses with pretty window shutters in blues and greens. The train hugs Lake Baikal...