I took the Trans-Siberian railway from Moscow to Beijing via Mongolia, in December. This is a seven day train ride if done nonstop, crossing seven time zones. I stopped in four different Siberian cities as well as Ulan Bator, so it took me about three weeks. It’s not quite as freezing cold as one may think – the rail line crosses southern Siberia, well south of the permafrost line and the arctic circle. It is also at a low elevation (Mongolia, just to the south, is at 1000 meters and much colder). For me, what made the greatest impression was seeing firsthand Russia’s immense natural resource wealth – to cross Siberia by train is to witness an endless parade of coal, timber, grain, iron ore and petroleum cars. I could not help thinking that Russia would be the world’s greatest superpower were it not for 70 years of Stalinism.

I traveled in second class carriages, four passengers to a compartment with fold-down beds. It was very comfortable – the trains are toasty warm, tea is served, food is shared and bathrooms are kept clean. But it’s difficult to maintain any kind of normal sleeping pattern when crossing so many time zones, especially when there are only a few hours of daylight and there is always a bed to lie in. In this part of Russia, virtually no English is spoken, and I encountered no tourists between Moscow and Lake Baikal. But going two weeks without having a real conversation with anyone was made tolerable by the strange beauty of this part of the world.

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