Much excitement abounded as Tuesday evening approached and we boarded the train we have dreamed of for so long. Train #1 on the Trans-Siberian is very modern by Russian standards with its clean, new carriages. The cabins are similar in size to our previous two rides through Mongolia and China, but the toilets are much nicer and, as they are chemical ones, can be used even when the train is stopped at stations. No paper is allowed in the bowl though. It must go in a bin beside the toilet. This is not as bad as it sounds as the toilets are cleaned very regularly. The toilet paper is a little softer than what has been supplied in the last trains and in Russian hotels and there is a basin with hot water and liquid soap. However, it still pays to have your own supply of paper as it sometimes runs out. There are 3 toilets per carriage, a constant supply of hot water for coffee or soup and one socket in the cabin as well as in the hallway to charge electrical equipment.

Beside each bunk in the cabins is plenty of storage space for small items like toiletries, food, reading material, etc. Fresh sheets, blankets, a pillow and a small towel are issued to each passenger, though I can't imagine why they bother with a blanket. The train is extremely warm, with the temperature reading 27 degrees when we boarded. After sweltering through the first night we made a unanimous decision to keep the doors open at the end of each carriage which kept the temperature much cooler.

Sue and I continued to share a cabin with Karen and Christabel. They are very easy to get along with and the cause of much fun and merriment in our confined living space. After stowing our luggage and making up our beds we proceeded to go about decorating our cabin as New Year is a big deal in Russia. Our guide insisted we should all decorate our cabins as we have 3 days aboard the train and should get into he spirit of the season. I think my cabin mates thought she said we should get into the spirits of the season as they proceeded to straight away pour themselves nice healthy nips of scotch and vodka. Either way, I think our cabin looks way better than the others as we have the most creative decorations. Others used commercial tinsel and bells, but we used ingenuity as you can see from the photo. We arranged a selection of wine and spirit bottles (left overs from Christmas Day) and carefully tore up green, red and white serviettes to adorn them. We stuck an Aussie flag at the back and draped a colourful Ken Done scarf across the front of the table. Our piece de'resistance was to play Jingle Bell Rock on the iPad and have Karen flash the light switch on and off to give a disco effect whenever visitors dropped in.

This part of the journey from Irkutsk to Moscow takes 3 full days and nights and crosses many time zones. Our bodies were quite confused to begin with as we had to move our watches back 5 hours immediately on boarding. The train's timetable runs on Moscow time, so we need accuracy if we wanted to hop off at longer stops to stretch our legs. However, the dining car runs on local time which is nigh impossible to judge. To top the confusion off, night goes on for a very long time. When a watery dawn finally crept in each day we were not sure whether to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner. Still, it was nice not to have to cross any borders, so we could enjoy lolling about without worrying too much about time anyway.

The countryside rolls on spotted with more villages than I expected. Plenty of snow covers the scenery, but not as much as usual due to a milder winter so far. Some villages appear quite deserted with no sign of lights in windows or smoke from chimneys which made us wonder if they were summer retreats for Siberian city folk.

The longer stops at major stations meant we could get off the train and stretch our legs on the platform for up to 15 or 20 minutes. In the beginning we would take forever to rug up in all our layers to get off, but we became less concerned as we progressed, until in the end we would just throw on our overcoat and hat.

Our journey was also punctuated with some shopping opportunities. Local women would get on at a station and ply their wares up and down the carriages before disembarking at the next stop. We were offered the most beautiful angora scarves, coats, hat and rugs at very reasonable prices.

The dining car was another experience not to be missed. It is run by a private party not belonging to the railway, but awfully like what I imagined the KGB to be like. The staff were very abrupt and stern. The carriage was decorated nicely with New Year decorations and the glasses in which drinks are served were beautifully decorative, but don' t dare photograph anything. They harshly berated anyone who walked in with a camera, indicating through gesture and tone, absolutely no photographs. A 10 page menu is presented, but when you ask for something you get a stern, "NO!" for most selections. Little on the menu is actually available so in the end it is best to shrug and take what is brought out.

On our first venture to the dining car we just ordered some beer and white coffee. When we asked for milk after the coffee arrived black we got the harsh reply, "No milk!" Before we had finished our drinks the head KGB waitress gave us a 2 minute warning (we think it was a 2 minute warning or else it may have been a rude finger sign) and then she insisted we leave. Other people were eating there, and there were plenty of free tables with no one waiting to get in so I am not sure why we were tossed out so abruptly. Little Miss Grumpy Pants probably gets a thrill by puntuating her miserable life with scowling attacks on poor innocent tourists.

It became quite an exciting part of each day to go down to the dining car to watch what happened to other unsuspecting visitors. One day 3 nice young Norwegian lads entered with a pack of cards and immediately got a tongue lashing about their audacity at such a presumption as playing games there. They ordered some food, but suddenly the waitress from Hell was back, yelling and screaming at them and, faster than the speed of light, confiscated their cards and mobile phones and cameras and whisked them out the back. The poor guys sat in stunned silence, timidly ate their meal when it came and were given back their belongings after paying their bill.

As well as the dining car, a reasonable selection of food and drink is available from a food trolly that comes around regularly. In fact, the food trolly probably has more available than the dining car. And the lady who pushes it is not a b****. In fact, she has a rather cheeky, endearing smile that is rare thing to see on Russians. We tried some rather nice cabbage pies for only 30 rubles (about $1). If you are lucky she sometimes even has potato pies.

We had heard that the female carriage attendants were also quite stern, but our provodnitsa was very nice. Her name was Natasha. She was big and efficient and took her job seriously. She always had a cheery smile ready for us, but I don't think I would like to ever upset her just the same. Her dedication to keeping the carriage clean was admirable. As well as cleaning the toilets regularly she vacuumed the hallway and cabins and at each stop she took her long handled shovel and cleared the ice and snow that had accumulated on the underside of our carriage.

Our 3 days and nights aboard passed most pleasantly. The only drawback traveling in winter I would say is that the long nights mean you miss seeing some scenery. But the scenery you do get to see during the short daylight hours is so beautiful - the vast icy rivers, snowy fields, acres and acres of coniferous forests, villages of wooden cottages emitting wispy smoke trails from chimneys, glimpses of sun in a blue sky between periods of falling snow - it is all I expected and more. I loved every moment of the journey.